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 […]
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: Maple Leafs’ captain fighting CRA demand for $6.8 million | LST: Child abuser can practise law | Alberta CA justice joins BLG | Remote work, wellbeing slow law firm productivity | Bullying of law students ‘relatively high’
By Julius Melnitzer | March 25, 2024 TAVARES TAKES ON CRA Maple Leafs’ captain John Tavares is fighting the CRA’s claim that he owes $6.8 million in taxes for 2018, when he signed a seven-year US$77 million contract with the team and moved from New York to Toronto. The agreement included a $70.8 million bonus, […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: | Litigation funders in 80% of cases | Humans not necessary: AIs negotiate contract amongst themselves | Fani Willis clone? | Lawyer elevates courtroom tardiness | IBA wellness guidelines |
By Julius Melnitzer | March 18, 2024 LITIGATION FUNDING PROLIFERATING The Law Society Gazette reports on a London Solicitors Litigation Association report which concludes that 80% of London litigators are working on cases where a litigation funder has financed at least one party. Although a recent UK Supreme Court decision makes some such arrangements unenforceable, […]
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 […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: CIRO to crack down on texting with clients? | Federal Court excoriates Pearson Airport’s disregard for language rights | Blakes Board Report: difficult for women to leverage not-for-profit board experience to paid boards | Global M&A at 10-year low | Cyberbreach counsel hacked
By Julius Melnitzer | March 6, 2024 WILL CIRO STEP UP ENFORCING BAN AGAINST TEXT MESSAGING WITH CLIENTS? Zach Pringle, writing in Babin Bessner Spry LLP’s Financial Services & Securities Blog, notes that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has in the last three years commenced over 35 enforcement actions citing record-keeping violations related to […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Single mother sacked for sandwich “theft” from law firm| Re-admitted drug-dealing lawyer faces new LSO allegations | Study IDs ‘Burning Issues’ for law firm leaders | Is it time for an inquiry into public inquiries? | Creditors allege Sullivan & Cromwell enabled FTX crypto fraud |
By Julius Melnitzer | February 29, 2024 FOOD FOR THOUGHT: WILL LAWYERS EARNING MILLIONS MISS LEFTOVER GRUB? Gabriela Rodriguez, a 39-year-old single mother, lost her cleaning job after eating a leftover sandwich valued at $2.50 and found on a discarded platter in the kitchen of London, UK law firm Devonshires, where lawyers earn up to […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: “Most positively reviewed” lawyer faces new misconduct allegations | Law firm openly adopts slippery slope | Calling colleague “pathetic human” is professional misconduct | FCA boosts climate litigation | FC certifies “older inmates” class action
By Julius Melnitzer | January 31, 2024 SAMFIRU TO FACE MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS IN ALBERTA Lior Samfiru, the Toronto-based national co-managing partner of employment law boutique Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, a firm that claims to be the “most positively reviewed employment law firm in Canada”, must now contend with allegations of professional misconduct in Alberta in addition […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: No kidding: $50 million counsel fee ruled “excessive” in $23 billion class action | CEO mismanagement is grounds for tax relief: FC | M&A activity lowest in decade | PE activity slows to pre-pandemic levels: Blakes | COVID inventory losses not insured: OCA
By Julius Melnitzer | January 7, 2024 FEDERAL COURT SLASHES $50 MILLION COUNSEL FEE Justice Mandy Aylen of the Federal Court of Canada has denied approval of a $50 million fee sought by Sotos LLP; Kugler Kandestin LLP; Miller Titerle+ Co.; Nahwegahbow, Corbiere; and Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP, class counsel in the $23 billion settlement […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: OCA upholds $2.5 million award to human rights lawyer | Jeremy Diamond appeals from de facto suspension and $100,000 fine for professional misconduct | Are law firms paying ransomware? | Report: Lawyers are high on AI extinction list | Unaware council passes ChatGPT-drafted law |
By Julius Melnitzer | December 17, 2023 LAWYER’S CAREER-ENDING INJURY JUSTIFIES $2.5 MILLION AWARD: OCA The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a $2.5 million award to Geraldine Sanson, a “highly respected human rights lawyer” whose career ended when a car struck her as she was cycling home from work in 2012. The trial judge […]