Author: Brenda Lauritzen

Upcoming Research Training

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

We’re busy planning our training for this year, and are happy to announce the following upcoming sessions are now open for registration! All of our training is open to any member of the legal community, and can count for 1 hour Substantive CPD each (LSUC). We hope to see you there!

HeinOnline Webinar

February 23, 2017, 12:00 – 1:00 PM

Join us for a lunchtime training webinar on HeinOnline, a legal research tool that LSUC lawyers can use for free from your home or office! In this session you will learn about the varying wealth of legal materials available in this database and how to access them quickly and efficiently. We will also cover how to browse and download articles and historical legislation, and how to save time by optimizing your searches.
Location: Online
Cost: 10$
Register here!

Lexis Advance Quicklaw Training

March 22, 2017, 12:00 – 1:00 PM

Quicklaw’s new research platform, Lexis Advance, has arrived! In this session, learn to search Quicklaw’s collection of Canadian primary and secondary sources using a new design that features a streamlined single intuitive search box. As well, you will learn how selecting favorite sources or pre-search filters can help narrow your starting point. Discover how to search by name, by source or topic, citation or keyword; navigate and refine search results; deliver documents; and note up cases and statutes.
Location: CCLA Library, 161 Elgin Street, Suite 2004
Cost: Free
Register here!

WestlawNext Training

April 6, 2017, 12:00 – 1:00 PM

Skip the keyword search! Learn how to use the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest, Canadian Abridgment, and KeyCite features to very quickly narrow and find the most relevant case law, legislation, and commentary that you need. Westlaw basics will also be reviewed. There is no charge for this session.
Location: CCLA Library, 161 Elgin Street, Suite 2004
Cost: Free
Register here!

 

Ottawa Blog Roll: December 2016

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

Happy New Year! 2016 was a great year for Ottawa Law Blogs, and we are so pleased that so many Ottawa bloggers showed up in this year’s Clawbies, the Canadian Law Blog Awards. We are so incredibly honoured and grateful that Robeside Assistance was recognized as the winner in the Best Law Library Blog Award category!

Congratulations also to our fellow Ottawa bloggers:

And without further ado, below are links to blog posts or articles authored by the Ottawa legal community in December.

Civil Litigation

So You Want to Appeal… (Part 2): Appealing a decision from Small Claims Court
– Megan E. Fife, Maclaren Corlett

Is WSIB Discriminating Against Workers with Mental Illness?
– Frank Van Dyke, Van Dyke Injury Law Blog

Penalties for Drivers in Fatal Pedestrian Accidents – Is Ontario Car-Biased?
– Frank Van Dyke, Van Dyke Injury Law Blog

Social Host Liability
– Burke-Robertson LLP

Man Loses Millions to His Kids in Elder Abuse Case
– Vice and Hunter LLP

Minister Facing Numerous Charges in Elder Abuse Case
– Vice and Hunter LLP

Man Bankrupts Mother in Case of Financial Elder Abuse
– Vice and Hunter LLP

Condominium Law

Using a By-law to Control Parking
– James Davidson, Davidson Houle Allen LLP

Can Condo Owners Lease Out Their Parking Space?
– Rod Escayola, Condo Adviser

Airbnb Is Incompatible with The “Single Family Use” Provision of Most Condo Declarations
– Rod Escayola, Condo Adviser

Regulations Under the Legislation to Regulate Condo Managers Are Out For Consultation!
– Rod Escayola, Condo Adviser

A Canadian Christmas Story: Remembering the Battle of Ortona
– Rod Escayola, Condo Adviser

The “Airbnb” Decision is Out
– Rod Escayola, Condo Adviser

Continue reading →

End of Year Round-Up

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

It’s hard to believe it’s almost 2017! (And really, good riddance 2016.) With our Clawbie noms out yesterday, we’re wrapping things up this week before the holiday break. We’re very happy with what we achieved this year with the launch of Robeside Assistance, and we’re excited to go into the new year with a whole bunch of ideas for new content. In the meantime, though, here’s a quick look back at our favourite posts that we made this year.

By far our most popular series are the Recently Published Ottawa Decisions and the Blog Rolls, so we won’t be including those, but here are some others worth a read!

  • How to Find Unreported Decisions – In our technologically-antiquated Ontario court system there’s no real good way of going about finding decisions that were never published, but here we present your best options for getting your hands on those difficult-to-find decisions.
  • Tools We Love: Doodle – We love free things that make our lives easier! Using Doodle to schedule meetings does both of those things, and here’s a quick tutorial to show you how great it is.
  • Sites Unseen: Lipad – In the Sites Unseen series we featured legal research sites and tools that might be lesser known. A newcomer on the scene and one of my favourite new resources is Lipad, which is a new interface for accessing the Federal Hansard Debates.
  • #ThrowbackThursday: Somerset House – We had so much fun researching old Ottawa photos and history for our Throwback Thursdays, and when the Somerset House came into the news this was a perfect opportunity to do so!

Thanks so much for your support and readership this year; it’s been a blast. Wishing you all the very best of holidays and a Happy New Year!

 

Sites Unseen: Avoid A Claim

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

Avoid A Claim is a site of which we often advise students when they are first starting out, but it is truly a valuable resource for legal professionals at all stages in their careers. The main attraction of the site is their highly informative blog, which details all the small (and large!) things about practice management you might not know but probably should.

The site also features, under the “practicePRO Resources” menu, links to a variety of all-very-useful resources for lawyers such as precedents, checklists, fact sheets and toolkits.

I especially like their Technology section, which has sample policies and links to great articles (some examples seen below) on a variety of technologies of interest to law firms.

All this and more, free! (I’ve never felt so much like a salesperson.) So check it out, and make sure to add their blog to your RSS readers!

 

Ottawa Blog Roll: November 2016

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

Below are links to blog posts or articles authored by the Ottawa legal community in November.

Civil Litigation

So You Want to Appeal… (Part 1 – General Overview)
– Megan E. Fife, Maclaren Corlett

Vicarious liability: You are liable for the actions of people who have “possession” of your vehicle with your “consent”
– Burke-Robertson LLP

Safeguarding the Arbitration Process: Court deters frivolous claims of arbitrator bias
– R. Aaron Rubinoff and John Siwiec, Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP

A Brief Review of Social Host Liability in Canada
– Ally Czarnowski, Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP

Condominium Law

Courts Will Protect Condo Board Decisions… made in good faith
– Rod Escayola, Condo Adviser

Register Your Condo Lien Early or Risk Losing It
– Rod Escayola, Condo Adviser

Condominium Declaration, By-laws and Rules: What’s the Difference?
– Rod Escayola, Condo Adviser

How Much Time Does a Condo Have to Register a Lien ? (Part 2)
– Rod Escayola, Condo Adviser

First-Year Deficit of a Condominium Corporation
– Rod Escayola, Condo Adviser

Case Law Highlights
– James Davidson, Condo Law News

New Authorities Under Bill 106
– James Davidson, Condo Law News

Discovery of Claims Requires Asking the Right Questions
– Christy Allen, Condo Law News

Corporate Commercial Law

VIDEO BLOG: SPACs and CPCs: Alternatives to Private Equity and Traditional IPOs
– Conor Cronin, Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP

Criminal Law

Marijuana dispensaries wait as report on Canada’s legalization due Nov. 29, 2016 – Risk of charges continues
– Brett McGarry, McGarry Law

“We all share blame”: Reconciliation and sentencing in R v. Pelletier
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

October Criminal Law Round-up
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

In the News: Publication Ban and the Presumption of Innocence
– Shore Davis Johnston

The RCMP Needs You Scared – and the Media Seems Happy to Help
– Michael Spratt, Abergel Goldstein & Partners LLP

Are the Liberals Missing the Will to Change the Status Quo
– Michael Spratt, Abergel Goldstein & Partners LLP

Employment & Labour Law

When the Most Qualified Candidate Does Not Win
– Sean Bawden, Labour Pains

Dismissed employee receives punitive damages award
– Wassim Garzouzi, RavenLaw

Continue reading →

#ThrowbackThursday: Winter in the 1800s

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

As we all brace ourselves for what should be a snowy winter, let’s just take a moment to be thankful for snow removal technologies, and that we are not these guys doing it all manually in the late 1800s.

Snow removal on Sparks St. (after a storm, looking toward Metcalfe St)
Snow removal on Sparks St. (after a storm, looking toward Metcalfe St). William James Topley/Library and Archives Canada/PA-008376
Sparks Street. Samuel J. Jarvis / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / C-002186
Sparks Street. Samuel J. Jarvis / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / C-002186

I had no idea snow plows were so interesting, but check out this article for a more in-depth explanation of their history and use in Ottawa!

 

#ThrowbackThursday: The Poppy

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

Amidst other chaos, tomorrow we pause for a moment to remember and to honour our Veterans. In Canada, lapel Poppies have been a symbol of our remembrance since 1922, when they were first made by disabled Veterans, with the support of the Department of Soldiers Civil Re-establishment.

The Poppy is a trademarked symbol by the Legion, and Jen was able to dig up the Private Act of Canada where the drawing of the Poppy was found (SC 1980-81-82-83, c 179, Schedule II):

poppy poppy2

The poppy originally had a black centre before it changed to green for about twenty years (as seen above), and then was changed back to its original colour in 2002.

 

References

– The Poppy Manual, Royal Canadian Legion
– Why not all poppies look the same, Toronto Star, Nov 10, 2014

Sites Unseen: GlobaLex

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

We get research questions every now and then relating to foreign legislation or case law, and international legal materials are often difficult to find as most of our subscriptions do not cover much outside of Canada. So how do we go beyond the Google search to know what’s out there and what’s legitimate?

One of our favourite sites for International and Comparative law research is called GlobaLex, which is run by the New York University School of Law. From the homepage, click through to “Foreign Law Research”, and a list of each country will appear in alphabetical order.

globalex

 

Clicking on any one of these country links will bring you to the country overview, which includes a summary of the country’s legal system, the organization of its parliament and courts, plus links or references to secondary and primary sources.

globalex2

This is a great place to start to get the lay of the land of a foreign jurisdiction, allowing you to follow through to other official links and resources from that jurisdiction. It’s a great first stop to doing international legal research!

 

 

Weekend Edition – November 5 & 6

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

Howdy, Ottawa legal community! It’s the weekend, so the reference desk is closed. But to give you some inspiration, here’s what we’re reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.

Reading

Jen: Murder of a Lady: A Scottish Mystery – Anthony Wynne
Another cozy British mystery (surprise!).  This is another book is a series that’s published by the British Library of, basically, forgotten books from the Golden Age of crime writing.

Brenda: “Inside the Shafia killings that shocked a nation” -Michael Friscolanti, Maclean’s
I was reading about the Shafia appeal trial this week and stumbled across this article, which I somehow missed back in March.

Emily: The New York Times Book Review
This is one of my favourite sources for book reviews. This weekend I’ll be reading “A New Novel Stars Astronomer in the 1700’s”, and “10 Books We Recommend This Week”.

Watching

Brenda: Doctor Strange
I haven’t been to the movies in forever, and have heard good things!

Emily: “What a driverless world could look like” – Wanis Kabbaj, TED Talk
Ideas and news surrounding autonomous cars is always a topic that catches my interest when I come across it. 

Listening To

Jen: Missing & Murdered: Who Killed Alberta Williams? – Connie Williams and Marnie Luke, CBC Podcast
I’ve been very much wanting to listen to this new podcast from the CBC for the last week, so this weekend I’ll be catching up on episodes one and two.

#ThrowbackThursday: Carleton County Jail

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

In honour of Halloween, we thought it appropriate to look back at one of the most popular sites on Ottawa’s Haunted Walks: the Carleton County Jail on Nicholas Street.

jail1

Credit: Wilson, N.D. / Library and Archives Canada / PA-044698

The maximum security Nicholas Street Gaol was opened in 1862 as one of the area’s earliest prisons, intending to be a new model jail for prison reform and rehabilitation of prisoners. It fell far short of this however, instead becoming a site of a variety of inhumane and unsanitary conditions (Sound familiar?). In 1869 it played host to the public execution of Patrick James Whelan, by hanging, for the assassination of Thomas D’Arcy McGee.

jail2

Female Prisoners outside of their cells. Credit: Topley Studio / Library and Archives Canada / PA-027437

The jail was closed in 1972 and its prisoners were transferred to the new Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre. In 1973 it was re-purposed into a hostel. The building remains a heritage building under the City of Ottawa By-law 380-78.

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