International Law

Obama Rules

Posted on March 22, 2008
Finally I get it.These are The Rules of the Democratic nomination battle, as adopted by supporters of the Barack Obama campaign:Rule 1:Every word Barack Obama (or any one of his supporters) shall utter shall be deemed to be historic, monumental and as pronouncing a self-evident, higher truth never before heard...

Video: "It's Raining McCain...?"

Posted on March 22, 2008
Meet the McCain Girls... Ouch...- Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net EMPLOYMENT LAW ? CIVIL LITIGATION ? WILLS AND ESTATES ? FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE

BBC Video: Tent Cities Spring Up In U.S. Due To Mortgage Crisis

Posted on March 22, 2008
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net EMPLOYMENT LAW ? CIVIL LITIGATION ? WILLS AND ESTATES ? FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE

The Gullibility of Andrew Sullivan

Posted on March 22, 2008
On the fifth anniversary of the commencement of American hostilities in Iraq, leading conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan has responded to Slate Magazine's request that he reflect on his "own failings of judgment" as a staunch supporter of the Bush administration's 2003 march toward war...

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It's The Easter Beagle...

Posted on March 21, 2008
Have a good holiday... - Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net EMPLOYMENT LAW ? CIVIL LITIGATION ? WILLS AND ESTATES ? FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE

The Gullibility of Andrew Sullivan

Posted on March 21, 2008
On the fifth anniversary of the commencement of American hostilities in Iraq, leading conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan has responded to Slate Magazine's request that he reflect on his "own failings of judgment" as a staunch supporter of the Bush administration's 2003 march toward war...

It's The Easter Beagle...

Posted on March 21, 2008
Have a good holiday... - Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net EMPLOYMENT LAW ? CIVIL LITIGATION ? WILLS AND ESTATES ? FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE

Scooter Libby Disbarred

Posted on March 20, 2008
In re I. L. Libby - Opinion of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals:When a member of the Bar is convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude, disbarment is mandatory. D.C. Code § 11-2503 (a) (2001). When convictions on more than one count are involved, disbarment is mandated if any one of them involves moral turpitude...

Bits and Briefs

Posted on March 20, 2008
With a holiday weekend just ahead, it's time to catch up with a few stories, some old and some new:A lawsuit is obviously ahead between the Redneck Shop, "a KKK store" in Laurens, South Carolina, and David Kennedy, its black, civil rights activist landlord...

Scooter Libby Disbarred

Posted on March 20, 2008
It was perhaps an anticlimatic footnote to a notorious downward spiral, spiked by political scandal and corruption, and culminating last March with convictions on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to U...

Barack Obama's Speech On Race Relations

Posted on March 19, 2008
Like so much in this U.S. Presidential nomination cycle, reaction to Barack Obama's speech yesterday on race in America was all in the eye of the beholder. My friend, Barry Brown, was exuberant:I said Barak Obama had to give his inaugural address now and that's just what he did...

McCartney v. Mills-McCartney

Posted on March 19, 2008
Just so you can't say we aren't meeting all of your celebrity justice needs:McCartney divorce costs Beatle US$48.7-million - National PostDivorce judge says Mills was 'inaccurate and less than candid witness' - Times OnlineThe judgment in full The best extracts - Garry J...

Lap Dance Litigation?

Posted on March 18, 2008
From the city that never sleeps, via Associated Press:NEW YORK (AP) ? A businessman claims in a lawsuit that he was injured when a stripper giving him a lap dance swiveled and smacked him in the face with the heel of her shoe. Stephen Chang, a securities trader, said in court papers filed Friday that he was at the Hot Lap Dance Club near Madison Square Garden and was getting a paid lap dance when the accident occurred early Nov...

Supreme Court of Canada - Flies in The Water Bottle

Posted on March 18, 2008
The Supreme Court of Canada heard argument today in the case of Wadda Mustapha, an Ontario man who sued a home drinking water supplier for damages, after finding dead flies at the bottom of a water bottle in his home. Mr. Mustapha claimed damages for emotional distress, depression, phobia and anxiety...

Ryerson Student Won't Be Expelled Over Facebook Study Group

Posted on March 18, 2008
We reported on the case of Chris Avenir last week. He's the student at Toronto's Ryerson University who faced expulsion over charges that a Facebook study group he administered facilitated cheating among the group's members. Today, the decision of an appeal committee that heard Mr...

Landlord May Butt Out Smoking Tenant: Ontario Landlord & Tenant Board

Posted on March 17, 2008
In a ground breaking ruling issued February 25, 2008, Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board has enforced a non-smoking provision in a residential lease, and upheld the right of residential landlords to prohibit smoking in the Province's rental accommodations...

Overlawyering Spitzer

Posted on March 17, 2008
I was pleased to see that we received a visit from Overlawyered's Walter Olson over the weekend. He was good enough to make a digital trek north of the border to comment on a post I wrote last Tuesday.Mr. Olson and I have disagreed occasionally in the past, but at the outset I will reiterate my prior comment that Overlawyered is, indeed, one of the premier and most readable law blogs in America...

The Anatomy of a Lawsuit - Part 1

Posted on March 17, 2008
The Nuts and Bolts of Civil Legal Proceedings in Ontario If you've ever been involved in civil litigation in Ontario, you've probably asked these questions: How does the court system work? What is the next step in my lawsuit? When is the other party going to file its documents? What is a motion? What happens at a pre-trial hearing? What must be done to get a trial date scheduled? What is going to happen next? And when? In this series of articles, we will take a brief look at the way Ontario's litigation process works...

Riders' Petition Rejected by Go Transit

Posted on March 16, 2008
GO Transit, which serves approximately 50 million commuters throughout the Greater Toronto Area a year, has rejected a petition by riders calling for fare rebates when service falls short. The petition, delivered by Patricia Eales of Oakville, contained close to 11,000 names calling for the transit company to offer rebates to passengers on GO trains running more than 20 minutes late, or not arriving at all...

B.C. Teacher Regulator Warns About Facebook

Posted on March 16, 2008
Should school teachers friend their students on Facebook?The British Columbia College of Teachers tackles this question in a statement, Facing Facebook, that warns the Province's teaching professionals of "fairly significant risk" to professional boundaries posed by teacher participation on Facebook:...

Proposed Mississippi Bill: Restaurants not to Serve Obese People

Posted on March 16, 2008
Last month, three Mississippi lawmakers introduced a bill that would prohibit ?obese? people from being served in Mississippi restaurants. Understandably, the proposed law has created serious backlash, and the bill?s authors are now backtracking, claiming their intention was to bring attention to the obesity problem in Mississippi, rather than enacting the controversial law...

Lawmaker Hopes to Make Anonymous Blogging Illegal

Posted on March 16, 2008
In an effort to address the ongoing problem of online bullying, Kentucky representative Tim Crouch is attempting to introduce a bill that would make it illegal to post anonymously online.Lexington, Kentucky's WTVQ News reports:The bill would require anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site...

Migrating Same-Sex Marriages in America: "Betwixt and Between"

Posted on March 15, 2008
Professor Brenda Cossman of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law Blog has a new paper on the gap between the legal and cultural recognition of same-sex marriage in America.Focusing on the uncertain legal status of same-sex spouses who migrate to, and throughout, America, Betwixt and between Recognition: Migrating-Same-Sex Marriages and the Turn Toward the Private reviews the applicability of conflict of laws principles to judicial determination of the legal status of migrating spouses...

Clinton Supporter at Daily Kos: "This Is A Strike"

Posted on March 15, 2008
There is no doubt - some Democratic feathers are getting badly ruffled as the nomination battle between Senators Clinton and Obama increases in heat. Some contributors at the flagship progressive blog, Daily Kos, now say they have had enough - enough, that is, of the ongoing 'Clinton-bashing' they claim to have encountered at the site...

Surprising Primary Statistics

Posted on March 14, 2008
Interesting stats and analysis from MyDD. Among Democratic primary voters, Hillary Clinton leads in the popular vote by 52% - 48%. Barack Obama is ahead 59% - 41% among both independent and Republican voters who have participated in the Democratic primaries...

"Ashley's Treatment": After a Year of Blogging, Parents Provide First Interview on Decision to Keep Child Physically Small

Posted on March 13, 2008
Born with an undiagnosed severe brain injury, at 9 years old Ashley has the mental capacity of a 6-month-old. She is entirely dependent on her parents. She cannot walk, eat, talk, bathe or roll over on her own.Concerned about the effects that puberty would have both on their child?s comfort and their future ability to care for Ashley, Ashley?s parents ? who remain anonymous- began researching what they have coined as ?Ashley?s Treatment? a combined surgical procedure and estrogen treatment with a goal of preventing Ashley from experiencing the regular effects of puberty including physical growth, menstrual cycles and breast development in the hopes of ?enhancing her quality of life?In May 2004, Ashley?s parents presented Ashley?s Treatment to the Seattle Children?s Hospital ethics committee...

Stephen Harper v. The Liberal Party of Canada

Posted on March 13, 2008
The Prime Minister has made good on his promise to sue the Liberal Party of Canada.Yesterday, he initiated a lawsuit against his political adversaries over their allegations that he knew of financial inducements allegedly offered by the Conservative Party in 2005 to Chuck Cadman, a deceased, former member of Canada's Parliament...

Chris Matthews: Softball With Barack Obama

Posted on March 12, 2008
The king of hardball goes awfully soft on the Democratic front-runner.As in, not one single follow-up question.Go figure. The video is here. - Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net EMPLOYMENT LAW ? CIVIL LITIGATION ? WILLS AND ESTATES ? FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE

Ryerson University Holds Facebook "Cheating" Hearing

Posted on March 12, 2008
In our post last Saturday, Facebook "Study Group" Leads to Ryerson "Cheating" Allegations, we reported on the case of Chris Avenir. Mr. Avenir is an 18 year-old student at Toronto's Ryerson University who faces possible expulsion over charges of cheating that arose from his role as administrator of a chemistry "study group" on Facebook...

Chris Matthews Plays Softball with Obama

Posted on March 12, 2008
Chris Matthews, MSNBC's self proclaimed king of Hardball, went awfully soft on Democratic front-runner, Barack Obama, in a televised, live interview last night.Go figure. Perhaps there were ground-rules. Nonetheless, not a shining moment for Mr. Obama, in the aftermath of his Mississippi primary win...

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