Latest
Tuesday, August 01, 2023 @ 11:27 AM
Importance of law associations, communities | Ciara Ward
Three years ago I joined a local crossfit gym after my trusty discount gym closed down. I thought it would be a lot more nerve wracking going from spin class and aerobics classes to powerlifting with (for lack of a better term) meatheads. I was not prepared to be so utterly wrong, or to find such a valuable and accepting community. This is not dissimilar to joining a law association — you’re getting so much more than access to discounted CPDs and fancy parties, you’re gaining an entire community. ... [read more]
Monday, July 31, 2023 @ 4:11 PM
‘There’s never been a more important time for law and legal education,’ says Osgoode’s incoming dean
As the world deals with a rapidly changing climate and the implications of artificial intelligence (AI), Osgoode Hall Law School’s incoming dean believes “there’s never been a more important time for law and legal education.” ... [read more]
Monday, July 31, 2023 @ 12:36 PM
Boolean searches, bulky suits, memories are made of these | Gary Goodwin
I recently attended the 40th anniversary of my call to the bar to see colleagues I have not seen for years. This should normally be a time for personal reflection and spiritual growth. But I did spend the smallest amount of time contemplating the reflection in the mirror to make sure I had not grown too much physically. My decades of working out did treat me well. Yes, colour me shallow, and this was no longer high school. ... [read more]
Monday, July 31, 2023 @ 11:53 AM
Keep King’s counsel, but with clear guidelines | Gary Joseph
On June 30, 2023, the Attorney General of Ontario reinstated the practice of appointing King’s counsel after a pause in this process between 1985 and 2022. Immediately thereafter the ruling government in Ontario made, in my view, a serious error in judgment by appointing sitting members of the government who were lawyers, King’s counsel. ... [read more]
Friday, July 28, 2023 @ 1:50 PM
Online mediation makes an efficient system even better | Avril Hasselfield and Susan Rai
Mediation is arguably the best way to settle legal disputes in a timely and cost-effective manner, especially when it is done online. ... [read more]
Friday, July 28, 2023 @ 1:49 PM
The permissible logic of sex offence complainant post-event conduct
It is trite law encompassed within the prohibition against stereotypical reasoning that “there is no inviolable rule on how people who are the victims of trauma like a sexual assault will behave:” R. v. D.D., [2000] S.C.J. No. 44 at para. 65. Just like the failure to make a timely complaint, a failure to demonstrate avoidant behaviour or a lack of change in behaviour “must not be the subject of any presumptive adverse inference based upon now rejected stereotypical assumptions of how persons (particularly children) react to acts of sexual abuse ... :” R. v. D.D. at para. 63. ... [read more]
Thursday, July 27, 2023 @ 4:56 PM
Need to tackle relationship between artificial intelligence, civil liability: legal institute
The current revolution in artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world but raising many questions — among them the question of who is, or should be, liable for choices made by intelligent machines operating autonomously, and what happens when a robot commits a tort. And a British Columbia-based legal think tank is undertaking a project aimed at helping to answer some of those questions. ... [read more]
Thursday, July 27, 2023 @ 1:59 PM
Expanded bill lacks protection for physician’s privileges | Brooke Shekter
The Ontario government has expanded the scope of OHIP-insured services that can be provided to the public at private facilities. The goal, under the Your Health Act, SO 2023, c 4, Bill 60 (Your Health Act), is to expand access to publicly funded health-care services in order to improve patient wait-times. The problem is that the new legislation is missing an entire procedural framework for physicians: a process by which they can protect their privileges to practise at these private facilities. ... [read more]
Thursday, July 27, 2023 @ 1:10 PM
Quebec Appeal Court holds parents, attacker jointly civilly liable for sex assaults on girl
The parents of a sexual assault complainant who failed in their duty of care, supervision and protection for doing nothing when an uncle repeatedly assaulted her between the age of 9 and 16 were jointly and solidarily liable, along with the aggressor, to pay more than $800,000 in damages for loss of earning capacity, non-pecuniary damages and punitive damages, held the Quebec Court of Appeal. ... [read more]
Thursday, July 27, 2023 @ 12:56 PM
LSO allows ‘virtual verification of client identity with authentication’ effective Jan. 1
As of Jan. 1, 2024, the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) will “allow virtual verification of client identity where the licensee determines that the client’s government-issued photo identification is authentic.” ... [read more]
