The Friday Brief: Managing Editor’s must-read items from this week

Matthew Grace

Here are my picks for the top stories we published this week.

Why International Women’s Day still matters
In her column, Pamela Cross writes: “In 1908, women marched through the streets of New York City calling for shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. Three years later saw the first official International Women’s Day (IWD), with more than one million women and men rallying in several European countries to call for women’s rights.”

Decision settles law on duty of care for snow, ice removal on municipal sidewalks, lawyers say
Legal observers are saying the door has been shut across Canada on a residential homeowner’s common law liability for snow and ice removal on a municipal sidewalk after B.C.’s highest court ruled two property owners did not owe a duty of care to a man who slipped and fell outside their home.

COVID-19 has led to ‘monumental’ shift in thinking on immigration detention issues, research shows
The havoc wreaked upon the legal system by COVID-19 has been well-documented, as filing goes electronic and hearings are held by platforms like Zoom. And research out of British Columbia shows this has led to a shift in thinking on immigration detention matters as COVID-19 has become a consideration when determining whether detainees should be released, a shift which is being called monumental because in the past a condition of detention would not be something decision makers would have likely taken a look at.

Ontario anti-human trafficking legislation could victimize sex workers, say critics
Advocates for sex workers are expressing concern that recently announced legislation in Ontario geared to fighting human trafficking will victimize consensual sex workers. Bill 251, the Combating Human Trafficking Act, 2021, is currently being debated in the legislature and is expected to be passed by the provincial government later this month, building on a five-year, $307-million anti-human trafficking strategy it announced in March 2020.

Lost art of cross-examination
In her column, Kyla Lee writes: “The best parts of any classic lawyer film are the gripping cross-examinations. Think of Daniel Keefe cross-examining Col. Jessup in A Few Good Men: “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” Or Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, cross-examining Chutney Putnam on the finer points of hair care after a perm. Honestly, I could play television and movie cross-examinations all day long and still learn new things.”

Matthew Grace is the Managing Editor of The Lawyer’s Daily.