Everybody knows that computers are everywhere. This is old news. It used to be that a mechanic could fix an errant brake light in my car for 15 minutes of labour and a 15-cent bulb. Now I need a computer diagnosis and the replacement of a sophisticated multi-function panel. Hmmm – $175.00. Progress!

What may still be news is the degree to which the computers are talking to each other – and if they can talk, then they can be overheard.

Let’s start with cars. Richard and Cheryl Balough point out that the average car these days can run some . . . [more]

Last Fall, I read an article about the General Counsel for Kia who creates tests for his external legal counsel. The tests have nothing to do with law and everything to do with process. In one test, external counsel should have taken 20 minutes to complete a mundane task using an excel spreadsheet. The average time taken by Kia’s nine outside law firms? Five hours. Simon Fodden also has a great piece on this, here.

There are many takeaways from this, but an important one is that its shows that lawyers are not always the most efficient personnel . . . [more]

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) regulates the sale of alcohol products in Ontario. Fans of wine not available on the shelves of the LCBO’s outlets may form wine clubs that order particular wines through the LCBO. Until recently, the LCBO collected the names and addresses of all the members of the clubs placing these orders.

Acting on a complaint by a manager/member of such a club, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario recently ordered that the LCBO stop collecting this personal information. In response, the LCBO stopped filling orders from the wine clubs.

According to the CBC . . . [more]

In a special report tabled today in the House of Commons, the Correctional Investigator of Canada Howard Sapers found that the aboriginal prison population has jumped in the last decade and that correctional authorities have not been living up to their obligations.

As well, the report, entitled Spirit Matters: Aboriginal People and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, shows that aboriginal inmates are sentenced to longer terms, spend more time in segregation and maximum security and are less likely to be granted parole.

Among the highlights of the report:

• since 2005-06, there has been a 43% increase in the

. . . [more]

A big congratulations goes out to our long-time Slaw colleague Connie Crosby, who has been elected Vice-President of CALL/ACBD for the term running from 2013-2015. This position is effectively a six year commitment, with the succession plan running through each of the VP, President and Past-President positions (each for two years).

Many readers will recognize Connie as one of our founding members here at Slaw. She also has a long, successful track record working in Canadian law firm libraries; including more than nineteen years working in-house. Connie has been a past-President of TALL, served in a variety of . . . [more]

In the wake of the Quebec government tabling Bill 14, An Act to amend the Charter of the French language, the [Quebec] Charter of Rights and Freedoms and other legislative provisions to improve yet again the eminence of the French language in Quebec (which I discussed on Slaw last December here), the Conseil supérieur de la langue française (CSLF) is of the opinion that the government needs to take a hard-line approach if it wants French to really be the common language of all Quebecers.

I say, Doctor, Doctor! The Economist has a Johnson column on lawyers in the U.S. who call themselves "Doctor" because they have a J.D. degree. Apparently some states' ethical rules frown on this practice while others don't. The columnist comes down in favour of "common sense," which reserves that title for medical practitioners by and large.

Each Thursday we present a significant excerpt, usually from a recently published book or journal article. In every case the proper permissions have been obtained. If you are a publisher who would like to participate in this feature, please let us know via the site’s contact form.

Ron Ellis
Vancouver: UBC Press, 2013
(*see below for discount)

Excerpts: pages 134, 137-38 (selected by the author, who has a companion website: Administrative Justice System Reform)

[footnotes omitted]

Getting the Context and Terminology Clear, the Concepts Straight, and the Prescription Right

And so it is that we have an executive branch . . . [more]

I’ve enjoyed recent columns by Gary Rodrigues and Robert McKay about the history of Canadian legal publishing. I joined CLEBC in 1988, and over my career it has been fascinating to watch the changes; for instance, Lexis’ purchase of Quicklaw, Carswell’s purchase of Canada Law Book, the rise of CanLII (and its technology partner Lexum), and the development of Irwin Law. 

You might conclude that with all the products and services offered by publishers such as Lexis, Thomson, CCH, and so on, there would be no need for any other legal publishers in Canada. There’s no doubt that . . . [more]

We all want our marketing efforts to go the distance. We want our work to be valued and valuable. I don’t know any legal marketing professional who doesn’t want their efforts to count. For these reasons, I believe, the Legal Marketing Association, Vancouver Chapter, asked me recently to present a session on how to increase marketing’s return on investment (ROI). How can our firms get even more from the ‘busy work’ of their marketing teams?

Put lightly, it’s a deep and complex topic and a challenge to skim its surface in a lunch session. Nevertheless, four key ways to . . . [more]

Clients with unrealistic expectations, complaints about legal costs and dissatisfaction with results achieved are just a few of the issues addressed in the recent report from the Legal Ombudsman of the United Kingdom, The Price of Separation: Divorce related legal complaints and their causes. While the concerns raised are not new to most lawyers in family practice, the Ombudsman takes a solution-focused approach that makes this report a valuable manual on client services in family law.  

The report is based upon complaints received by the Legal Ombudsman’s office in 2011-12, of which some 18% related to family law matters. . . . [more]

Social media is often touted as an important influencer on public opinion and political causes. The Pew Research Centre just released an interesting survey called Twitter Reaction to Events Often at Odds with Overall Public Opinion.

From the report:

At times the Twitter conversation is more liberal than survey responses, while at other times it is more conservative. Often it is the overall negativity that stands out. Much of the difference may have to do with both the narrow sliver of the public represented on Twitter as well as who among that slice chose to take part in any . . . [more]