The Court of Appeal for Ontario has again reinforced state immunity for torture and human rights abuses in Steen v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 2013 ONCA 30 (Ont. C.A.), aff’g 2011 ONSC 6464 (CanLII (Ont. S.C.J.). (“Steen“). (more…)
Archive for the ‘accountability’ Category
Steen v. Islamic Republic of Iran (Ont. C.A.): A Silver Lining in the State Immunity Playbook?
January 22, 2013Ben Trachtenberg, “Law School Marketing and Legal Ethics”
January 8, 2013
Ben Trachtenberg (University of Missouri School of Law) has posted “Law School Marketing and Legal Ethics”, Nebraska Law Review (June 2013) forthcoming/University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2012-41. Here’s the abstract:
Law schools have misled prospective students for years about the value of legal education. In some cases, law school officials have engaged in outright deceit, knowingly spreading false information about their schools. More commonly, they have presented statistics — especially those concerning the employment outcomes of law graduates — in ways nearly guaranteed to confuse readers. These deceptions and sharp practices violate the norms of the legal profession, a profession that scrupulously regulates the advertising of legal services. The deceptions also violate ethical rules prohibiting lawyers from engaging in dishonesty, misrepresentation, and deceit.
This article exposes how pitches aimed at prospective students, including the seemingly straightforward recitation of statistics on law school websites, still paint an unduly rosy picture of the legal employment market. Focusing on Rule 8.4(c) of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the article explains that law school officials have exposed themselves to professional discipline, which may offer a solution to the pervasive problem of misleading law school marketing.
Download a pdf copy of the article via SSRN here.
The Articling Revolution Will Be Tweeted
October 26, 2012
Image via skepticblog.org
The Law Society of Upper Canada has spoken about the future of articling.
Well, the Benchers sure spoke a lot during the Convocation meeting— motioning to vote, motioning to defer the debate, motioning for a “friendly amendment” to the deferral of the vote, and, amusingly, Treasurer Tom Conway motioning to one Bencher on the phone to press “*6″ and mute his line and stop talking about “Irene”.
Meanwhile, back at the War Room, my co-panellists and I listened, commented and tweeted. Check out the archive of the live discussion on the Law Society website here. (more…)
Scouts Canada Principles: “More honor’d in the breach than the observance”?
October 24, 2011Image by stevendepolo via Flickr
Horatio:
What does this mean, my lord?Hamlet:
The King doth wake to-night and takes his rouse,
Keeps wassail, and the swagg’ring up-spring reels;
And as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down,
The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out
The triumph of his pledge.
Is it a custom?Hamlet:
Ay, marry, is’t,
But to my mind, though I am native here
And to the manner born, it is a custom
More honor’d in the breach than the observance,William Shakespeare’s Hamlet Act 1, scene 4, 7–16
The CBC’s Fifth Estate recently aired a program about Scouts Canada called “Scout’s Honour“. The synopsis reads:
Investigating sexual abuse in Scouts CanadaFor young people across North America, Scouting offers fun, adventure and new friendships. But, given the nature of Scouting, the organization sometimes attracts men who prey on children.
In a co-investigation with the Los Angeles Times, the fifth estate looks at Scouts Canada’s controversial system for recording the names of pedophiles who have infiltrated its ranks and been removed the organization. It was known as the Confidential List.
Host Diana Swain asks the question: have all of those allegations, going back decades, been shared with proper authorities?
The fifth estate‘s groundbreaking investigation follows a very public legal battle in the U.S. where the Boy Scouts of America were forced to reveal that it often did not inform police when allegations of sexual abuse were made.
The Boy Scouts of America has since paid out millions in legal settlements. (more…)
Trust, but verify: Why reasons are required in leave application process
May 9, 2011
Image via Wikipedia
In today’s Canadian Lawyer article, “Trust not reasons, required in leave application process: A response to Philip Slayton“, Jean-Marc Leclerc responds to Phillip Slayton’s Canadian Lawyer article entitled Justice is in the details. Slayton’s key argument rests on lack of judicial transparency: (more…)
Antonin I. Pribetic
