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Articles by Malcolm Mercer
The Meaning Behind The Song: Holla Holla by Ja Rule
The Meaning Behind The Song: Holla Holla by Ja Rule Ja Rule was a prominent figure in the hip-hop music scene throughout the late 90s and early 2000s. One of his most successful songs was “Holla Holla,” which was released in 1999 as the lead single from his debut album, “Venni Vetti Vecci.” The song quickly became a hit, peaking at number 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and earning Ja Rule a loyal fan base.
The Meaning Behind The Song: The Loving Time by Mary Black
The Meaning Behind The Song: The Loving Time by Mary Black Mary Black’s The Loving Time is a song about love, happiness, and contentment. The lyrics describe the joy that comes with finding a soul mate and the feelings that come with being with someone who completes you. The song’s title is a reference to the idea that when you find true love, it is like a “loving time” in your life that can never be forgotten.
The Meaning Behind The Song: Hold On by Michael Bublé
The Meaning Behind The Song: Hold On by Michael Bublé When Michael Bublé released the song “Hold On” in 2009, the world instantly fell in love with the emotional and touching ballad. The song is a tribute to his grandfather who recently lost his battle to cancer. For Bublé, the lyrics and melody of the song sent a powerful message of hope and resilience during difficult times. Table of Contents Toggle Bublé wrote “Hold On” in honor of his grandfather, Demetrio Santaga.
Too many new lawyers? Build a wall?
[Originally published on slaw.ca] Over the last few years, there has been much debate about how to deal with the significant increase in the numbers of Canadian and foreign law school graduates seeking licensing in Ontario. While the number of articling positions has significantly increased, the number of applicants has increased even more quickly.
What is the Future of Lawyers’ Jobs?
Bloomberg Law recently announced that lawyer jobs are down 15% in 6 months. Recovery is predicted to take years. “Lawyer employment information is hard to come by. But when we analyze the data we have, we find that lawyers have taken the brunt of legal industry job cuts in 2020.” Interestingly, Bloomberg reports that 2020 employment favours non-lawyers over lawyers.
Community-Based Access to Justice: Impact and Opportunity
The COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging and profound impacts on our society. The crisis has led to a surge in legal problems related to tenant rights, employment issues, domestic violence and other areas. Most would agree that, pandemic or not, access to justice is still a goal that is far beyond our grasp. Making real headway is complicated and no easy solutions exist, but in this moment there is opportunity for meaningful change. Can we seize it?
Getting useful information to consumers of legal services
Why do we regulate lawyers and paralegals? Why not just let the “market” do its’ thing? The standard answer is two-fold and relates to the need for legal expertise. Credence goods and professional regulation The first part of the answer focuses on consumers. The legal system is complex. Addressing legal problems requires expert assistance. People are not well able to judge for themselves whether their lawyer or paralegal is actually competent.
What’s in a Name
Messiah. That is the name that last month, a Tennessee judge deemed was inappropriate for a seven-month old baby, holding that « it’s a title that has only been earned by one person and that person is Jesus Christ ». The judge entered an order changing the boy’s name to Martin.
Law In The Time Of COVID-19 Episode 9: Check Your Privilege - Coronavirus (Covid-19) - Canada
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Whither Legal Apps?
The first conference I attended in 2020 was the Innovations in Technology Conference hosted by the Legal Services Corporation in Portland, Oregon, last month. Initially I thought that having a conference in January was highly eccentric, then I booked my hotel room and saw the rates for staying in Portland in January, and I immediately saw how brilliant it is.
Three New Law School Concepts
It is possible that traditional law schools will reinvent themselves structurally from the ground up and become exemplars of innovative 21st-century lawyer formation. It is also possible that I will play Polonius, the irritating giver of unwanted advice, in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s next production of Hamlet. Both these scenarios would be welcome (especially Act III, scene iv, when the advice-giver behind the curtain finally gets what’s coming to him).
Thoughts About Self-Regulation in the Public Interest
It is no secret that that self-regulation can be compromised by the tension between the public interest and the interest of the regulated profession[i]. This tension leads some to say that self-regulation is inherently flawed and should come to an end.
Solving the Issue of Access to Justice by Redefining “Access to Justice”
“Justice is open to all; like the Ritz Hotel.” In the article “Clients Need Legal Services But Not Necessarily Lawyers“, Mark Cohen writes about the issue of access to justice. He points out that improving access to justice does not always mean improving access to lawyers. He refers to new products that provide legal services.
Education, unbundling, pro bono, lawyer surcharge, judicial intervention-What’s the answer to achieving A2J?
We know that too many litigants are forced to represent themselves, sometimes with some form of assistance. These are people who cannot afford a lawyer and do not qualify for legal aid. (I am concerned here with people who would prefer to have a lawyer rather than those who want to represent themselves.) They may not even become litigants, but, where they are able, give up the opportunity to seek the justice they believe they deserve.
The intersection of family law and psychology: Exciting new course coming to Vancouver
The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia has just published the details of a new continuing professional development program scheduled for 11 and 12 April 2019 in Vancouver. “A Deeper Dive: The Intersection of Family Law and Psychology 2019” features a multidisciplinary faculty and is open to both legal and mental health professionals throughout Canada.
Blockchain? Probably Not.
Most of what you are being told about the future of blockchain in the legal profession is nonsense. Don’t get me wrong. Blockchain is very cool. And I am the furthest thing from a luddite you will find in the legal profession. I’m a part-time LLM student at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law and Department of Computing Science studying the automation of legal reasoning. I’m an ABA Innovation Fellow for 2018/2019, writing open-source software to automate analogy to prior cases.
Go West - Life is Patently Unreasonable There - Slaw
The potential of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) has long been touted by many of us as part of the solution to the access to justice problem in Canada, especially for low-intensity disputes. The first province to introduce ODR was B.C. in 2012 with the Civil Resolution Tribunal Act (the “Act”), followed soon after by Quebec’s Plateforme d’Aide au Règlement des Litiges en ligne (PARLe).
Preliminary thoughts on Green, Groia and Trinity Western
In the last thirty years, Law Societies have been parties before the Supreme Court of Canada in thirteen cases according to CanLII[i] [ii]. Four of these cases have been decided in the last fifteen months[iii]. While others will delve more deeply into this recent jurisprudence, it is interesting to take a preliminary look at the way that the Court has understood the role, responsibility and jurisdiction of the Law Societies.
The Future of Lawyer Licensing: In Defense of an LPP-Like Program for Articling
Knowledge is fundamentally what the professions offer. As we transform from a print-based society to a technology-based Internet society, the role of the profession will change. In “The Future of the Professions”, Richard and Daniel Suskind define knowledge as having particular characteristics. Its use by one does not diminish what is left for others. It can be turned into machine-processable bits. It is difficult to prevent non-payers from using it.
Do you need to know you are speaking with a robot?
You will probably have heard that Google has developed a system by which a machine can make phone calls to humans, notably to make reservations for hotels and restaurants (and what more human an activity is there?) – and the machine, using AI, can sound remarkably human. Apparently we have here a device that passes the Turing test with flying colours. Question: should it have to tell people it deals with that it is essentially a robot?
Where aboriginal law and environmental law intersect | Law Times
As more environmental assessments for projects are taking traditional knowledge and consultation with indigenous peoples into account, lawyers say there can sometimes be a collision between project proponents and the duty to consult as outlined in s. 35 of the Constitution. Lawyers say that by approaching their engagement with indigenous communities in the right way, they can help to ensure that issues around the duty to consult don’t become exacerbated.
Rising legal concerns around flooding | Law Times
With an increased number of floods being seen in recent years, due in large part to climate change, questions about who is responsible for flood mitigation is becoming a pressing topic for environmental lawyers. Part of the problem, however, is that the case law in this area can be a century old in some cases, which adds to the complexity around dealing with these issues.
Pay close attention to assessments, say lawyers | Law Times
With real estate at a premium in large cities, redeveloping old industrial and commercial properties is a growing trend, but this kind of brownfield reclamation also contains risks when it comes to liabilities. Lawyers say that careful attention must be paid to the disclosure of environmental assessments by purchasers and that it’s important not to rely solely on vendors’ assessments as part of their due diligence.
Uneven carbon pricing means guidance needed | Law Times
As a national price on carbon looms across Canada and with the cap-and-trade system now up and running in Ontario, disclosure is an increasingly important issue with regards to financial liabilities and risk assessment. Lawyers say that because there is a mandated federal carbon price that is a backstop and most prices will be administered provincially, the patchwork approach across the country will mean different requirements from province to province.
Do lawyers and law students have the technical skills to meet the needs of future legal jobs?
As technology is increasingly used within law practices to streamline legal processes and more efficiently deliver services to clients, an important question has arisen within legal professional and academic circles: Do lawyers and law students have the technical skills to meet the needs of future legal jobs? If you have ever tried to innovate or introduce technologies to a law firm or to lawyers, then you know how challenging it can be to convince lawyers to use new technologies.
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