It’s time to decide what Christmas books to read this holiday season! The holiday season is upon us once again. I like to theme my reading, so every year I pick a Christmas book to read for the month of December. This year, as I was contemplating which Christmas book to read for 2023, I […]

The post Christmas Books: 14 Books to Read This Holiday Season appeared first on .

WOOP is a research-based method you can start applying right away to achieve your goals. WOOP is an acronym that stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan. It’s a method for achieving goals, setting preferences, and changing habits that is based on 20 years of sccientific research in the science of motivation. The WOOP method was […]

The post The WOOP Method – A Scientifically Proven Method to Achieve Your Goals appeared first on .

You can increase your happiness by applying practices from the science of happiness. I came across an online course from Yale University–an Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut–on “The Science of Well-Being“. It’s taught by Professor Laurie Santos, and it became the most popular class ever taught at Yale. I took the course […]

The post 5 Scientific Ways to Be Happier – Tips from Yale University appeared first on .

Although often overshadowed by the Ancient Greeks, the Ancient Romans also had a rich culture and produced many must-read books. As Iave mentioned before on this blog, one of my goals in life is to be well-read. I’m making a list of the books I feel that I need to read to achieve that goal, […]

The post 3 Must-Read Books by Ancient Roman Philosophers appeared first on .

What do you do when you want to travel, but can’t? People love to travel for many reasons. Here are some of them: We crave knew experiences. We may have read, or heard, of a place that sounds like it would be fantastic to visit. We want to discover new ways of doing things and […]

The post 9 Ways to Cure Wanderlust When You Can’t Travel appeared first on .

You need unwavering commitment to achieve your goals. A while back I wrote a post on Ten Must-Watch TED Talks for lifelong learners. One of the talks that I highlighted in that post was by Connor Grooms. Grooms is a young man who learned to speak Spanish in a month. In his talk, Grooms explains […]

The post How to Increase Your Goal Commitment to Achieve Anything You Want appeared first on .

Being able to cope during hard times, such as these, is an invaluable skill. Life moves in cycles. Sometimes weare up, and sometimes weare down. The upcycles are great, but the downcycles can be difficult to deal with. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, humanity is currently going through a downcycle. This makes the question, aWhatas the […]

The post How to Cope When Things Are Tough: Coping During COVID-19 appeared first on .

There are plenty of ways to have fun even if you have to stay at home. It’s mid-March, and the world finds itself in the throes of a pandemic. If there’s one thing that most experts agree on when it comes to the best way to stay safe from the COVID-19 virus, it’s that we […]

The post 12 Fun Things to Do At Home appeared first on .

Stop self-sabotaging your learning efforts. Iam a weightlifter. One of the most difficult weightlifting exercises to perform properlyaif not the most difficultais the barbell back squat. This is for several physical reasons, including the following: In order to squat properly you must have good flexibility and mobility. This includes ankle mobility, hamstring mobility, hip mobility, […]

The post How You Sabotage Your Ability to Learn (and How to Stop) appeared first on .

Stop waiting to be picked. Pick yourself. Author, marketing expert, and entrepreneur Seth Godin explains that weare taught since we were kids to wait to be picked. When we want something, we wait to get permission from those who are in a position of authority: the Human Resources Director, the publisher, the record label manager, […]

The post How to Pick Yourself (Instead of Waiting for Others to Pick You) appeared first on .

The post Spring Roundup of Legal Information News From Washington DC appeared first on Slaw.

For those of you who are watching the regulatory environment for AI, here are some of the latest additions to my Guide to AI Regulation.

Federal

Updated – Notice to the Parties and the Profession: The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Court Proceedings, (Federal Court of Canada, updated May 7 2024), online.

Robert Morrissey, Chair. Implications of Artificial Intelligence Technologies for the Canadian Labour Force: Report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, 44th Parl, 1st Sess (House of Commons of Canada, May 2024).online . . . [more]

The post Guide to AI Regulation – Recent Additions appeared first on Slaw.

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

1. Dickson v. Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, 2024 SCC 10A (A(c)galement disponible en franASSais ici)

[2] Cindy Dickson, a citizen of the VGFN and of Canada, lives in Whitehorse and is constrained, for personal reasons, to stay there. She wishes to stand for election as a VGFN Councillor and says the residency . . . [more]

The post Wednesday: Whatas Hot on CanLII? a April 2024 appeared first on Slaw.

UWorldas existing learning resources and methods are offered in certain undergraduate, graduate and professional environments, such as accounting, finance, medical, pharmacy and nursing, as well as for some aspects of US legal training. In . . . [more]

The post From Pillar to Post: Signs of the Times in Law Publishing appeared first on Slaw.

The recent CBA national conference for immigration lawyers passed as though COVID is a distant memory. Crowded rooms full of professionals who serve the Canadian immigration system and our diverse mosaic of communities, in some way or another. Past practices of social distancing or meeting remotely have gone the way of the Dodo bird. At this recent conference, I was struck by one of the huge benefits of in-person learning: presenters can be candid and forthcoming, without fear their comments are being recorded. Speakers were able to share their thoughts and opinions freely without potential negative repercussions to them personally… . . . [more]

The post In Praise of in-Person CPDs and (Ongoing) AI Anxiety appeared first on Slaw.

The post Risk Management Revisited (Again): Navigating the Frontier of AI Regulation appeared first on Slaw.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Family LLB 2. Sane Split Podcast 3.A Legal Feeds 4. PierreRoy & AssociA(c)s 5. Blogue SOQUIJ

Family LLB
Upcoming Virtual Event a Divorce and Financial Disclosure

Join us for a 1 hour and 15 minute virtual event with family lawyersA Russell Alexander,A Shmuel Stern, &A . . . [more]

The post Mondayas Mix appeared first on Slaw.

PANAL (DROIT) : Le tribunal rejette la requAate en arrAat des procA(c)dures prA(c)sentA(c)e par l’accusA(c), qui marchait sur un trottoir du centre-ville de MontrA(c)al avec un pistolet de marque Glock 19 cachA(c) dans un sac A bandouliA"re de type A<> avant d’Aatre interpellA(c) par les policiers; ces derniers avaient . . . [more]

The post Summaries Sunday: SOQUIJ appeared first on Slaw.

Each Friday, we share the latest job listings from Slaw Jobs, which features employment opportunities from across the country. Find out more about these positions by following the links below, or learn how you can use Slaw JobsA to gain valuable exposure for your job ads, while supporting the great Canadian legal commentary at Slaw.ca.

Current postings on Slaw Jobs:

• Staff Lawyer | Westbank, BC
  (BC First Nations Justice Council)
• Director of Policing, Oversight and Accountability | Head Office in Westbank or any Indigenous Justice Centre, Canada
  (BC First Nations Justice Council)
• Family LawyerA (Full-time) | Chilliwack, BC
  (Waterstone Law

. . . [more]

The post Friday Jobs Roundup appeared first on Slaw.

The post AI Today: Grand Theft Auto or Public Benefactor? appeared first on Slaw.

Written by Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD, Content Editor, First Reference Inc.

In February 2024, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador certified a privacy class action. The representative plaintiffs, on behalf of 260 individuals (first 240 individuals, and second 20 individuals), alleged that their privacy was violated when an employee of the defendant employer (a health authority) accessed the private information of these individuals that was outside the scope of their employment. The employer became aware of the first and second alleged breaches in 2020 and 2021, respectively. The main claim against the employer was that there . . . [more]

The post Newfoundland and Labrador Privacy Class Action Goes Ahead appeared first on Slaw.

Public Health Crisis Management and Criminal Liability of Governments: A Comparative Study of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Edited by Michael Bohlander, Gerhard Kemp & Mark Webster. New York: Bloomsbury, 2023. xii, 368 p. Includes preface, list of contributors, abbreviations, and index. ISBN 9781509946310 (hardcover) $180.95; ISBN 9781509946327 (ePUB) $162.85; ISBN 9781509946334 . . . [more]

The post Book Review: Public Health Crisis Management and Criminal Liability of Governments: A Comparative Study of the COVID-19 Pandemic appeared first on Slaw.

This PLS post describes the Chatbot and provides some examples of questions and responses. I was particularly intrigued with the assertion that it provides ahelpful and empathetica responses to peoplesa legal questions. Iam skeptical about AIas ability to communicate effective empathy. But I was surprised to read the final example in the post:

Beagle+: Before you go, I just want to remind you to take care of

. . . [more]

The post Does AI Have a Soul? Can AI Show Empathy? appeared first on Slaw.

My colleagues used two documents from the case. The first was written by a pro-police advocate who described the scene and the confusion and fear felt by the . . . [more]

The post Describing a Police Shooting: A Lesson in Legal Writing appeared first on Slaw.

Family Dispute Resolution: Process and Practice, just published by Oxford University Press, is THE book that family dispute resolution (FDR) practitioners and educators have been waiting for.

Edited by Peter Salem and Kelly Browe Olson, this book delivers the goods like no other— all 600+ pages of it.[1] It is an essential guide for experienced practitioners in particularalawyers or mental health professionals with dispute resolution training or experience. The book will remind them why they were drawn to this work in the first place and rejuvenate their practices in unexpected ways.

Though heavily US-focused, there are three strong . . . [more]

The post Book Review : Family Dispute Resolution: Process and Practice (2024) appeared first on Slaw.

PANAL (DROIT) : La juge de premiA"re instance n’a pas errA(c) en condamnant l’accusA(c)e, une fraudeuse qui avait usurpA(c) l’identitA(c) d’une autre personne, A une peine de 18A mois d’emprisonnement; l’accusA(c)e ne convainc pas la Cour que les accrocs procA(c)duraux liA(c)s aux dA(c)clarations des victimes lui ont causA(c) un prA(c)judice . . . [more]

The post Summaries Sunday: SOQUIJ appeared first on Slaw.

Each Friday, we share the latest job listings from Slaw Jobs, which features employment opportunities from across the country. Find out more about these positions by following the links below, or learn how you can use Slaw JobsA to gain valuable exposure for your job ads, while supporting the great Canadian legal commentary at Slaw.ca.

Current postings on Slaw Jobs:

• Staff Lawyer | Westbank, BC
  (BC First Nations Justice Council)
• Director of Policing, Oversight and Accountability | Head Office in Westbank or any Indigenous Justice Centre, Canada
  (BC First Nations Justice Council)
• Family LawyerA (Full-time) | Chilliwack, BC
  (Waterstone Law

. . . [more]

The post Friday Jobs Roundup appeared first on Slaw.

Many law firms are successful by accident.

Anyone who knows anything about traditional law firm structures knows they are perilously fragile. It doesnat take much to bring them down.

Up until this latest debacleathe 2024 collapse of Minden GrossaCanadaas highest-profile law firm failures were Heenan Blaikie in 2014, Goodman and Carr in 2007, and Holden Day Wilson in 1996.

Canadian law firms are not alone in this plight. For exampleaand this is only a small samplingalawyer exits and merger failure brought down U.S.-based Stroock & Stroock & Lavan at the end . . . [more]

The post Law Firm Failures a the New Normal? appeared first on Slaw.

When a party fails to abide by an interlocutory court order, there can be several consequences. For instance in Ontario, Rule 60.12 of the Rules of Civil Procedure states that “…the court may, in addition to any other sanction provided by these rules, (a) stay the partyas proceeding; (b) dismiss the partyas proceeding or strike out the partyas defence; or (c) make such other order as is just.”

In the recent case, Buduchnist Credit Union Limited v. 2321197 Ontario Inc., 2024 ONCA 57 at para 53, the Ontario Court of Appeal reaffirms that the court’s discretion to respond . . . [more]

The post Dealing With a Breach of a Court Order appeared first on Slaw.

Everyone is the poet of their memories. … But like the best poems, they’re also never really finished because they gain new meaning as time reveals them in different lights.

Richard Hell

The resolution of disputes does not always depend on the memories of parties or witnesses, but when credibility is at issue the memories of actions can be a critical part of resolving disputes. The more we learn about how memories are formed, and more importantly, how they are retained, the more we should have real concerns about the ability of decision-makers to assess credibility of testimony of events . . . [more]

The post Delays in Access to Justice and Memories appeared first on Slaw.

It stated that if you wake up with the sun, you are still asleep. However if you awaken the sun, then you are truly awake.

I had to read it a few times to actually understand itas meaning, but then I realized that what this means, is that the way our day develops is completely up to us.

If we set an intention for the day to unfold in a calm and peaceful manner, knowing that we are fully capable of dealing with whatever challenges may arise, . . . [more]

The post Awakening the Sun appeared first on Slaw.

One way of forcing Google to return only the words you are searching for is to put quotation marks around the words or phrases you want. Another way is to use Googleas verbatim option.

To use the verbatim option, go to the Tools option on the Google search page. Click on All Results and then select Verbatim. . . . [more]

The post Tips Tuesday: Use the Verbatim Option in Google appeared first on Slaw.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1.A Global Workplace Insider 2. Vancouver Immigration Law Blog 3. Le Blogue du CRL 4.A Canadian Appeals Monitor 5. The Treasureras Blog

Global Workplace Insider
La Cour suprAame du Canada tranche : les cadres ne pourront se syndiquer au QuA(c)bec

Le 19 avril dernier, la Cour suprAame du . . . [more]

The post Mondayas Mix appeared first on Slaw.

PANAL (DROIT) : L’appel de la dA(c)claration de dA(c)linquant dangereux prononcA(c)e A l’endroit de l’accusA(c) est rejetA(c), et ce, bien que le juge de premiA"re instance ait mal A(c)noncA(c) l’A(c)tat du droit et que la structure du jugement de dA(c)termination de la peine soit critiquable; la Cour n’y voit aucune . . . [more]

The post Summaries Sunday: SOQUIJ appeared first on Slaw.

Big Data. Edited by Benoit Leclerc & Jesse Cale. Abingdon: Routledge, 2020. 148 p. Includes illustrations, bibliographic references, and index. Criminology at the Edge series. ISBN 9781138492783 (hardcover) $136.00; ISBN 9781032336992 (softcover) $42.36; ISBN 9781351029704 (eBook) $42.36.

Reviewed by Matthew Renaud
Law Librarian,
E.K. Williams Law Library, University of Manitoba . . . [more]

The post Book Review: Big Data appeared first on Slaw.

The British Columbia legal professionas leading organizations (the Law Society, the Canadian Bar Associationas BC branch, and the Trial Lawyersa Association of BC) strongly oppose Bill 21, with the . . . [more]

The post Governance Reform and Lawyer Independence in Canadian Legal Regulation: Examining British Columbiaas Bill 21 appeared first on Slaw.

Through technology, counsel can now utilize a variety of demonstrative aids . . . [more]

The post Effective Use of Visual Aids in Mediation appeared first on Slaw.

We have both written previously on myths and stereotypes about intimate partner violence (IPV), one of the most common of which is that women make false or exaggerated claims of violence to gain an advantage in family law disputes (see here and here). In KMN v SZM, 2024 BCCA 70 (CanLII), the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) recognized the existence of this myth and the need for courts to avoid making assumptions that perpetuate it, holding that it is . . . [more]

The post BC Court of Appeal Recognizes the Myth of False Allegations of Intimate Partner Violence appeared first on Slaw.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1.A Dooreyas Workplace Law Blog 2. Lash Condo Law 3. Canadian Appeals Monitor 4. Family LLB 5. Avoid a Claim

Dooreyas Workplace Law Blog
SCC: Exclusion of Managers from Labour Legislation Not a Charter Violation

The Supreme Court of Canada released a much anticipated but under the radar . . . [more]

The post Mondayas Mix appeared first on Slaw.