International Law

?Totally, Totally Illegal? under the Federal Privacy Act

Posted on September 22, 2010
Canadian Press reports on an emerging scandal centered on Stephen Harper's Conservative government:Confidential medical and financial information belonging to an outspoken critic of Veterans Affairs, including part of a psychiatrist's report, found its way into the briefing notes of a cabinet minister...

Musings on Mandatory Mediation in Family Law Disputes

Posted on September 22, 2010
Ontario?s Chief Justice Warren Winkler is calling for compulsory mediation in family law disputes. If Justice Winker gets his way, court will be the last checkpoint and only after family law disputants have exhausted alternative forms of dispute resolution...

Google Street View and Privacy

Posted on September 22, 2010
Barred from Czechoslovakia and under review in Germany, will Google Street View be next in Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart's crosshairs?Also see Web Pro News: Google Street View Stopped Again By Czechs.- Garry J. Wise, TorontoVisit our Toronto Law Firm website: www...

South African Tweeter Charged for Speed Trap Alerts

Posted on September 22, 2010
Via CNN:A controversial Twitter user has been challenging South African authorities by alerting thousands of followers to speed traps set by traffic police.Now the Johannesburg police are pushing back, saying they have charged the @PigSpotter Twitter user with defamation, impairing the dignity of another person and "defeating the ends of justice," according to Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Wayne Minaar...

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Canada's Privacy Commissioner: I ? Facebook

Posted on September 22, 2010
According to Canada's Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, Facebook's privacy protections have come a long way, indeed.The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada published a news release today, Privacy Commissioner completes Facebook review, setting out its findings, after a review of the social media site's controversial privacy policies and practises:OTTAWA, September 22, 2010 ? The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has finished reviewing the changes that Facebook implemented as a result of her investigation of the social networking site and has concluded that the issues raised in the complaint have been resolved to her satisfaction...

Advice For The Third-Year Law Student Without An Articling Position

Posted on September 22, 2010
So you've gone through two years of law school already. You've written exams. You've written papers. You've (hopefully) gotten a little bit of practical legal experience under your belt. You've gone through the on-campus interview process: three or four extensive interviews every day, some of them (like Crown office interviews) quite rigorous...

140Law - Legal Headlines for September 22, 2010

Posted on September 22, 2010
Here are today's leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter.Lawyers Sued Over Blog Posts Criticizing Referral Hotline for PI Cases http://is.gd/flsUgBeyond Passwords: Two Factor Authentication Comes to the Cloud http://is.gd/flt6vOnt. schools investigated for testing irregularities http://is...

Ontario Employment Law: ?Just Cause? for Dismissal

Posted on September 22, 2010
When can employment be lawfully terminated "for cause?" In order for the courts to find that an employer has dismissed an employee for ?just cause," the employee must be found to have breached a fundamental term of the contract of employment. In other words, the employee must fail to perform a fundamental obligation of his or her job: Mckinley v...

Videotaping On-Duty Police Officers in America

Posted on September 21, 2010
Radley Balko, senior editor at Reason Magazine summarizes the law on videotaping on-duty police officers in the various American states:This summer the issue of recording on-duty police officers has received a great deal of media attention. Camera-wielding citizens were arrested in Maryland, Illinois, and Massachusetts under interpretations of state wiretapping laws, while others were arrested in New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Florida, and elsewhere based on vaguer charges related to obstructing or interfering with a police officer...

Advice For The First-Year Law Student

Posted on September 21, 2010
So you?re a freshly minted law school student. You?ve been accepted. You?ve done the orientation. You?re now in your first few weeks of classes, learning the building blocks of tort, criminal and contract law that will serve you in good stead for the rest of your career...

Canada's Military 'Parade"

Posted on September 21, 2010
More 'wisdom' from the U.S. right:"Well, those [countries] that do [allow gays to serve openly], they're the ones that participate in parades, they don't fight wars to keep the nation and the world free," - Tony Perkins, Family Research Council,at the Value Voters Summit- Garry J...

140Law - Legal Headlines for September 21, 2010

Posted on September 21, 2010
Hopefully, those Torontonians who commute via TTC from Eglinton to Bloor made it home all right last night! 680 News tweeted that the subways were closed due to a report of smoke at track level. Thank goodness for above ground TTC services!Moving right along, here are today's leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter...

140Law - Legal Headlines for September 20, 2010

Posted on September 20, 2010
Here are today's leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter.Law Commission of Ontario Report on Family Law Justice System http://is.gd/fiWZKOntario Law Reform Commission Gives Family Law Process a Failing Grade http://is.gd/fgHOwConrad Black's lawyers wrap written arguments, prepare for court http://is...

Judging The Price of Incarceration

Posted on September 19, 2010
Missouri judges are now able to utilize a new software tool when considering sentencing decisions: Missouri Tells Judges Cost of Sentences(Via New York Times)- Garry J. Wise, TorontoVisit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net TORONTO EMPLOYMENT LAW ? TORONTO CIVIL LITIGATION & ESTATE LITIGATION ? TORONTO FAMILY LAW & DIVORCE ORIGINALLY POSTED AT WISE LAW BLOG ? SUBSCRIBE TO WISE LAW BLOG

When George Meets Ezra (Apology of the Day)

Posted on September 19, 2010
Sun Media:On September 5, 2010, a column by Ezra Levant contained false statements about George Soros and his conduct as a young teenager in Nazi-occupied Hungary.Upon receiving a letter of complaint from Mr. Soros?s legal counsel on September 13, 2010, Sun Media Corporation always intended to publish a retraction and apology for this column...

A Witch Goes to a Tea Party...

Posted on September 19, 2010
Quote of the day (via Powerline):It's great to hear that [Delaware Republican senatorial candidate Christine] O'Donnell learned from her experiences dabbling in witchcraft. You wouldn't want a U.S. Senator who dabbled in witchcraft and learned nothing from it...

Inaccessible Federal Websites Challenged Under Canada's Charter

Posted on September 19, 2010
Donna Jodhan, a visually-impaired Toronto internet accessibility professional, has brought suit against Canada's federal government. She claims the government's failure to make certain websites usable by the visually impaired constitutes a breach of her Charter equality protections: ?The Internet is something that is liberating to everybody ? but not to blind and visually impaired Canadians,? she said in an interview...

Fraud Alert: Online Residential Tenancy Scams

Posted on September 18, 2010
Writer Amy Brown-Bowers takes a look at an emerging arena for online fraudsters and scammers - the apartment rental marketplace: In most cases the potential landlord is a doctor, priest, humanitarian worker, businessman or member of the Canadian Forces who claims to have been transferred to another country for work...

140Law - Legal Headlines for September 17, 2010

Posted on September 17, 2010
Here are your leading legal headlines for today from Wise Law on Twitter.Impeachment trial begins for Louisiana federal judgehttp://is.gd/feETlLegal system slammed for failing families - Globe and Mailhttp://is.gd/feDfyJudge Stabbed Five Times in Diner; Suspect Had Been Accused in Domestic Case http://is...

Ontario Employment Law: Reasonable Notice and 'Character of Employment'

Posted on September 16, 2010
Ontario employers are legally required to provide reasonable notice of termination when terminating employment without cause.Often, employers fail to do so.It should come as no surprise, therefore, that an overwhelming majority of employment law cases deal with the issue of reasonable notice...

A Users' Guide To G20 Lawsuits

Posted on September 16, 2010
In the wake of Toronto's G20 summit, where police engaged in activity many considered over-the-top or even abusive, we now see the launching of multiple civil lawsuits against those governmental authorities alleged to be responsible. This post is a brief guide to the three largest and most important of those civil suits; there will most likely be more yet to come...

140Law - Legal Headlines for September 16, 2010

Posted on September 16, 2010
'Tis a rainy one here in Toronto - which sort of reminds me of much of our recently-ended summer vacation, but let's not go there. As far as new twists go, would you believe I received yet another collaborative law fraud pitch a few days ago - this time, submitted as a comment post at this Blog! (No, it wasn't published - we moderate all comments - but I do have the draft still if you'd like a copy of it, Dan Pinnington)...

Toronto Mayoral Candidate Rob Ford To Be Sued For Libel?

Posted on September 16, 2010
George Foulidis, a local Toronto businessman, is threatening to sue Toronto mayoral candidate and city councillor Rob Ford for libel. It is alleged that Ford has repeatedly asserted during the mayoral campaign that Tuggs Inc., Foulidis' family business, improperly influenced city politicians to obtain an exclusive vending contract for a Beaches-area restaurant...

Superheroes in Court! (at Yale)

Posted on September 15, 2010
NY Times features a Yale University "rare books" exhibit covering the portrayal of lawyers and courts in comic books:The case of ?The People vs. Superman? is not found in the hornbooks that are scoured by the nation?s law students. But if they had been youngsters in 1967, when Action Comics No...

Ontario Chief Justice Seeks Mandatory Mediation in Family Law Proceedings

Posted on September 15, 2010
Via Toronto Star:Ontario Chief Justice Warren Winkler is calling for ?dramatic? changes to the justice system that would deny family law litigants access to the courts unless they go through mediation first.In a speech Tuesday to mark the opening of the province?s courts for 2010-11, Winkler said mediation offers a potentially faster and cheaper way to resolve divorce and custody battles, including a less-complicated process for getting information such as a spouse?s financial statements...

Canadian Forum on Court Technology

Posted on September 15, 2010
The Canadian Centre for Court Technology, a high-powered national think tank comprised of judges and leading justice sector participants, will be convening an impressive conference on court technology in Ottawa later this month.As noted at the CCCT website, the conference agenda provides a nice window as to where our nation's justice system is heading, technologically speaking:The CCCT-CCTJ is delighted to announce a unique national event: the Canadian Forum on Court Technology (CFCT-FCTJ)...

Introducing the Wise Law Blog Team

Posted on September 14, 2010
As noted last weekend, we are pleased to welcome our 2010-2011 students-at-law, Robert Tanha and Christopher Bird, to Wise Law Office. They'll be joining our firm's intrepid legal assistant, Rachel Spence, as regular contributors to Wise Law Blog.I'd like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce all three to you...

Death Row Chaplain: Death Penalty is Futile

Posted on September 13, 2010
For a fascinating read, see Obit Magazine's What Good Has Death Done?, a profile of Rev. Carroll ?Bud? Pickett, who served as prison chaplain at the Texas state penitentiary at Huntsville for 15 years:Many of the convicts Rev. Carroll ?Bud? Pickett escorted to Texas? death chamber during his 15 years as the Huntsville?s penitentiary?s prison chaplain wanted him to hold their hands...

140Law - Legal Headlines for September 13, 2010

Posted on September 13, 2010
With summer officially behind us, it's back to work we go.To kickstart your week, here are some of our leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter:Federal judge's impeachment trial gets under way in Senate http://is.gd/f8Iv9Family law scam gets more sophisticated - Law Times http://is...

Shana Tova - Happy New Year 5771

Posted on September 10, 2010
After a short break from blogging, I'm happy to observe both that the sky did not fall and that we are once again back at Wise Law Blog.I'd like to extend a shana tova to our clients, readers and colleagues who are celebrating the Jewish New Year this week...

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