Licence to Kill: Why addiction treatment system doesn't work
| The Lawyer's Daily
I remember the first time I took my Class G road driving test. At that point, I had been driving without incident for approximately three years with my G2 licence.
Why I support Ryerson's Law School
| Canadian Lawyer
I talk to a lot of law students who oppose the creation of another law school in Ontario and are not happy that Ryerson University’s law school has been approved by the Law Society of Ontario. I know how they feel. Many of them are in six-figure debt and are facing down the prospect of a competitive job market in their late twenties.
Law is a marathon, not a sprint
| Law Times
Law students often hear the same piece of advice: Article at a Bay Street firm and work there for a year or two or three. Get experience under your belt and establish pedigree. Make good money and pay off your debt.
Why cocaine is expensive: Time for a real war on drugs
| The Lawyer's Daily
Why is the price of cocaine so damn high? Cocaine looks just like sugar, but I can walk into any Starbucks and get a gram of sugar for free. Cocaine would cost me around $100 per gram. This is the principal question that we must be concerned with in order to understand, and reduce, the incentives for drug trafficking.
Choice to be a sex worker driven by poverty, overregulation of trades
| The Lawyer's Daily
Ever since the Supreme Court decision in Bedford v. Canada [2013] 3 SCR 1101, 2013 SCC 72, where the bizarre half-measure laws in the Criminal Code around sex work were struck down, sex work has been some kind of a legal grey area: not exactly legal, but with the police mostly turning a blind eye to it.
The roots of the articling crisis
| Law Times
Since the Great Recession of 2007-2009, there has been a lot of media commentary blaming the sometimes-bleak economic prospects of young lawyers on law schools. In this coverage, you’ll also hear complaints about the lack of utility of a law degree, the high tuition for the law school and the debt it creates, as well as the competitiveness of the job market for lawyers upon graduation.
Trial and error: criminal justice reform
| Law Times
At the end of March, the Trudeau government introduced new legislation that it claims will modernize the criminal justice system, reduce court delays, reduce the overpopulation of Indigenous people in Canadian jails, clean up the Criminal Code, and ensure a broader representation of marginalized people in the court process. Bill C-75 would, it promised, “transform the criminal justice system to make it more efficient, effective, fair, and accessible.”
Traffic stops: what should you do when police pull you over?
| CBC
Some high-profile, controversial incidents have brought the issue of police traffic stops to light recently, including the deaths of Jermaine Carby in Brampton, Ont., and Sandra Bland in Texas. Police shot Carby after a traffic stop, while Bland was found dead in a jail cell three days after being detained after a traffic stop in Texas.
Time for graduated licensing for lawyers
| Law Times
Graduated licensing for drivers in Ontario started in 1994. At the time it was introduced, it was touted that the policy was going to save tens of millions of dollars in accident prevention and lives.
Ontario Court of Appeal upholds free speech as it throws out trespass notice
| The Lawyer's Daily
A recent Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that quashed a trespassing charge against a self-described citizen journalist for protesting on town property is being described by lawyers as a victory for free speech rights.
