Recently Published Ottawa Decisions

Posted on by Jennifer Walker

Find below recently published Ottawa decisions, available for free through CanLII.org.

Family Matters

CAS v C.D. (2016 ONSC 6712)
maternal grandmother — children — care — access — affidavits
Justice M. Labrosse

Szonyi v Szonyi (2016 ONSC 6661)
child support — motion — post-dated cheques — matrimonial home — expenses
Justice S. Corthorn

Evans v Evans (2016 ONSC 6612)
spousal support — res judicata — estoppel — efforts to become economically self-sufficient — wife
Justice A. Doyle

Carter v Richer (2016 ONSC 6668)
questioning — arrears — litigant — support — justly
Justice A. Doyle

Civil Matters

Bouragba v Conseil des Écoles Publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario (2016 ONSC 6810)
sub-rule — proceedings — served — email — school
Justice R. Beaudoin

Sagos v Attorney General of Bermuda (2016 ONSC 6806)
written — notice — requisition — pages in length — excepting
Justice R. Beaudoin

Continue reading →

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.

Upcoming Training: CanLII + Lexbox

Posted on by Jennifer Walker

Due to the success we had running the library’s first ever webinar back in February, we’ve decided we’d like to do it again! On Thursday, November 24 at 12:00 PM (Eastern), join us, from the comfort of your home or office, for an hour-long look at CanLII. We’ll dive into all the nice features of that website that you might not know how to do (like point-in-time legislation and noting up), as well as take a peek at LexBox, the cool (and free!) web app that allows you to organize and stay on top of your legal research. While we normally do not charge for our legal research sessions, we do have to charge a small fee for this session to cover the cost of the webinar platform. We hope that not having to contend with downtown traffic and parking will more than compensate for the charge!

To register, please click here!

#ThrowbackThursday: Movember 1905

Posted on by Jennifer Walker

movember

This is a throwback to a throwback, admittedly, but some things are too good not to share. A few years back, Brenda made a truly fantastic album on our Facebook page: Movember 1905. Taking photo scans from a book we have in the library (The Bench and Bar of Ontario, Brown-Searle Printing Co., 1905), she found some of the best turn of the 20th century mustaches that Ottawa lawyers had to offer. To check out the full album, click here.

Since we’ve entered the month of November, this year’s Movember campaign is in full swing. You can learn all about the initiative at the Movember Foundation website.

New Titles – October 2016

Posted on by Emily Shearer

The following list of new titles can now be found in the library:

Ontario Provincial Offences 2017 Pocket Edition (Carswell)

Ontario Small Claims Court Practice 2017 (Carswell)

Residential Real Estate Transactions, 4th ed. (Emond Publishing)

Code Criminel Annoté 2017 (Carswell)

Federal Access to Information and Privacy Legislation Annotated 2017 (Carswell)

Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada (HighWater Press)

Ontario Civil Practice 2017 (Carswell)

Martin’s Annual Criminal Code 2017 (Carswell)

The 2016-2017 Annotated Ontario Personal Property Security Act (Carswell)

The Comprehensive Guide to Legal Research, Writing & Analysis, 2nd ed. (Emond Publishing)

Prosecuting and Defending Youth Criminal Justice Cases: A Practitioner’s Handbook (Emond Publishing)

Rules of Evidence: A Practical Approach, 2nd ed. (Emond Publishing)

Cause of Action: Professional Evidence (Carswell)

#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.

Read More

 

Provincial Statutes Now Available in HeinOnline

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

I am far too overly excited to see that historical Provincial Statutes are now available in HeinOnline!

It seems coverage varies between the provinces, but it is fairly extensive thus far and the quality of the pdf scans in HeinOnline are always top notch. Ontario in particular looks to have everything back to 1867. For those needing to do historical legislative research from the comfort of their own office desks, this is excellent news!

inside-provincial

Ontario lawyers have free remote access to HeinOnline through the Law Society. Email us for your password!

 

Ottawa Blog Roll: October 2016

Posted on by Brenda Lauritzen

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

Civil Litigation

Pay When Paid Clauses
– Owen Bourns, Ottawa Litigation

Auto Insurance Coverage: You Don’t Know What You Got ‘Till It’s Gone
– Frank Van Dyke, Van Dyke Injury Law Blog

Having trouble locating and serving a defendant? You may want to consider substituted service upon their liability insurer.
– Nicholas Krakana, Girones Lawyers

The Steps in a Civil Litigation Action
– Alexandra Ormond, Perley-Robertson Hill & McDougall LLP

Corporate Commercial Law

Canada’s New Eligible Capital Property Tax Regime and What It Means for Canadian Controlled Private Corporations
– Kentt Coburn, Startup.Buildup.Sellup.

Integrity and Good Governance is more than Paperwork
– Michael A. Chambers, Maclaren Corlett

Criminal Law

Are the Ottawa Police Racist?
– Michael Spratt, Abergel Goldstein & Partners LLP

Criminal Defence Lawyers Oil the Machinery of Justice, and We Pay For That Privilege
– Michael Spratt, Abergel Goldstein & Partners LLP

Joint positions and the administration of justice
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

The legality of sexting
– Anne-Marie McElroy, McElroy Law

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

New penalties for drug-impaired driving take effect Oct. 2, 2016, in Ontario
– Brett McGarry, McGarry Law

Parliament considering tough new impaired driving laws
– Brett McGarry, McGarry Law

Legalized Marijuana: Lessons From the U.S. Experience
– Tim McCunn and Alicia Czarnowski, Perley-Robertson Hill & McDougall LLP

Employment & Labour Law

Active Employment and Employee Bonus Entitlements
– Paul Willetts, Vey Willetts LLP

Wrongful resignation: Revisiting the employee obligation to provide reasonable notice
– Andrew Vey, Vey Willetts LLP

Duty to Provide an Employer with Reasonable Notice of Termination
– Jill Lewis, The Workplace Matters

Deletion of Browser History in Failed Attempt to Protect Privacy Not Spoliation of Evidence
– Sean Bawden, Labour Pains

Mitigation – It Doesn’t Happen In A Vacuum
– Christopher Rootham, The Workplace Matters

Changing Workplaces Review: Update The Definition of “Employee”?
– Janice Payne, The Workplace Matters

Continue reading →

Recently Published Ottawa Decisions

Posted on by Jennifer Walker

Find below recently published Ottawa decisions, available for free through CanLII.org.

Family Matters

Yosef v Shabana (2016 ONSC 6312)
non-depletion — settle — husband — spousal support — wife
Justice A. Doyle

Lachapelle v Leblanc (2016 ONSC 6327)
parenting capacity — cost of the assessment — child support — bilingual psychologist in the city — equal net disposable income
Justice M. Shelston

Nagle v Demers (2016 ONSC 6323)
father — parenting — costs — spousal support — child
Justice A. Doyle

Karar v Abo-El Ella (2016 ONSC 6284)
offer to settle — motion — costs — indemnity — access visits
Justice S. Corthorn

Continue reading →

Weekend Edition – October 22 & 23

Posted on by Jennifer Walker

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: Closed Casket – Sophie Hannah
Oh hey! You’ve probably heard I like British detective fiction! I really liked Sophie Hannah’s first Poirot novel, and I picked up the second when I was in England last week. It’s so deliciously cozy already, and I’m only a couple chapters in.

Brenda: “Should We See Everything a Cop Sees?” -Mckenzie Funk, New York Times Magazine
I’m interested to read this new article on police transparency and body cameras, and how it’s developed for the past two years in Seattle.

Emily: Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween – Lisa Morton
Continuing with my thematic Halloween reading month, I’ll be brewing some tea and reading the chapter “Snap-apple Night and November Eve: Halloween in the British Isle”.

Watching

Brenda: Black Mirror, Season 1
This series has come highly recommended to me from a couple people now, so I think I’ll have to finally check it out.

Listening To

Jen: Lore – Trick or Treat 2016, Set 1
Lore is a delightful podcast that tells mysterious, sometimes scary stories. Halloween is obviously the best time of year for these sorts of tales. Check it out if you’re looking for something a little dark and spooky!

Emily: Mars Cosmic Rays – Quirks & Quarks
The red planet has been making the news lately, and it never fails to fascinate me. This video discusses how exposure to cosmic rays on future mars missions could cause astronauts to experience a condition dubbed as ‘space brain’.