BARE BONES BRIEFS: 60-year-old lawyer seeks Miss Universe crown | OCA to trial judges: don’t call parties’ testimony ‘self-serving’ | No correlation between ‘attack dog’ counsel and success | AI legal robot sued: lacks license to practice
By Julius Melnitzer | May 2, 2024 SEXAGENARIAN IN-HOUSE COUNSEL CROWNED MISS BUENOS AIRES Alejandra Rodriguez, a 60-year old Argentinian hospital lawyer, pictured above, has won the Miss Buenos Aires contest. If she wins the next round in the Miss Universe competition by becoming Miss Argentina, she will enter the final, international round as the […]
Maximum: Restorative Justice
Photo by Ron Lach at Pexels By Lino Matteo | May 1, 2024 Julius Melnitzer’s Maximum Medium Minimum is more than one man’s journey through the Canadian penitentiary system. It also starkly shows the weakness and foolishness of our entire judicial system. It is supposed to be there to protect society, and to help rehabilitate; instead, […]
Ordering Off Menu
By Murray Gottheil | April 30, 2024 I like eating out, but I don’t always like what is on the menu. I have been known to explain to the server that I consider a menu to be merely an indication of which ingredients the chef has in the kitchen, together with samples of some of the […]
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 […]
Feminists – Honesty Is Not Always The Best Policy
Photo by Markus Spiske at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | April 28, 2024 I was speaking to a newbie lawyer the other day. I am going to call her Sue, which is definitely not her real name. Sue is an intelligent young woman, but like many of us when we are starting out, is perhaps just a […]
Ontario court sides with IBM in pension benefits rectification case
By: Julius Melnitzer | April 25, 2024 An Ontario Superior Court ruling that allowed IBM Canada Ltd. to retrospectively rectify drafting errors that created unintended additional pension benefits for employees on disability leave augurs well for plan sponsors seeking similar relief going forward. “The case clarifies that there is a specific test for rectification of pension […]
Figures Don’t Lie…
Photo by Markus Winkler at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | April 24, 2024 The following recent headline in Law360 caught my attention: “Law360 Canada Pulse survey shows strong satisfaction among lawyers with their jobs.” Although I love Law360 and think very highly of its writers, the headline took me aback because it does not ring true […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Lawyer convicted of racketeering too closely connected to judges for court to sanction him | Corporate veil still eroding? | Bail for RCMP official sentenced to 14 years for leaking state secrets to organized crime | FC: Google not exempt from PIPEDA | IBA Annual Conference coming to Toronto
By Julius Melnitzer | April 22, 2024 MAJORITY OF APPEAL COURT RECUSE THEMSELVES FROM WELL-CONNECTED LAWYER’S CASE The Chicago Tribune reports that Illinois’ Supreme Court was unable to act on an an interim license suspension application brought by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission against Ed Burke, a Chicago lawyer and the city’s longest-serving alderman, […]
Chasing Unicorns: Changing Law Firm Culture
Photo by Cottonbro Studio at Pexels Culture eats strategy for breakfast – Peter Drucker Back when I was a managing partner in a law firm, I did not think nearly enough about law firm culture. I really should have, but not only because it is the secret to business success. Looking back, I realize I […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: “Jobs bloodbath”sparks DLA Piper cuts to paternity leave | Good looking lawyers win more frequently in courtroom: study | Crown: directors, officers face increased OHSA prosecution risks | Federal Court OKs RCMP’s lengthy delays in harrassment cases | Receivables crisis coming for law firms?
By Julius Melnitzer | April 16, 2024 DLA REDUCES PATERNITY LEAVE IN WAKE OF ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY The Daily Mail reports that global firm DLA Piper has reduced non-partners’ (other than birth mothers) paternity leave by six months, leaving them with 12 months’ eligibility, four less than the 16-week average of most major law firms. “It […]