Opinion

Tuesday, November 12, 2019 @ 11:18 AM

Cambridge doctoral student Paul Warchuk messaged me this morning with the following news: ... [read more]

Monday, November 11, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

The time has come the walrus said to speak of many things. What time you ask? Daylight saving time (DST), in British Columbia of course.  ... [read more]

Friday, November 08, 2019 @ 8:23 AM

In Fontaine v. Canada (Attorney General) 2016 ONCA 241, Chief Justice George Strathy reiterated the court’s responsibility under class action legislation to promote access to justice and to protect the interests of class members. The University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law has launched what is believed to be the first-ever legal clinic dedicated to class actions in North America and whose goal is to do just that. The Class Actions Clinic will certaintly be something members of the class actions bar should familiarize themselves with, and where appropriate, direct prospective or current class members to the clinic’s services. ... [read more]

Thursday, November 07, 2019 @ 2:09 PM

In late autumn 2018, when the now legendary Vancouver river otter (Ro for short) was captured on film gleefully swimming around in the Sun Yat Sen Garden pond, with koi sashimi on his breath and not a care in the world, he captured our collective imaginations. ... [read more]

Tuesday, November 05, 2019 @ 12:45 PM

With the exception of technology, the basic model of the practice of law has not changed in any drastic way over the last 30 years, likely longer. While there are pockets of innovation, for the most part, a client usually seeks out a legal professional according to a set number of already established “problem areas” in which lawyers advertise their assistance: wills, estates, personal injury, family law, etc. However, it is very clear from statistics that the vast majority of people’s legal problems cannot be served through this model.  ... [read more]

Monday, November 04, 2019 @ 12:06 PM

On Nov. 6 when the Supreme Court of Canada hears the appeal in Uber v. Heller 2019 ONCA 1, some 18 interveners will be on hand to assist the court. ... [read more]

Monday, November 04, 2019 @ 10:44 AM

A few weeks ago, I was part of a panel on TVO. The discussion centred on what had changed in the two years since the #MeToo movement had begun. Much to my surprise, I seemed to be the sole voice on the panel who thought that the needle on the sexual harassment dial had moved at all. ... [read more]

Thursday, October 31, 2019 @ 1:35 PM

As I mentioned in my remarks when I received the Guthrie Award recently, there has been little attention paid to ensuring that lawyers — particularly family law lawyers — are educated about the issue of family violence. This creates a significant barrier to access to justice for families where violence has been a factor. ... [read more]

Thursday, October 31, 2019 @ 9:21 AM

This year is the 130th anniversary of the publication of a book called Broken Shackles about the Underground Railroad. You have likely never heard of Broken Shackles — it wasn’t a bestseller in 1889. But it is an important book because it is one of the few primary sources of the African American enslavement experience, narrating the story of Charley Chance, born and raised on an American plantation. ... [read more]

Tuesday, October 29, 2019 @ 12:09 PM

We are at the S-O-S stage of the fentanyl and opioid crisis. Predictably, our first response was to blame the addicts, throwing them in jail for as long as possible. Shockingly, the crisis didn’t go away. A wider net was cast. Prescribing doctors in the U.S. were next. ... [read more]