More than a century ago, an early torts scholar (Pollock) wrote that, when it came to causation, lawyers and judges shouldn’t go adventuring with philosophers. Many modern Canadian lawyers and judges are likely more familiar with Sopinka J.’s admonition in Snell v. Farrell against “abstract metaphysical theory” – the claim that causation is “essentially a practical question of fact which can best be answered by ordinary common sense rather than abstract metaphysical theory.” . . . [more]

A few weeks ago LifeHacker posted the “Top 10 Simple Things Every Computer User Should Know How to Do” to its LifeHacker Top 10 collection.

I had this post on my list to post personally and for LAWPRO and practicePRO’s follower’s today, but decided I would give it a mention on SLAW as I think that the advice in it is just so critical to every computer user.

This is a must read post. The steps mentioned are simple to do and they will save your bacon in the event you experience one of the more common computer . . . [more]

Right to Know Week is an international event started in Bulgaria in 2002. Its purpose is “to raise awareness about people’s right to access government information while promoting freedom of information as essential to both democracy and good governance.”

In Canada, events across the country are posted on the website http://www.righttoknow.ca/.

Last week I was fortunate to attend a run-up event to Right to Know Week called Open Data, Big Data, Yes…but NOT Personal Data, put together jointly by the Toronto Board of Trade and Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner Dr. Ann Cavoukian. She encourages public institutions to . . . [more]

Mitch Kowalski’s SLAW piece last week points to digital developments at the up-market UK clothier Burberry, as illustrative of what’s coming for legal services.

At the opposite end of the market there was another development in the UK last week. The Co-op supermarket chain announced the addition of a family law branch to the legal services it offers, which will evidently include fixed tariff family law and face to face advice, from over 1,000 locations.

One of the Coop’s major competitors in legal services, is Tesco supermarket.

Qualilty Solicitors with over 400 locations in a huge advertising campaign (developed by . . . [more]

Here are the three most-consulted English-language cases on CanLII for the week of September 16 – 23.

♨ 1. R. v. Hill 2012 ONSC 5050

[4] Mr. Hill seeks an Order declaring that s. 753(1.1) [dangerous sexual offender] of the Criminal Code is invalid and of no force or effect pursuant tos. 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Counsel for Mr. Hill submits that s. 753(1.1) infringes s. 7, s. 11(d) and s. 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

♨ 2. Canada (Attorney General) v. Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence . . . [more]

Although these days most lawyers and law firms have some form of website, the ability of those sites to not only attract visitors, but to prompt those visitors to take action (fill in a contact form, call the firm for a consultation, etc.) varies widely. That may be due in large part to how easy the site is for web visitors to use, known as “usability.”

People read and consume information differently online than they do offline. For example, people tend to skim or scan web content; they’re looking for specific information. Rarely do web visitors read large quantities of . . . [more]

When Sheryl Kiselbach and the Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence Society decided to challenge the Criminal Code provisions around prostitution, the chambers judge denied their application for public or private interest standing.

The B.C. Court of Appeal reversed that decision, granting them public interest standing, and this position was upheld this week at the Supreme Court of Canada in Canada (Attorney General) v. Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence Society.

The appellant’s factum is available here, and the respondent’s factum available here. The factum of some of the interveners are also available online, such . . . [more]

Soon – perhaps within the coming days or weeks— the Prime Minister will name a new Supreme Court Justice to replace retired Justice Marie Deschamps. As set out in the Supreme Court Act, this judge must come from Quebec because section 6 of that act provides that “[a]t least three of the judges shall be appointed from among the judges of the Court of Appeal or of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec or from among the advocates of that Province.” However, it is not completely clear who qualifies as “a Quebec judge” for the Supreme . . . [more]

A number of months ago I pointed you to a site that let you track shipping worldwide. And although lots of people take cruises, orders of magnitude more move about the globe in the air. So today we’re going up, up and away — not, alas, with Superman, but instead with the thousands of planes that ply the sky at every moment of the day.

Two sites (at least) offer you the full picture: Plane Finder and FlightRadar24. In each case, the website receives live data emitted by the aircraft and control towers and uses them to plot . . . [more]

This is a post in a series appearing each Friday, setting out some articles, videos, podcasts and the like that contributors at Slaw are enjoying and that you might find interesting. The articles tend to be longer than blog posts and shorter than books, just right for that stolen half hour on the weekend. It’s also likely that most of them won’t be about law — just right for etc.

Please let us have your recommendations for what we and our readers might like.

Have you ever thought about how your choice of vehicle impacts your auto insurance rates? Most people assume that expensive cars cost more to insure than budget friendly choices, but is that really true?

How much you pay for your auto insurance relies on a number of factors. This includes your driving record and where you live, but for most people, the biggest factor is the model and year of the vehicle you drive.

Auto insurers use the Canadian Loss Experience Automobile Rating (CLEAR) system to determine the odds that a type of vehicle will be involved in a claim, . . . [more]

This is certainly one of the more ambitious public legal education initiatives in Canada.

The third season of the television series “Le Droit de Savoir” (The right to know) began on Quebec cable TV on September 18th on the Canal savoir channel (with repeats on the Télé-Québec public educational network in the summer of 2013).

The French-language series is a co-production of the Quebec Bar Association. Lawyers already write the deals for TV and film projects. So, why not just jump into producing the material itself?

Episodes in the coming season will feature reports on topics such as aboriginal law, . . . [more]