Monday, December 31, 2012

2012 Clawbies Announced (#Clawbies2012)

The 2012 Clawbie Awards have been announced. Congratulations to all winners, finalists and nominees.

This is the seventh year of the Canadian Law Blog Awards. I was gratified to see so many of my own nominees recognized with Clawbie awards and mentions this year.

I am also proud to note that Wise Law Blog received the nod for this year's Clawbie in the Legal News category:
Our 2012 winner in this category is not a traditional legal media outlet; it’s a lawyer blog that does an outstanding job of filtering and curating news of interest and importance to legal professionals. The daily 140Law feature of the Wise Law Blog in Toronto receives our vote for performing, as Shaunna Mireau points out, much the same service that America’s Above The Law does for its readers: “a daily offering of legal headlines offered as a roundup post.” Garry Wise puts great effort into this consistent feature and deserves equally great appreciation for his ongoing efforts.
Runners-up: Three solid entries by our major legal media outlets:
Legal Feeds, by Canadian Lawyer magazine
Legal Post, by the Financial Post
National Magazine’s brand new blog, by the Canadian Bar Association.
Thanks to the Clawbie judges for this honour, and for their hard work in keeping the Clawbie flame a-burning in Canada's legal blogosphere.

Special thanks and recognition, of course, are also due to Rachel Spence of Wise Law, my collaborator in  our daily 140Law posts.

Many thanks again, and happy new year to all.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Thursday, December 27, 2012

2012 ClawBie Nominations (#ClawBies2012)

'Tis that ClawBie time of year again, and the Canadian legal blogosphere continues to evolve.

I have to be honest. Most of the new Canadian law blogs  I've encountered (and many of the old) are more information-heavy than readable.

Many of these blawgs are really wonderful when they turn up on a Google search of a topic I'm researching, and that is a significant contribution indeed.

Truth be told, however, they are not destination-blogs that I would keep going back to for the sheer joy of reading.

Whether this is ultimately an indictment of the risk-aversion of the corporate law-blog-by-committee or not, I'm not sure.  I'll just note that I don't find all that much interesting about these cookie-cutter blogs.

I've always leaned in the direction of writers with a point of view.

Law Blogger of the Year

It is therefore a no-brainer that Mitchell Kowalski receives my nomination as 2012 blawger of the year.

Whether you agree with him or not, Mitch will always get the discussion going. His ongoing critique of the inertia of the legal profession and its regulators is coupled with his own broad vision as to how we can embrace the challenges ahead.

He makes a key point - client-driven change is here, whether we like it or not, and those who adapt and innovate will be the profession's success stories of the very-near future. Mitch's well-received  book, Avoiding Extinction, released earlier this year, is a good entry-point for the uninitiated.

As a blogger, he's interesting, provocative and engaging.  Most importantly, he is emerging as an important, plain-English voice in Canada's dialogue on the future of the legal profession.

Keep an eye on this guy.

In With the New

Darryl Singer is a new, refreshing voice in the the nation's blawgosphere, and I will gladly nominate him as the ClawBie rookie of the year. His December 12, 2012 post, The Law Society's Misguided Decision, is one of the ballsiest and most personally courageous commentaries I have encountered in my nearly eight years online.  The fact that it provoked a detailed, online response from Law Society Treasurer Thomas Conway is no accident.

Mr. Conway's own Treasurer's Blog is more than worthy of a ClawBie nod, as well. Launched in October 2012, readers will be surprised to find that this is not just  the Law Society "party-line" and announcements  blog. The Treasurer's willingness to take a personal stand on the issues and engage in real debate is truly a breath of fresh air.  It's a must read.

Sarah Cohen's Fertility Law Canada Blog is another new law blog to take notice of.  A fine example of everything a specialized, niche-practice blog should be, there is no better resource online on the cutting-edge and rapidly evolving area of Canadian fertility and reproductive technology law.  As Sarah's online biography states, she "loves what she does - and it shows."

What About Bob?

I was pretty much decided quite some time ago that Bob Tarantino's Entertainment and Media Law Signal would be one of my ClawBie nominees this year.  Articulate, clever, thoughtful, witty and thorough - well, that's Bob Tarantino and that's his blog. He is one of Canada's best.

So I was decided on Bob - until I read Bob's own ClawBie nominations, and, specifically, his nomination of Barry Sookman, who, as Bob points out, has not to date been recognized with a ClawBie.

Barry is a prolific tweeter, blogger, and nationally recognized leader in Copyright, Intellectual Property, Computer, Internet, and e-Commerce Law.  Beyond that, he is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge - the kind of practitioner who can readily quote from memory entire paragraphs from dissenting Supreme Court of Canada opinions.

In a year that saw profound change in Canadian copyright law, Bob and Barry were a pretty effective one-two punch for ongoing updates and analysis.  I will thus nominate them jointly.

The Future

Others have observed an increasing gravitational pull away from law blogs and toward Twitter for online legal dialogue and information.  It's a distinction without a difference, I believe. The two platforms are entirely complimentary, and likely will continue to be.  The blog will remain the better forum for in-depth commentary and analysis, whereas Twitter will reign supreme for quick blasts of  breaking news, opinion and occasional hilarity.

While I've done more tweeting than blogging this past year, that's not carved in stone as the plan for 2013.  There is something to be said for articulating thoughts - and allowing them to evolve - through good, old-fashioned writing.

Time will tell.

But that's it for 2012.  It was a good year that saw the launch of WiseLii, participation in the LSUC Articling Debates, a gig at lawTechCamp, and a number of excellent Toronto Law Blogger meetups.

As I close out this year's blogging, my wish for 2013 is simply this - may next year be the year of technological modernization of Canada's courts.  There is no single more important initiative on the table, in my view, for our regulators, legislators and judiciary.

The absence of electronic filing of court documents imposes huge, unnecessary expense on the nation's litigants.  We can't claim to be serious about enhancing access to justice when our archaic court system still requires human couriers to attend at court in person to file each and every document in a court proceeding - at a cost of $30.00 to $150.00 a pop (depending on court location and time-urgency).

The absence of e-filing adds hundreds of dollars - or more-  in avoidable disbursement costs in every heavily-contested matter and, frankly, is an embarrassment to the administration of justice.

If the courts  and governments can't figure out the perfect system to implement - or pending implementation of such a system once developed - fergawdsake, just allow documents to be emailed to the courts, in lieu of in-person filing.

Happy 2013.
 - Garry J. Wise, Toronto
Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and seasons greetings to our clients, colleagues, readers and friends from all of us at Wise Law Blog.  

Wishing you and yours a safe and happy holiday season.


- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Friday, December 21, 2012

140Law - Legal Headlines for Friday, December 21, 2012

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Friday, December 21, 2012:
As this will be my final 140Law post until the New Year, I would like to wish all of our readers a happy and safe holiday. Here is a little something to get you in the mood for festivities!  
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk
Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Darwin

I am now officially bored by Darwin the Ikea Primate. I believe your fifteen monkey minutes are mercifully drawing to a close, little friend.

And your Toronto Real Estate Lawyer mama's too, one can only dream...
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Legal News for the Super Busy

Thanks to Shaunna Mireau at Slaw for the 140Law shout-out!

See:  Legal news for the super busy | SlawTips
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

140Law - Legal Headlines for Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Tuesday, December 18, 2012:
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk
Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Monday, December 17, 2012

140Law - Legal Headlines for Monday, December 17, 2012

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Monday, December 17, 2012:
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk

Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Friday, December 14, 2012

140Law - Legal Headlines for Friday, December 14, 2012

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Friday, December 14, 2012:
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk

Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

140Law - Legal Headlines for Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Wednesday, December 12, 2012:
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk

Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

140Law - Legal Headlines for Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Tuesday, December 11, 2012:
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk
Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Monday, December 10, 2012

140Law - Legal Headlines for Monday, December 10, 2012

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Monday, December 10, 2012:
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk
Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net