Documents are at the heart of any legal system—writing’s the thing, ever since Hammurabi. And though legal documents do change in form and character, there’s a strong impulse for things to remain “the same” or at least sufficiently similar that past experience and rulings can limn the future. That’s on the surface.

The relatively recent introduction of digital documents has, perhaps paradoxically, brought about considerable and continuing change underneath. As the duck seems serene but paddles furiously below the waterline, so it is with legal “duckuments”: it’s all text above the waterline, but underneath there’s much churning as HTML, DOC, . . . [more]

The Law Society of Upper Canada has just announced a program that will provide up to six hours of coaching to assist women leaving and then returning from maternity or compassionate leave. The coaching will be available only to sole practitioners and to women working in law firms of five or fewer lawyers. It is estimated that 35 women will access this program in the first year.

This program is similar to one offered in Manitoba since 2008 where female or male lawyers and their spouses or life partners can receive six confidential sessions with the Law Society Equity Ombudsperson. . . . [more]

After nearly two years since publishing its first proposal on the topic, the North Carolina State Bar has adopted its Formal Ethics Opinion on cloud computing (thanks to Steph Kimbro for the heads up). The opinion, titled 2011 Formal Ethics Opinion 6: Subscribing to Software as a Service While Fulfilling the Duties of Confidentiality and Preservation of Client Property, concludes that:

a law firm may contract with a vendor of software as a service provided the lawyer uses reasonable care to safeguard confidential client information

Like the Law Society of British Columbia’s Report on Cloud Computing, the . . . [more]

In murder cases in Philadelphia, at least. A study by M. Anderson and Paul Heaton for the Rand Corporation, “How Much Difference Does the Lawyer Make? The Effect of Defense Counsel on Murder Case Outcomes” [PDF] concludes that the quality of the lawyer and the quality and quantity of the lawyer’s work are significant factors in explaining the outcomes of criminal cases.

This conclusion will likely strike any practising lawyer as trivial: one of the beliefs we hold (and cherish) is that our efforts and talents matter, that not all lawyers are created equal. Yet, seen from the . . . [more]

I have been an adjudicator for nearly ten years. This experience has given rise to much food for thought. Training a diverse range of adjudicators from a variety of tribunals has caused me to reflect on why we do the things we do in adjudication. While core processes are similar across tribunals, there is a great diversity in approaches. For me, the adjudicative processes need to meet two, primary objectives: fairness and efficiency. These columns will highlight the diversity in approach and look at best practices in meeting these twin objectives.

Testimony is at the centre of most oral hearings. . . . [more]

On Friday the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ontario released the paper Embedding Privacy into the Design of EHRs to Enable Multiple Functionalities – Win/Win authored by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario Dr. Ann Cavoukian and Richard C. Alvarez, President and CEO of Canada Health Infoway.

From the March 2, 2012 news release:

Research indicates that Canadians have a degree of comfort with using EHR information for such purposes, as long as privacy and security protections are in place. The paper underscores the need for transparency in the way EHR information is managed and safeguarded.

This week the Supreme Court of Canada released the decision in Richard v. Time Inc., considering an appeal of prohibited business practices in marketing under Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act. John Gregory summarized the case on Slaw previously here.

The plaintiff received $1,000 in compensatory damages and $15,000 in punitive damages after he received a direct mailing from the defendant that appeared to indicate that he had won a Cash Prize of $833,337.00. The Quebec Court of Appeal reversed the trial judge’s decision in favour of the plaintiff, indicating that the campaign did not explicitly make any promises and . . . [more]

even for civil litigators.

on CanLII

or

http://www.ontariocourts.ca/decisions/2012/2012ONCA0138.htm

until it shows up

Judgments from each of Watt JA (dissenting), Feldman JA, and Blair JA, concurring in the result.

From Blair JA’s reasons

[151] For centuries, judges, lawyers and academics have devoted much thought and debate to the questions of what does or does not constitute hearsay evidence and why and in what circumstances, and what are the principles underlying the admissibility of such evidence. The authors of McWilliams’ Canadian Criminal Evidence observe that “[f]or more than two centuries the common law has woven a web of complex rules and exceptions

“Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Predictions,” the 2012 edition. This can be a quick read, or, with its extensive footnotes, a larger project.

Some Standouts:

• “Big data” powers commerce and advertizing
• Widespread adoption of the $100 smartphone
• 3D printing: here, but not there yet
• MRI and advertizing

Naturally, as a service offered to international corporate culture, it exhibits characteristic blindspots. For instance, it does not consider the implications the successful peer-to-peer online organizing for big data projects. Still, it is well footnoted, so there lots to chew on. . . . [more]

What does context mean for legal information? “Context” is one of the latest buzzwords in the world of publishing. In a new online collection of essays, Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto, Brian O’Leary exhorts us to consider context when we are developing content. He defines context as “tagged content, research, footnoted links, sources, and audio and video background, as well as title-level metadata”. Although his focus is trade publishing, his ideas apply to legal publishing as well.

Christine Kirchberger, lecturer and doctoral candidate at Stockholm University, is working on a doctoral dissertation entitled “Legal information as a tool—Where legal . . . [more]

This is a letter, a rare thing nowadays. It was posted in 1845 by Miss Elizabeth Barrett to Mr. Robert Browning, one of 573 love letters exchanged by the two in the course of twenty-one months, all of which are held—and made available online—by Baylor University and Wellesley College.

Coming at them through this link, you’ll see a chronological catalogue, with date, sender and the first line spelled out. (Simply letting your eye drop down the first lines, is a treat; they tease and delight even—or perhaps especially—in this truncated form.) A link beside each item takes . . . [more]

by Ashley Major

Ashley Major is a Canadian student completing an internship at Independent Academic Research Studies in London, England. Upon the completion of this internship, she will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Human Justice from the University of Regina. She plans to attend law school in the future, specializing in human rights law. Her main focus is on addressing human rights violations against women, particularly sex trafficking.

In Canada, there have been discussions as to whether or not we live in a “rape culture”. Although difficult to define, this term refers to a society in which . . . [more]