International Law

No Pledge, No Service

Posted on October 07, 2010
A lawyer in Mississippi has been found in contempt of court for refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance:Lampley told The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal he respected the judge but wasn't going to back down."I don't have to say it because I'm an American," Lampley told the newspaper...

Spamming Facebook Can Be Rather Expensive

Posted on October 06, 2010
A Quebec Court has upheld an $873 million California judgement in favour of Facebook against an "erectile dysfunction spammer." The judgment is so large it has landed Adam Guerbuez in the Guinness book of world records - and bankruptcy court.?Does Facebook expect to quickly collect $873-million and share the proceeds in some way with our users? Alas, no...

Fire Sign of the Times

Posted on October 06, 2010
Digby, on the South Fulton, Tennessee firefighters who stood by and watched as Gene Cranick's rural home burned to the ground - the fire department refused to respond because Mr. Cranick hadn't paid a $75.00 fire prevention fee:"F**k yer neighbors if they don't have the money" doesn't seem like the America they used to talk about...

"T.E.D."?Time Estimation Disorder

Posted on October 06, 2010
Sorry, I'm late - a good article at WSJ today on those of us who have a tendency to "occasionally" be running a bit behind.(h/t - @DanPinnington)- Garry J. Wise, TorontoVisit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net TORONTO EMPLOYMENT LAW ? TORONTO CIVIL LITIGATION & ESTATE LITIGATION ? TORONTO FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE ORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

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140Law - Legal Headlines for October 6, 2010

Posted on October 06, 2010
Here are today's leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter.Lawyers: Student in sex video case is innocent http://is.gd/fNkV0Hazing Accusations Against a Sorority http://is.gd/fN3qRThe shopkeeper vs. the justice system - National Posthttp://is.gd/fN2TFMarried couples with kids in the minority for first timehttp://is...

Who Owns A Former Employee's Twitter @ccount?

Posted on October 05, 2010
Legal Blog Watch wonders about the ownership of departed CNN anchor Rick Sanchez' Twitter account.For what it's worth, there's been no activity on @ricksanchezcnn since Mr. Sanchez was unceremoniously shown the door over the weekend. As a result, in this case, my bet's with CNN...

140Law - Legal Headlines for October 5, 2010

Posted on October 05, 2010
Here are today's leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter.Laptops lead to 'toasted skin syndrome' http://is.gd/fLn0kMake court the alternative, report urges - Law Timeshttp://is.gd/fLmIbProstitution ruling won't change much - Montreal Gazettehttp://is...

American Mortgage Moratorium

Posted on October 05, 2010
Author James Kunstler, on the mortgage foreclosure moratorium slowly taking hold throughout America:This new subplot concerning the paperwork itself, however, complicates things more than anyone expected, and real suddenly. So eager were the originators to pump-and-dump mortgages - to write up loans and immediately re-sell them to the chumps at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and elsewhere - that they got ludicrously sloppy...

Criminal Code Amendments: A Costly Pill for Provinces

Posted on October 05, 2010
The Harper government's recent changes to the Criminal Code - the introduction of new minimum sentences; the increase in minimum sentences for some crimes; and the abolition of house arrest for others - is likely to increase the provinces' cost of administering justice across this country by hundreds of million - or billions - of dollars per year...

Obama - Clinton in 2012?

Posted on October 05, 2010
Bob Woodward says it's on the table.- Garry J. Wise, TorontoVisit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net TORONTO EMPLOYMENT LAW ? TORONTO CIVIL LITIGATION & ESTATE LITIGATION ? TORONTO FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE ORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

On Supreme Courts and Puppy Mills

Posted on October 05, 2010
Two articles which both rank highly on the "read the whole thing" scale today.Firstly, over at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick and Barry Friedman explain how the John Roberts Supreme Court disguises its conservatism. From a Canadian standpoint it's interesting to see how an ideologically inclined top court picks its cases when compared to a less ideological court than our Supremes:How to explain the justices shoving the law rightward, while everyone thinks it is dead center or too far left? The answer is that Roberts is a brilliant magician...

The Donald Duck/Glenn Beck Remix

Posted on October 04, 2010
This "remixed" Disney cartoon was created by Jonathan McIntosh of Rebellious Pixels. More background is here:- Garry J. Wise, TorontoVisit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net TORONTO EMPLOYMENT LAW ? TORONTO CIVIL LITIGATION & ESTATE LITIGATION ? TORONTO FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE ORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

140Law - Legal Headlines for October 4, 2010

Posted on October 04, 2010
I hope some of our Toronto readers got a chance to make it out to Scotiabank's Nuit Blanche on Saturday! I personally wish the City offered more than one night of Nuit Blanche, but maybe that would make it less special. I was lucky enough to get to see the unveiling of Neil Young's new music at Nathan Philips Square, which was great...

Social Media and the Legal Profession: Where are We Today?

Posted on October 03, 2010
Toronto green energy and business lawyer Robert J. Wakalut will be speaking next week on the topic of social media and the practice of law at the International Bar Association Annual Conference in Vancouver. He's kindly asked for views from colleagues on the current state of the social media universe and the legal profession...

Well Said (Whatever It Means)

Posted on October 03, 2010
George Jonas on the Ontario prostitution ruling:Judge Himel has flushed down the toilet the ?gotcha? charges with which the law surrounded the oldest profession. Will they clog the pipes? Will there be a mess in the bathroom? Will governments try to fish them out again?The state?s legal plumbers are standing by...

Bill Maher on Why Americans Should Vote Democratic (In Spite of It All)

Posted on October 03, 2010
Bill Maher:But when it comes to voting, when we only have two choices, you've got to grow up and realize there's a big difference between a disappointing friend and a deadly enemy. Of course the Democrats are disappointing. That's what makes them Democrats...

Car Auction Reveals Seedier Side of Humanity: ?A Friend of a Friend is Not Necessarily Your Friend?

Posted on October 03, 2010
In writing trial decisions, judges are typically careful describing witnesses, in an attempt to maintain the utmost professionalism as impartial arbiters of fact and interpreters of law. Imagine, then, the case before The Honourable Mr. Justice J.W. Quinn, which compelled him to describe defendant Gurnek Singh, as:unblinkingly dishonestno aptitude for the truthwithout a consciencea devious manThe May 7, 2010 decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Pirbhai v...

NHL Backs Down on Barring Bloggers

Posted on October 03, 2010
The National Hockey League has backed off a previously-leaked draft policy that would have barred sports bloggers from its club dressing rooms and arena press boxes. The league has opted, instead, to continue its current practice of letting each team decide for itself on the issue...

Not Amused

Posted on October 03, 2010
...by this racially questionable legal marketing concept initiated by a Boca Raton, Florida social worker:(h/t: Kevin O'Keefe)- Garry J. Wise, TorontoVisit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net TORONTO EMPLOYMENT LAW ? TORONTO CIVIL LITIGATION & ESTATE LITIGATION ? TORONTO FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE ORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

The Supreme Court of Canada in 2010 - Do Fewer Cases Signal Less Justice?

Posted on October 03, 2010
If the last nine months are any indication, the Supreme Court of Canada will close the year having rendered significantly less judgments than it has in recent times. While there has been no drop in leave applications, the number of applications granted has seen a sharp decline which in large part, explains the drop in judgements...

When Clients Deceive

Posted on October 03, 2010
A recent article by Rosalind Conway in the Law Times, A Criminal Mind: What to do when a client lies to you?, takes on what for most lawyers will invariably be a sticky issue.Like it or not, this is something many legal professionals are likely to confront, sooner or later...

Quoteworthy: On Sharron Angle

Posted on October 02, 2010
Nicole Belle at C & L, on Sharron Angle, the Republican candidate for Senator of Nevada, who claims that Sharia law has "taken hold" in certain parts of America:... you just can't fix this level of stupidAnd while we're on the topic of truth is stranger than fiction, how about this, fresh in from our chip off the old block department?Did you know that the father of Christine O'Donnell, Delaware's dabbling Republican senatorial candidate, was one of the actors who played Bozo the Clown, a children's television classic from a kinder, gentler era gone by?- Garry J...

140Law - Legal Headlines for October 1, 2010

Posted on October 01, 2010
The weekend is nearly upon us, and we are glad to bring to you our 'First Follow Friday in October' version of 140Law. Here, then, are today's leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter:Fraud scam emails and documents targeting lawyers now on AvoidAClaim...

Court Humour (Your Friday Funny)

Posted on October 01, 2010
Recently making the rounds of Digg and Reddit is this eight-year-old humour piece (rescued from the depths of the internet, as Digg and Reddit are prone to do) from the late Miles Kington, wherein Kington makes up a pretty funny witness/barrister dialogue:Counsel: Now, Mr Chrysler ? for let us assume that that is your name ? you are accused of purloining in excess of 40,000 hotel coat hangers...

Bedford v. Canada - Ontario Prostitution Decision is Online

Posted on September 30, 2010
See the following link: Bedford v. Canada (Attorney General) (Civil litigation, Criminal law; Ont. Superior Ct. of Justice; September 28, 2010) -- Criminal Code provisions that sought to address facets of prostitution actually endangered prostitutes by preventing them from engaging in actions to prevent violence and were not in accord with the principles of fundamental justice and were struck down...

A U.S. Conservative View on Canada's Human Rights Tribunals

Posted on September 30, 2010
The Legal System that is Canada, from Ted Frank at Point of Law:The University of Windsor might have a bit more trouble recruiting a dean for its law school after an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal announced that it reserved for itself the right to fire any dean hired and replace them with a complainant, Emily Carasco, who has argued that the search committee's consideration of allegations of plagiarism in her unsuccessful quest for the job reflected gender discrimination...

More Prostitution Punditry

Posted on September 30, 2010
The editorials continue to roll out:Prostitution ruling: Let Parliament debate the issue - Toronto StarFinally, some sanity in our prostitution laws - National PostSex workers still not protected - Toronto Sun Controversial ruling on prostitution long overdue - Brantford ExpositorSex trade laws were misguided - Winnipeg Free PressProstitution and the law - Ottawa CitizenOn safety and sex workers - Hamilton SpectatorA good step in addressing antiquated sex-trade laws - Edmonton JournalPublic deserves right to limit prostitution - The Province (Vancouver)Sex-trade grenade: Careful what you wish for - The Halifax Chronicle HeraldSex-trade ruling should be obeyed - Victoria Times Colonist Finally, for an excellent analysis of the ruling, its ramifications and approaches to moving forward, see Yosie Saint-Cyr's post at Slaw: Decriminalizing the Oldest Profession in the World...

140Law - Legal Headlines for September 30, 2010

Posted on September 30, 2010
Here are today's leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter.Alberta not swayed by Ontario sex trade ruling - Calgary Herald http://is.gd/fAuLPSupreme Court ruling could 'break the web' - Canada.com http://is.gd/fAuP0US judges grill lawyers in Conrad Black case - Macleans...

Going Vegan With Bill

Posted on September 29, 2010
Bill Clinton goes vegan, presumably making his daughter proud.(h/t: Jim Harris, former leader of the Green Party of Canada, via Facebook)- Garry J. Wise, TorontoVisit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net TORONTO EMPLOYMENT LAW ? TORONTO CIVIL LITIGATION & ESTATE LITIGATION ? TORONTO FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE ORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

The Prostitution Ruling

Posted on September 29, 2010
The pundits are beginning to weigh in, and National Post's Barbara Kay sure doesn't like yesterday's ruling:The danger to prostitutes will continue, because the kind of men who frequent prostitutes and the kind of men who control them don't have a lot of respect for them on the whole...

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