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’accusé, auquel il était reproché d’avoir, pendant des années, accédé aux comptes courriel, Facebook et iCloud des plaignants à leur insu afin de télécharger du contenu privé leur appartenant, est reconnu coupable de l’utilisation non autorisée d’un ordinateur, de vol d’identité, de fraude à l’identité et de . . . [more]

A recent Ontario Superior Court decision shows some of the complexities employers face when dealing with Employment Standards Act (ESA) entitlements versus common law. In this case, the employee was seeking damages from the successor employer for an alleged wrongful dismissal from her continued employment. . . . [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.

Banning Transgender Conversion Practices: A Legal and Policy Analysis. By Florence Ashley. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2022. xiii, 249 p. Includes glossary, bibliographic references, and index. ISBN 9780774866927 (hardcover) $89.95; ISBN 9780774866934 (softcover) $32.95; ISBN 9780774866941 (PDF) $32.95; ISBN 9780774866958 (ePUB) $32.95. <ubcpress.ca>.

Reviewed by Alexandra Kwan
Digital Services & Reference . . . [more]

Disputed territories is a term that comes and goes, depending on who is doing the disputing and whether the claims can be attached to other geopolitical trends or issues. Personally, I’m currently working on the concept as part of my research for my upcoming book, Legal and Government Research on US and Canadian Territories. Territories are incredibly different from one another and they continue to develop in multiple shapes and forms. For a long time, the term “territory” has become a useful bucket where national governments, the law, media, academia and national narratives lock these places in an attempt . . . [more]

At the beginning of each month, we tell you which three English-language cases and French-language cases have been the most viewed* on CanLII in the previous month and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about. 

For this past month, the three most-consulted English-language decisions were:

1. South West Terminal Ltd. v Achter Land, 2023 SKKB 116

[40] Counsel for Achter remonstrates that allowing a simple 👍 emoji to signify identity and acceptance would open up the flood gates to allow all sorts of cases coming forward asking for interpretations as to what various different . . . [more]

To be a victim is one thing. To be a survivor is quite another. In a world where violence against women and intimate partner violence (IPV) runs rampant and unabated, victims are everywhere, seen and unseen. But survivors — those who have endured, who continue to endure, who persevere against adversity — they are everywhere too. They too are unseen, their stories and lives hidden beneath the scars they carry and the pain in their hearts. Their voices, their words, and their lives have informed everything I am about to tell you. These survivors are those who have survived intimate . . . [more]

As new technologies change how we create content, they also change how we absorb information. While content marketing is a significant tool to build relationships and create an online presence, what technology has changed, and we need to be in front of, is the way audiences consume content and the value that is added. More so than ever, clients expect more dynamic forms of communication that deliver meaningful interactions.

How we generate and share content has evolved from the early days of writing articles for newsletters and magazines to interactive publications with podcasts, webinars, live-streaming events, and virtual reality experiences. . . . [more]

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’appel d’un jugement de la Cour du Québec ayant déclaré les 2 appelants coupables de voies de fait simples, de voies de fait causant des lésions corporelles et de voies de fait graves à l’endroit de 6 victimes dans le contexte d’une série d’incidents violents survenus dans . . . [more]

By Daniel Standing, LL.B., Editor at First Reference Inc.

In 2023 ONCA 364, the Court of Appeal for Ontario has written the latest chapter in an ongoing legal saga about whether the ground of discrimination of “citizenship” is distinct from the concept of “permanent residence.” In the jurisprudential sense though, it is a first chapter, since this is the first time the interpretation of discrimination in employment on the basis of citizenship has come before the Court. . . . [more]

When Everyone in the Legal World Knows Your Name

We are sure that New York lawyers Steven Schwartz and Peter LoDuca are not especially happy to have become famous by way of failing to vet the accuracy of ChatGPT which made up cases and citations that become a part of the brief they submitted to New York Federal Judge P. Kevin Castel.

The lawyers’ client, Roberto Mata, sued the airline Avianca, claiming he was injured when a metal serving cart struck his knee on a flight to Kennedy International Airport in 2019.

When Avianca requested that Judge Castel toss out . . . [more]

Dear Reader: The following column contains references to popular music of the mid-1990s. To heighten your reading experience, we recommend you familiarize yourself with the lead single from Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill album, along with the catalog of “Weird” Al Yankovic. It also would not hurt to hear Warren G’s Regulate, an anthem of the G-Funk era. But for that of Yankovic, the music referenced contains explicit lyrics and deals with mature subject matter that may not be suitable for everyone. Listener discretion is advised.

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It was the summer of 2022. Social media was abuzz.

An Alanis Morissette . . . [more]