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.

Supreme Court ‘integrates’ duty to accommodate into Quebec’s injured workers’ legislation
The Supreme Court has ruled that Quebec employers have a duty under the province’s injured workers’ legislation to reasonably accommodate those injured in the workplace — even though that duty is not expressly mandated by the statute.

CLA says post-trial mental health support for jurors should extend also to defence counsel
Grisly images of people being murdered, tortured, or sexually abused are the stuff of nightmares and, unfortunately, also of criminal trials. Now the Commons Justice Committee is examining, for the first time, how Ottawa and the provinces can assist jurors whose psyches are scarred by what they see and hear during criminal and other proceedings.

Indigenous jurists made up 21% of applicants for SCC vacancy
Fourteen jurists vied last fall to fill the Supreme Court’s western vacancy — of which 21 per cent self-identified as Indigenous, according to the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Appointments, chaired by former prime minister Kim Campbell.

Law Society of Ontario vows to crack down on harassment faced by articling students; CBA says culture shift needed
The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) is redoubling its efforts to educate the profession on workplace conduct after about 20 per cent of articling students who responded to an internal survey said they experienced unwelcome attention. Meanwhile, the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) says behaviour in legal workplaces won’t change until a real culture shift occurs.

It’s time female lawyers stopped apologizing for having kids
In her column, Alison Burrison writes: “Female lawyers have to stop apologizing for the flexibility that is needed when you have a family because all parents need flexibility, especially single parents, the number of which are increasing every year within the workforce.”

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