University of Alberta Faculty of Law Blog

Are "Billable Hours" on the Way to Extinction?

The tough economic times might be creating a shift in law firms' billing culture, says the New York Times. Perhaps this is also a time to start a debate about the impact of BH on measuring associates' productivity and worth.

 

Stan Hagen RIP

B.C. Cabnet Minister Stan Hagen passed away Tuesday.  In addition to serving under the BC current Liberal government, he also served in the Social Credit government in the late 1980s. As Advanced Education Minister in the late 1980s, he originated the Passport to Education program.  He was a proud graduate of Camrose Lutheran (now Augustana Faculty).  He was just up here last term to attend his 50th anniversary class reunion - and that he was known as a mentor and confidante to many young people.

My colleague and co-blogger Russ Brown also worked for him in the BC Legislature.

He will be missed by many.

Herring v. The United States

Judgment handed down today (download pdf of ruling: 07-513). This will be of interest to evidence and criminal law folks.

Here is a quote from the decision summarizing the court's opinion on the exclusionary rule:

“When police mistakes leading to an unlawful search are the result of isolated negligence attenuated from the search, rather than systemic error or reckless disregard of constitutional requirements, the exclusionary rule does not apply.” per Roberts CJ, lead opinion.

To idle or not to idle?

A controversial bylaw is considered by the City of Edmonton that would make it a violation subject to a $250 fine to idle one's car for more than three minutes (the bylaw would include exceptions for cold weather and cases of emergency).

To idle or not to idle? Motorists idle their cars whenever it's convenient (we all know why we do it), but this private advantage comes at a cost to society in the form of pollution. In some cases, a driver's decision to idle is "bad" – that is, the benefits are not justified by the environmental costs. On the other hand, the proposed bylaw would substitute a bright line rule for the driver's discretion, prohibiting some "good" idling together with the "bad". Whether or not the bylaw is justified depends, among on other things, upon whether individual Edmontonians or their elected council make better decisions overall.

To idle or not to idle? Air quality in Edmonton is generally high. Air quality is monitored daily and assessed as "good", "fair", "poor", or "very poor". Data for the year 2007 shows air quality was good over 97% of the time, and "fair" virtually the rest of the time. Air quality was "poor" only 0.02% of the time, and never "very poor". What does the bylaw strive for? Is it to improve air quality to "good" all the time? What are the realistic targets of the bylaw in terms of air quality?

To idle or not to idle? The proposed bylaw has two costs. One is the lost advantages to motorists, and the other is the cost of enforcement: bringing offenders to justice, proving violations, errors, etc. Enforcement costs include also some deterioration in neighbourly relations, if some citizens' comments are to be believed. When council considers these costs, it should also consider whether spending the money in other ways would be a more effective way of improving air quality. Improving mass transit, for example, would reduce pollution; so would improving roads and reducing congestion and travel time.

To idle or not to idle? If the idling bylaw is adopted, the City of Edmonton would join other large Canadian cities, such as Vancouver and Toronto, and several smaller communities in Alberta. There is a symbolic dimension to an idling bylaw, allowing local residents to express their environmental concerns and preference for cleaner air. This aspect of the local legislation is valuable in itself, even if the proposed bylaw is ineffective.

Ethicist and Physician Discuss "Right to Conscience" Rule

Courtesy of Bloggingheads.tv:

Rickey Henderson

He is in the Hall of Fame. I have to say I am quite peeved at the 28 writers who did not vote for him. Who are these people and how did they get a ballot. There is no doubt that the great Rickey belongs in the Hall of Fame. One would have thought that being the all time run leader and the all time stolen bases leader would be enough - but apparently not for 28 writers.

Body Odor and Juries

Is a potential juror's body odor sufficient cause to be dismissed from a jury? A judge is Mass.thought so and the appellate court agreed.

While we are on the subject, what about deaf jurors? Are they entitled to sit on a jury - one lawyer says no.

Madoff Scandal and Unjust Enrichment

Suppose you have been investing money in what turns out to be a ponzi scheme. Over time you withdrew money from the investment account; after all, it was making you good returns and you should be entitled to enjoy some of the profits. Now you find out that there was never really any investments and the whole thing was a fraud. Do you owe the money you took out? 

It's Official: Barack is President

The election in November is only the first step to electing a President of the United States. The electors had previously met in their state capitols and voted for their choice of presidential candidate (of course, the Obama electors voted for Obama and so on, but there have been deviations in the past). Then a few days ago, VP Cheney declared the official tally to Congress thereby making President-elect Obama officially the President of the United States as of January 20.

Lord Black Appeals

Conrad Black and his co-defendants have appealed to the United States Supreme Court. First, they must convince the court to hear the case, so they have filed a petition for the writ of certiori. Their lawyer is the very capable and able Miguel Estrada who had been nominated to the DC Circuit by Bush but was blocked by the Democrats before he withdrew his name. (h/t Bashman) The brief is immaculately written, so there is nothing more than can be done other than waiting.

Evil teddy bear

It seems that even cute and furry creatures like teddy bears are no longer immune from warring ex-spouses.

Footage of January 3rd Toronto Protest

I could not resist posting a link to this: View

Sir Alan Walters RIP

One of Margaret Thatcher's key economic advisors passed away. He was quite an accomplished academic, policy wonk, and businessman. He was the author of many academic papers and books, including a textbook  that I used when I was into economics.

Ban!

Janice Folk-Dawson, chairwoman of the university workers committee of CUPE Ontario, supports a ban of Israeli academics from doing any research, speaking or teaching in Ontario universities. In her opinion, "the resolution will protect the quality of education by preventing Israeli academics from professing biased views". The ban would not apply to an individual who would publicly adopt the union's official position.

I don't know when Ms. Folk-Dawson last attended university, but it is still widely accepted that professors profess opinions. Some of those opinions may be biased, and some may differ from CUPE's opinions. So what? Isn't it an advantage to Ontario students that they are exposed to different opinions?

Even if one disagrees with this concept—recognized in some circles as "free speech"—it's difficult to see what dangerous biased opinions will be expressed by, say, an Israeli physics professor. And why only Israeli professors? What about other foreign (or Canadian) professors with "biased" opinions?

And if the goal is to stop "biased opinions", is it really a good idea to let CUPE Ontario approve which ideas are acceptable and which are not?

Let me suggest to CUPE members that if they really care about the quality of education in Ontario universities, they should kick out Ms. Folk-Dawson and others like her, and elect instead someone who doesn't let his or her own biases get in the way of education and true democratic values.