September 16, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer The Investment Industry Regulatory Association of Canada has published its Best Practices for Electronic Proceedings. COVID-19 saw the IIROC postpone in-person hearings or convert them into virtual hearings. The guidelines are aimed at extending greater access, and enhancing transparency and confidence in the system. “We anticipate that virtual […]
Wednesday, September 16, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer This is the first of a three-part LegalWriter.net series on lawyers who represent other lawyers. So many people don’t like them. No surprise, then, that lawyers need lawyers. The problem is that more than a fair number of lawyers don’t care for or respect each other. So […]
September 15, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer A UK High Court decision has relieved uncertainties about insurance coverage for COVID-19 losses. The decision is not binding on Canadian courts. But it may provide considerable guidance here, where the situation has been no less uncertain. That’s because the court reviewed 21 different types of wording in […]
September 11, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer There’s a shroud hanging over the $9 million fine that the Competition Bureau imposed on Facebook in May. Facebook consented to the administrative monetary penalty, the largest privacy noncompliance fine imposed in Canada. Some observers tout it as a landmark conclusion to the Bureau’s two-year long investigation into […]
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer Twelve litigation and arbitration funders with $10 billion to spend have launched a global association, the International Legal Finance Association (ILFA). The ILFA was incorporated in Washington, D.C. and has a significant presence in London. It bills itself as “the global voice” of the industry, which it […]
Thursday, September 10, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer CanArbWeek 2020, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and the Young Canadian Arbitration Practitioners are hosting Tour d ‘Horizon, a global virtual tour of legal developments on international arbitration. The event will take place on Thursday, September 17. 2020 at 3:30 PM EST. It will feature a panel […]
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 | Julius Melnitzer Trump, Twitter & The Law is something of an oddity: a book about The Donald by a Canadian. Sheldon Burshtein, partner emeritus with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto, tells the story of Trump’s profound impact on the U.S. He does it through the eyes of a […]
Sunday, September 6, 2020 | Julius Melnitzer On Thursday, September 10, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) will issue its decisions in two Anti-Slapp legislation cases from Ontario. One of the judgments involves Maia Bent, a partner with Lerners LLP in Toronto. She allegedly defamed an expert witness in an email she issued in her […]
Friday, September 4, 2020 | Julius Melnitzer The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed the Attorney General of Canada’s attempt to block the court’s practice directions governing the gradual phase-out of COVID-19 suspension periods so far as the directions apply to cases involving the federal government and numerous federal boards, commissions and other tribunals. Characterizing […]
Tuesday, September 1, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer A monumental, pressure-packed collaboration has headed off the threat that COVID-19 presented to the 2020 law firm recruiting season. In a concentrated endeavour that began in March, law firms, public sector employers, legal departments, law students, law schools and law societies have come up with a solution […]