Guide hopes to spur
lawyers to communicate
clearly and plainly
LUIS MILLAN MONTREAL
In what appears to be a clear
sign that the Quebec legal profession has begun to embrace the
plain language movement, a
guide aimed at lawyers, written
and published by the Barreau du
Québec, has proven to be so
popular that the law society ran
out of copies two days after making it available.
At last count, more than 2,200
copies of the free guide were distributed, and the law society
intends to publish at least 3,000
more to satisfy growing
demand—and that’s not taking
into account that over 2772 copies
have so far been downloaded from
the Barreau’s website.
“It’s obvious from the num-
bers that there’s interest,” said
France Bonneau, who as a mem-
ber of the Barreau’s 10-person
plain language committee spear-
headed the drafting of the guide.
“We are trying to raise our mem-
ber’s awareness, and the guide
gives a very clear signal that the
Barreau is taking plain language
very seriously.”
The law society is hoping that
the 32-page guide, entitled “Plain
Language — An Indispensible
Guide for Lawyers,” will spur law-
yers to speak and write clearly and
plainly, without resorting to legal-
ese, to clients, particularly since it
goes hand-in-hand with partici-
patory justice, a concept the Bar-
reau has been heavily promoting
for the past five years. Participa-
tory justice allows people with
legal problems to actively partici-
pate in finding solutions to their
quandaries through the use of
alternative dispute resolution
methods such as negotiation,
arbitration, collaborative law, and
if need be, through court proceed-
ings, according to Bonneau.
A new law that will increase risk
and liability for many consumer goods
companies in Canada received royal
assent Dec. 15.
The far-reaching Canada Consumer
Product Safety Act (Bill C-36) creates
prohibitions respecting the manufacturing, importing, selling, advertising,
packaging and labeling of consumer
products, including those that are a
danger to human health or safety.
The law imposes strict record-keep-ing and reporting requirements on
manufacturers, importers, retailers,
product testers and advertisers about
where products are sourced and sold.
It also imposes strict timelines and
obligations to report to the Minister of
Health dangerous incidents associated with consumer products. There
are heavy administrative and criminal
penalties for breaching the Act,
including jail terms of up to two years
and fines of up to $5 million.
Xmas bills
CONTENTS
NEWS
Real Property Law
HOW TO deal with real estate
fraud in your practice ................... 9
RICHES, MCKENZIE & HERBERT LLP
PATENTS, TRADE MARKS, COPYRIGHT, LITIGATION
THE FEDERAL Court upholds the
special advocate regime ..............1
BARRISTERS & SOLICITORS - PATENT & TRADE MARK AGENTS
A BAR against new benchers
holding other positions is rejected
by B.C.’s law society....................1
TIPS ON conservation easements
for land trusts............................. 10
THE QUEBEC Barreau pushes for
the use of plain language by
lawyers ........................................2
NSCA CLARIFIES the rules on
Crown interests in land .............. 13
PAUL HERBER T, B.SC., PHM., R.PH, LL.B., J.D., PH.D.
DAN HITCHCOCK, B.ENG. (ELEC. ENG.), LL.B.
JEFF PERVANAS, B.A.SC. (ENG. SCI.), LL.B.
BOBBY ATHWAL, B.A.SC. (MECH. ENG.), M.A.SC., LL.B., J.D.
BYRON THOM, B.A.SC. (ENG. SCI.), LL.B.
BRAN T LATHAM, B.A.SC. B.SC. (CHEM. ENG.), LL.B.
GARY M. TRAVIS, B.SC. (GEOL.), LL.B.
MICHAEL ADAMS, B.ENG. (MECH. ENG.), B.SC., LL.B.
MICHAEL YUN, B.SC. (BIOCHEM), J.D.
TRADE MARK AGENT MARTA TANDORI CHENG
WHY AN ounce of risk prevention
may mean big cost losses ......... 14
2 BLOOR ST. EAST, SUITE 1800
TORONTO, ONTARIO M4W 3J5
ESTABLISHED 1887
TELEPHONE: (416) 961-5000
FAX: (416) 961-5081
E-MAIL: riches@patents-toronto.com
STEP PARENTS are on hook for
youth’s pricey U.S. residential
treatment ..................................... 3
Parliament enacted a flurry of jus-tice-related bills before MPs and
Senators fled Ottawa for the
Christmas holidays.
On Dec. 15, royal assent was
granted to Bill C- 3, which creates a
new entitlement to register as Indians
for certain descendents of Indian
women who lost their status after
marrying non-Indians. The bill responds
to last year’s B.C. Court of Appeal’s
decision McIvor v. Canada (Registrar
of Indian and Northern Affairs).
Also granted the royal stamp of
approval were: Bill C-464 which
amends the Criminal Code of Canada
to permit an accused to be denied
bail for the protection or safety of the
public, including his or her own minor
children; Bill S-2 which, among other
things, amends the Criminal Code to
require registered sex offenders to
provide a sample for forensic DNA
analysis; and Bill S-215 which
amends the Criminal Code to clarify
that suicide bombings fall within the
definition of “terrorist activity.”
BUSINESS & CAREERS
EXIT IN TERVIEWS ................... 20
IRB’s language services
LAWYERS VS. bankers duke it out
in car-race for cancer................... 4
2010 BROUGHT many changes to
the Canadian legal world............ 20
OPINION
JEFFREY MILLER ........................ 5
DEALING EFFECTIVELY with pro
bono clients................................ 21
FOCUS
LAWYERS RUNNING from legal
profession .................................. 23
R: A CANADIAN PARIAH
TION BUREAU RESOLVES MLS FIGH T
MART FIRMS ADAPT TO SMARTPHON
MERGERS GO MEGA
UAL SCC BILL WILL IMPACT NOMINEES
TAMIL MIGRANTS TRIGGER CONTROVER
Year in Review
PAGES S1-S12
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
DEPARTMENTS
Please note that the next issue
of The Lawyers Weekly will
be January 14, 2011.
Careers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Classified Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Lawddities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . S10
Legal Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Names in the News. . . . . . . . . 4
Weekly Digest. . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Following a news report questioning the ability of Immigration and
Refugee Board (IRB) members in
Quebec to provide the requisite service in both official languages, the
federal government told the Senate
Dec. 13 that of 53 IRB members in
Montreal, 43 are designated bilingual;
8 are unilingual francophones; and 2
are unilingual anglophones. It said the
Refugee Protection Division in
Montreal rendered 6,013 decisions in
2009, 68 per cent of which were in
French and 32 per cent in English.
The Immigration Appeal Division in
Montreal made 1,500 decisions in
2009 — 49 per cent were in English
and 51 per cent were in French. The
Immigration Division in Montreal rendered 1,842 decisions, of which 54
per cent were in English and 46 per
cent were in French.
