Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : L’appelante, qui, au terme d’un procès devant jury, a été déclarée coupable de meurtre au second degré pour avoir donné un coup de couteau mortel à la victime, échoue à démontrer que le verdict serait déraisonnable ou que le juge de première instance aurait dû accueillir sa . . . [more]

Written by Daniel Standing LL.B., content editor, First Reference Inc.

An injured employee may see the employer’s accident-reporting forms and processes as a waste of time and secondary to their seeking medical treatment, but the collection of such information is critical to the employer keeping its safe workplace obligations. When a British Columbia employee knowingly ignores the accident-reporting rules and puts up barriers to the employer finding out what happened, discipline is not far off, as the employee learned in 2023 CarswellBC 2094. . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Every Cyclist’s Guide to Canadian Law. By Christopher Waters. 2nd ed. Toronto: Irwin Law, 2022. xiv, 231 p. Includes table of legislation, table of abbreviations, endnotes, and index. ISBN 9781552216453 (softcover) $35.00; ISBN 9781552216460 (PDF) $35.00. <irwinlaw.com>.

Reviewed by Yolanda Koscielski
Librarian for Criminology, Philosophy & Psychology
Simon Fraser University . . . [more]

Six months ago, I wrote a column about ChatGPT and other tools using large language models (“LLMs”). My aim there was to introduce this technology to readers and briefly outline intersections with legal ethics and access to justice issues. This column provides an update on this topic, including a deeper dive into legal ethics considerations.

I. What are we talking about?

My previous column included a basic overview about how ChatGPT and other tools built on LLMs work. I reshare the following two quotes as a starting point here:

A basic explanation of how ChatGPT works:

“It is trained on

Cyberinsurance Sticker Shock

We’ve been watching cyberinsurance get more and more expensive over the years. Perhaps in the wake of the extraordinary number of data breaches in 2023 (both small and large organizations), it is no wonder that a recent survey showed that respondents report an increase in insurance rates of 50-100% upon initial application or renewal.

Ouch. You must also prepare yourself for an ordeal of six months or more to obtain or renew cyberinsurance.

The August 2023 report from Delinea caused a lot of eyebrows to go up. Almost 80% of survey respondents have used their cyber insurance . . . [more]

A desire to redo my living room has caused me to become addicted to reality TV programs involving design. And to prove that you can learn about business from virtually anywhere, here is an important lesson I learned from “Making the Cut” (if you can believe it).

“Making the Cut” is a clothing design contest that begins with a number of accomplished, talented designers and through competition, whittles them down to two or three finalists. These compete in a full runway show where they must present an entire collection, this last task generally undertaken in a three-day period.

Judges can . . . [more]

I recently started my own practice. There’s a lot to do and a lot to think about—but seeing as I practice in the area of professional responsibility, one of my foremost concerns was ensuring my new firm would comply with Law Society requirements.

From my recent experience, here are five things to think about from an ethics and professionalism perspective if you are opening your own firm or solo practice:

1. Transferring clients: If you are leaving a firm, discuss which (if any) clients you wish to bring with you as soon as possible. Importantly, you cannot unilaterally decide that

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : L’arrêt des procédures contre l’ex-juge Jacques Delisle, prononcé en raison de la preuve perdue, est annulé puisque cette réparation est trop draconienne.

Intitulé : R. c. Delisle, 2023 QCCA 1096
Juridiction : Cour d’appel (C.A.), Québec
Décision de : Juges Martin Vauclair, Guy Cournoyer et Sophie Lavallée . . . [more]

Hugh Stephens, a Canadian policy and business consultant, has a new book out In Defense of Copyright. In advance of its release, he did a column on July 15th in the Globe and Mail, “Why Canada Needs Copyright Reform Now,” calling on the government to update the Copyright Act after more than a decade of reviews and proposals. I couldn’t be more supportive of both defending and updating copyright. Now does seem to be the time, and all the more so with Prime Minister Trudeau declaring that his midsummer cabinet shake up was intended to create “the . . . [more]

As the cost of living rises in communities throughout BC (like everywhere in Canada), more and more British Columbians find themselves contending with acute forms of financial strain, housing insecurity, relationship breakdown, and other poverty-rooted hardships. The demand for pro bono and legal aid services has never been higher.

Pro Bono Going Public is Access Pro Bono BC’s big annual service and fundraising event that helps the organization serve as much client demand as possible. The free legal “advice-a-thon” event runs for three weeks (Monday to Friday) from September 5 to 29. Volunteer lawyers provide free legal advice in hour-long . . . [more]

Written by Daniel Standing, LL.B., Content Editor, First Reference Inc.

An apology can be the difference-maker pointing toward rehabilitative potential, but in the worst misconduct cases, it’ll take more than an a simple mea culpa for an employee to get back their foot back in the door for another chance. Take the recent case of 2023 CanLII 77866 (ON LA), for example. Although the supervisor in that case sought reinstatement and apologized, his actions and other things he said told the opposite story. There are several nuggets of wisdom for employers in this case that touch on the value . . . [more]