¶ Published Friday, November 28th In Environment, Legal Issues, Miscellaneous - No Comments »
Jordan Furlong at Law 21 has a great post on decoupling price from cost in legal services. His argument: law firms have never been motivated to streamline the cost of their production because of a long tradition of simply passing costs on to the client. True enough, for decades that mentality has fueled the relentless rise in the cost of legal services. But the clients also have themselves to blame too, Furlong implies. Money quote: “What’s interesting is that most conversations about “reducing costs” are one-dimensional. They focus on the client getting the same kinds of services from the sameRead the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, November 27th In Announcements, Design & Features, Environment, Miscellaneous - No Comments »
A recent blog post by Seth Godin outlined ways to do business online (post: here). In summary he says, “connect the disconnected to each other and you create value.” Connect advertisers to people who want to be advertised to. Connect job hunters with jobs. Connect information seekers with information. Connect teams to each other. Connect those seeking similar. Connect to partners and those that can leverage your work. Connect people who are proximate geographically. Connect organizations spending money with ways to save money. Connect like-minded people into a movement. Connect people buying with people who are selling. Of these items, weRead the Rest…
¶ Published Tuesday, November 25th In Legal Issues - No Comments »
For Québec The proposed Regulation respecting the mandatory declaration of water withdrawals requires institutions not supplied by water supply works, as well as industries and businesses to send to the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks the following information: the number of withdrawal sites used and their location, the intended use of the withdrawals, and whether or not measuring equipment is used to measure the volumes withdrawn The proposed regulation would require those that withdraw frequently to measure the volumes withdrawn. Small and medium-sized businesses must send in information on their water withdrawals. The proposed regulation may come intoRead the Rest…
¶ Published Tuesday, November 25th In Environment, Legal Issues - No Comments »
In St. Lawrence Cement Inc. v. Barrette, neighbours of a cement factory filed a class-action lawsuit against the company alleging that the factory’s activities caused neighbourhood disturbances that were excessive. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Québec has two regimes of civil liability under s.976 of the Québec Civil Code: The ordinary rules of civil liability, which are based on the wrongful conduct of the person who allegedly caused the disturbances, and A regime of no-fault liability based on the extent of the annoyances suffered by the victim for the purposes of s.976. The fact that the company’s conductRead the Rest…
¶ Published Friday, November 21st In Environment, Legal Issues - No Comments »
Industrial polluters — even those that comply with emissions regulations — can be found liable and forced to pay significant damages if their activities are found to be a nuisance to nearby residents. This week, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that St. Lawrence Cement (SLC), a subsidiary of the world’s second-biggest cement maker Holcim Ltd., was responsible for inconveniences its smoke and dust caused caused nearby residents in the Quebec City area. I have highlighted sections of a Globe and Mail Article, which outlines this finding. What does this mean for your operations? Is following the letter of the lawRead the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, November 20th In Design & Features, Legal Issues, Miscellaneous - No Comments »
The case for plain language is compelling. Plain language advocates consider legalese to be outmoded and undemocratic People are entitled to understand the laws that bind them and detail their rights and obligations. To be legible, legal writing must be logically organized as well as concise. The Napoleonic Code, introduced more than two centuries ago, was a model of clarity and conciseness compared to today’s laws. The average sentence included between 15 and 25 words. Some countries are again trying to simplify how their laws are written. Australia’s tax laws, for example, now include graphs, charts and tables to assistRead the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, November 20th In Announcements - No Comments »
On December 2, I will be giving a 10 minute presentation on the new Nimonik and more generally, on using web 2.0 in traditional industrial companies. The talk will take place at Station-C on St. Laurent, details here. The venue for the talk is the monthly Tech Start-Up event, where Montréal entrepreneurs, investors and technology people meet to exchange ideas. We really hope to see you there (snacks and drinks provided).
¶ Published Monday, November 17th In Design & Features, Legal Issues - No Comments »
UK writer and consultant, Richard Susskind, considered by many to be the world’s pre-eminent legal futurist, is coming out with a new book, The End of Lawyers?, in December. It’s a sequel to his 1996 best-seller, The Future of Law, in which Susskind describes presciently how IT would radically change the practice of law and the administration of justice. Many of his projections came true, much to the despair of many a law firm managing partner. At conferences around the world, Susskind is now describing a world in which, legal services are following an evolutionary trajectory from “bespoke” services — Read the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, November 6th In Environment, Miscellaneous - No Comments »
From TED: “For almost three decades, John Francis has been a planetwalker, traveling the globe by foot and sail with a message of environmental respect and responsibility (for 10 of those years, wthout speaking). A funny, thoughtful talk with occasional banjo.”
