American “Legal Fictions” for 2007

lawiscool | Civil Rights, Humour, International Law | 31st December - 2007

Slate magazine is offering the Bush Administration’s Top 10 “Dumbest Legal Arguements of the Year.” In 2006, they presented the Top 10 “Most Outrageous Civil Liberties Violations.”
Here is this year’s list in brief (see the article for details):
10. The NSA’s eavesdropping was limited in scope.
9. Scooter Libby’s sentence was commuted because it was excessive.
8. […]

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Happy New Year! (no guarantee)

lawiscool | Humour | 31st December - 2007

No guarantees…

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Maclean’s piece needs response

lawiscool | Civil Rights | 30th December - 2007

LawIsCool is reproducing the piece below for a legal interest sake alone. This site is not officially affiliated with the case in any way.

London Free Press

Maclean’s piece needs response

Faisal Joseph
December 17, 2007

On Dec. 4, I announced at a news conference that human rights complaints, including those of four law students, had been […]

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ABA Blawg Directory

lawiscool | Administrative, Legal Research | 30th December - 2007

The American Bar Association (ABA) Journal has a directory of blawgs in the U.S.
Although the listings are obviously with an American focus, they do have some valuable resources.

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Debate denied over Maclean’s Muslim article

Daniel Simard | Civil Rights | 30th December - 2007

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LawIsCool is reproducing the piece below for a legal interest sake alone. This site is not officially affiliated with the case in any way.

Debate denied over Maclean’s Muslim article

Naseem Mithoowani, Khurrum Awan, Muneeza Sheikh, Daniel Simard

For The Calgary Herald

Saturday, December 29, 2007
On Dec. 4, the four of us announced that we […]

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Development of Privacy Law in Canada

lawiscool | Civil Rights, Legal Research, Torts | 26th December - 2007

Privacy Common Law in Canada
A tort action exists in the U.S. for the invasion of privacy exists in only four situations:

Unreasonable intrusion
Appropriation of personality (an intentional economic tort)
Unreasonable publicity of private info
Unreasonable placing another in a false light

In adittion to the U.S., Germany has recognized a tort for the invasion of […]

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“Private” E-mails at Work?

lawiscool | Intellectual Property, Law Career, Torts | 26th December - 2007

A new American case from earlier this year sheds some insight into e-mail privacy and attorney-client priviledge.
Background
In Scott v Beth Israel Med. Ctr. Inc., the plaintiff was a physician and former employee of the defendant who sued his former employer in severance pay for breach of conduct under wrongful termination of employment.
As part of the […]

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Student Challenges Zoological Society

lawiscool | Humour, Intellectual Property, Law Career, Law School | 25th December - 2007

Iason of the Mighty Argos blog claims that Pandas are not a “fixed medium of expression.”
He objects to this sign by the Zoological Society of San Diego, and states that a Panda is not intellectual property.
Iason also disputes the validity of the presumed statement of contract on the back of his ticket by citing Henningsen […]

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Free Case Access in U.S.

lawiscool | Legal Research, Marketing/PR in Law | 25th December - 2007

All Courts of Appeals decisions since 1950 and US Supreme Court decisions from 1754 will soon be available online to the public.
This move should create greater transparency in law and promote access by the general public. A similar move in Canada would be greatly welcomed. (It would also help us link to […]

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Holiday Cartoons

lawiscool | Humour | 25th December - 2007

Have a happy holiday everyone.

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LOTR and Legal History

Omar Ha-Redeye | Civil Rights, Humour, Law Foundations, Pop Culture, Property | 25th December - 2007

Gwen Seabourne of the University of Bristol School of Law has an interesting article on legal history as it is used in the Lord of the Rings at Common Lawyer.
The Oath
Binding oaths are used in LOTR, which are enforceable well after death following Norse and Anglo-Saxon traditions:

Gollum swearing by “precious” not to harm […]

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Cry me a River in Law School

lawiscool | Humour, Law School, Pop Culture | 23rd December - 2007

Here is a parody of the 2002 hit by Justin Timberlake, Cry me a River.
Lyrics follow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1c3XyQMaxE

Cry Me A River, Law school style
I’m coming undone
At the firm reception
Cause I didn’t realize how much I was drinking, no…
I had a chance to make other plans
But 8 gin and tonics later I’m crashing down, no…
You don’t have to […]

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Party of Appointment, Gender & Court Outcomes

lawiscool | Administrative | 23rd December - 2007

The study by Professors James Stribopoulos of UofT, and Moin Yahya of UofA, has finally been published.
Law is Cool did a post that cited their work while it was still underway, and commented on the importance and possiblity of complete impartiality.

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Religious Promises may be Binding

lawiscool | Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Family Law, Torts | 23rd December - 2007

The new Supreme Court Case ruling, Bruker v. Marcovitz, has some interesting implications for Jewish family law.
The case was considered by The Lawyers Weekly to be the “most timely and topical” of all the appeals reviewed by the court last year.
Background
In Judaism, a couple can only get a divorce when the man […]

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Limits to Hockey Violence

lawiscool | Criminal Law, Pop Culture, Torts | 23rd December - 2007

Kevin “Killer” Kaminski’s recent concussion has revived much of the debate over violence in Canadian hockey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgH3YYrOXSg

Interesting enough it is cases in hockey that have led to the test used in Canada for criminal causation of manslaughter.
The Smithers Test
In Smithers v. R. (1977), the appellant was a black teen that received taunts and racial slurs […]

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