How do we assess the social and cultural significance the words we choose? And what is the impact of using gender-neutral language in our communications?

These questions were the subject of a spirited panel discussion at last week’s Manitoba Bar Association Midwinter Conference in Winnipeg. Dr. Jila Ghomeshi, syntactician and author of Grammar Matters and Sandra Petersson, Research Manager of the Alberta Law Reform Institute participated in the discussion moderated by Patricia Lane on how lawyers can reflect gender neutrality in their use of language.

Ms Lane referred to the business and practical reasons for using gender neutral . . . [more]

This article talks about things in the Anti-Spam Act that are not directly related to spam.

This is the third of a series of 5 articles that will introduce the Act, describe what spam is and is not, talk about collateral provisions, what we can do now, and some of the challenges going forward.

Spyware

The Act contains anti-spyware provisions – the goal being to eliminate spyware, malware, and other malicious software.

You may recall the Sony copy protection rootkit scandal from 2005 where Sony music CD’s automatically installed digital rights management software on users’ computers without their knowledge or . . . [more]

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and which French-language case have been the most viewed on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about.

For the week of January 22 – 29:

1. Magder v. Ford 2013 ONSC 263
   

   [1] Robert Ford appeals the decision of Hackland R.S.J. dated November 26, 2012 which held that Mr. Ford contravened s. 5 of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.50 (“MCIA”) and declared that Mr. Ford’s seat as Mayor of the City of Toronto was vacant. This appeal raises important issues

“I’m convinced half of all the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.” – John Wannamaker

If you manage – or help pay for – your firm’s marketing expenditures, this quote likely has some resonance for you. “How do you know if it will work?” is a question I hear frequently in meetings with lawyers while discussing different marketing initiatives.

How does a firm track the effectiveness of its marketing efforts? The answer in most cases is anecdotally, if at all. If you are a sole practitioner dealing with every phone call . . . [more]

Yesterday, a news release by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) informed the public of its recent findings following an investigation into the WhatsApp, also known as WhatsApp messenger (the report of findings can be read here). For the OPC, this investigation is a first in that is was done in collaboration with the Dutch Data Protection Agency.

WhatsApp is a cross is a “cross-platform mobile messaging app”, as described on its website. The investigation looked into whether or not the application contravened certain Principles of the Personal Information and Electronic Documents Protection Act. . . . [more]

I recently accepted an invitation to join a LinkedIn Group. No big deal, like many of Slaw readers I am a member of a handful of relevant discussion groups in LinkedIn. I follow LinkedIn Groups that could generally be described as communities of practice. My groups have titles like Canadian Association of Law Libraries, Knowledge Management for Legal Professionals, Law Firm Research Managers, Law Firm Knowledge Management (a subgroup of Legal IT Netowrk), and so on.

I remember the term “communities of practice” best from an Ark Conference that I attended years ago called Best Practices & Management Strategies for . . . [more]

I’m delighted to announce that Karen Dyck has joined Slaw as a regular blogger. Karen is a freelance lawyer based in Manitoba with a keen interest in enhancing access to justice and equality. For the first five years after her call, she carried on a litigation practice in small firms focusing on family law. She has since drawn upon her legal background to work with a number of governmental and non-governmental organizations in a wide range of roles, from investigations and research to program development and writing to management and administration.

Karen tweets as @karendyck and can be found on . . . [more]

This article talks about what the Anti-Spam Act defines as spam, the myriad of exceptions, and what needs to be tracked to prove compliance. This will be presented by way of the thought process to be followed to determine whether a message is spam, and whether or how it can be sent without violating the act. The graphic that accompanies this article may be helpful. [Click here to download a PDF file of the graphic.]

This is the second of a series of 5 articles that will introduce the Act, describe what spam is and is not, talk about collateral . . . [more]

At the behest of our good friend, D.C. Superior Court Judge Herbert Dixon, we noodled a bit on the future of courtroom technology for an article Judge Dixon is writing. Having brainstormed the topic, we thought it might be fun to take some of our random thoughts and make them marginally coherent.

At the outset, it is clear that there will be disruptive technologies that no one will anticipate. Having covered our collective posterior on that score, some things seem relatively certain. As courts strive to accommodate the needs of citizens, it is likely that we will one day see . . . [more]

Here are excerpts from the most recent tips on SlawTips, the site that each week offers up useful advice, short and to the point, on technology, research and practice.

Technology

Lawyers Should (Almost) Never Use BCC
Dan Pinnington

Email is a primary means of communication for most lawyers. It is a fantastic tool. You can easily and almost instantly communicate across the globe with your client and other people involved in a legal matter. You can send different types of attachments. And if you have a smartphone, you can send and reply to emails from just about anywhere on . . . [more]

Ontario operates on a “loser pays” civil legal system. At the conclusion of trial (or a motion or application) the successful party can expect the presiding judge to order the unsuccessful party to pay a portion of the successful party’s legal costs. While awarding costs is always in the discretion of the presiding judge, as a rule of thumb litigants can expect to receive a cost award that reflects 40% – 70% of the fees they actually incurred.

Our Rules of Civil Procedure also provide a mechanism to encourage the acceptance of reasonable offers to settle. A party can make . . . [more]

Last Wednesday, the UK Supreme Court split on the issue of whether legal advice privilege extended to legal advice provided by accountants. In other words, did the privilege attach because of the nature of the communication, rather than the status of the person communicating.

The Court split 5 to 2, holding that legal advice privilege remains the exclusive preserve of clients of the legal profession. It protects communications passing between a lawyer and his or her client, with the lawyer acting in a professional capacity in connection with the provision of legal advice.

The Prudential case involved the issue of . . . [more]