BARE BONES BRIEFS: Abusive firm leader disbarred for insulting juniors | Vancouver bar icon dies before facing laundering charges | Trending: return to office | UK Court of Appeal: ANNs not patentable | Arbitrator: Taking a diving course counts as “union business”
By Julius Melnitzer | July 24, 2024 TREAT JUNIOR COLLEAGUES WITH RESPECT – OR ELSE! Domenic Pisano, a lawyer with 23 years’ experience and a director of Domenic Levent Solicitors in London, has been disbarred by the UK’s Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for “offensive, intimidating and insulting” behaviour towards junior colleagues. His sins included shouting at […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Grossly inadequate: two-month practice suspension for Jeremy Magence; | Panama Papers lawyer acquitted of money laundering | The “most American solution ever” | Lawyer addicted to pooping in Pringles can | Barrister attacks fashion designer for taking empty seat at opera
By Julius Melnitzer | July 4, 2024 JEREMY MAGENCE’S SUSPENSION IGNORES PROFITS FROM MISCONDUCT On June 27, the Law Society Tribunal Hearing Division suspended Jeremy Magence of Toronto personal injury firm Bergel Magence LLP for two months and ordered him to pay $5,000 in costs. The panel found that he engaged in misleading advertising by allowing […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Gender pay gap has ‘little to do’ with caring responsibilities: study | Will wearing robes deter violence in the courtroom? | Alberta still only province to recognize tort of harassment | No favours for self-represented: UK court | Lemon lawsuit a lemon
By Julius Melnitzer | April 29, 2024 KIDS DON’T FACTOR MUCH IN GENDER PAY GAP While confirming the ubiquity of the gender pay gap across seniority groups and practice areas, a UK Bar Council study concludes that caring responsibilities “are not the sole, or even a primary, factor in the median earnings difference.” The Law […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Blakes absent, but Gowling shines on YouTube | Investment fund liable for “greenwashing” | Lawyer forgives client who stabbed him in court | Ukraine wants to trademark “go fuck yourself” war slogan | Adultery now legal
By Julius Melnitzer | April 4, 2024 BIGLAW MISSES THE YOUTUBE BOAT According to Eric Troutman, a prominent class action defence lawyer with California-based Troutman Amin LLP, writing in Practice Source, YouTube is “the world’s second most visited website and an absolutely critical communication channel for businesses (including law firms) seeking to engage with new […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: ‘From the river to the sea’: a trademark? | More lawyer hubris: 27 cent lawsuit | DWPV study examines 2023 insolvency highs | AI not ‘inventor’ for patent purposes: court | Ecocide now a crime in EU
By Julius Melnitzer | March 12, 2024 JEWISH AMERICANS SEEK TRADEMARK FOR PALESTINIAN CHANT Joel Ackerman and Oron Rosenkrantz, who are Jewish US citizens, have filed separate applications to trademark the phrase ‘From the river to the sea’, used by the Palestinian nationalist movement since the 1960s to express its desire for a Palestinian state […]
Top 10 business decisions of 2023, Part I – and the law firm players
By Julius Melnitzer | January 15, 2024 What follows is Law360 Canada’s annual list of the Top 10 business decisions in Canada for the just-ended year. This is a two-part series, which begins below with numbers 6-10, in ascending order. 10. Benjamin Moore & Co v. Canada (Attorney General) In this case, the first time […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Anti-Israel stance costs law students their jobs | Pornhub sues for TM infringement | Counsel suspended for naming sexual assault complainants | Not Mother’s Day: son sues mother’s law firm for “cold and callous” conduct | Fake lawyer wins 26 consecutive cases |
By Julius Melnitzer | October 19, 2023 DAVIS POLK RESCINDS JOB OFFERS TO PRO-HAMAS HARVARD STUDENTS Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, a top UK law firm that employs about 1,000 lawyers, has withdrawn job offers to three Harvard and Columbia students who signed statements blaming Israel for the Hamas attacks and expressing support for Palestinians. […]
LOT Network provides startups with protection against patent trolls
George Palikaras says trolls show up when startups are raising money By Julius Melnitzer | May 8, 2023 Pre-IPO companies and startups in earlier financing cycles need their due diligence to go smoothly. No surprise, then, that a recent study has found that while patent litigation initiated by operating companies has declined in recent years, suits […]
Top 10 business decisions of 2022, Part I – – – and the law firm players
By Julius Melnitzer | January 18, 2023 What follows is the first part of our third annual list of the Top 10 business decisions in Canada for the just-ended year. This is a two-part series, which begins below with numbers 6-10, in ascending order. Read Part I here. 10. Nova Chemicals Corp. v. Dow Chemical […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: OCA reverses heroin trafficker’s conviction after judge delays reasons for 4 years | Woman lawyers working 100 more hours than men | 90% of UK lawyers resisting return to office | EU pushes gig workers’ rights | Top 5 law firm bulletins & webinars
By Julius Melnitzer | December 6, 2021 JUDGE TAKES FOUR YEARS TO DELIVER REASONS AFTER THREE-DAY TRIAL The trial involved only three days of evidence. But Judge Kofi Barnes of the Ontario Superior Court took four years to deliver reasons. And that was some 31 months after Shane Artis appealed his conviction and 10-year sentence […]