Digital Commons Network^™

The Use Of Summary Judgment Procedures Against Self-Represented Litigants: Efficient Case Management Or Denial Of Access To Justice?, Julie Macfarlane, Katrina Trask, Erin Chesney

Law Publications

Approximately a year ago, a NSRLP lawyer-­‐volunteer began to regularly observe hearings that included SRLs (self-­‐ represented litigants) taking place at a busy Toronto courthouse. She reported that she was seeing a number of procedural motions against SRLs. In these cases, she noted, the SRL was usually bewildered and perplexed by what was happening – they had often come to court expecting to present their case for trial – and instead found that they were suddenly facing the dismissal of their action. At the NSRLP, we began to hear from SRLs who described efforts to dismiss their cases using a …

The Undue Reliance On Physical Objects In The Regulation Of Information Products, Pascale Chapdelaine

Law Publications

The presence of a physical object (a book, DVD, CD) plays a determinant role in how information products (e.g., commercial copies of computer programs, books, musical recordings, video games, and virtual worlds) are regulated, in contrast with copies of similar information products with no physical embodiment. The presence of a physical object influences how law makers distinguish goods from services, to define a contract of sale or license, to apply the first sale doctrine in copyright law, and to determine which acts reserved to copyright holders are involved in a commercial transaction. In this article, I argue that the emphasis …

Pathway To Potential Externship Pilot Program Evaluation Report, Gemma Smyth

Law Publications

This report examines the results of interviews withstaff and students who participated in a social justice, policy-­‐focused externship pilot project. In this externship, Windsor Law students were employed at Pathway to Potential (P2P), a poverty reduction collaborative in Windsor-­‐Essex. This evaluation was one of two completed for the purposes of examining development of an externship program at Windsor Law. The other report was completed by Adam Vasey, Law Foundation Fellow at Windsor Law. Mr. Vasey’s report is available separately, and deals with some of the theoretical foundations of externship programs. This report was funded by a small Centred on Learning …

Submissions On Consultation Paper On Racialized Licensees From The Equity And Diversity Committee, Faculty Of Law University Of Windsor, Sujith Xavier, Gemma E. Smyth

Law Publications

The Equity and Diversity Committee of the Faculty of Law derives its mandate from the Faculty Council of Windsor Law. The Committee was set up in 2010 to address equity and diversity related issues at Windsor Law. The Committee is delighted to read the LSUC’s Consultation paper on Developing Strategies for Change: Addressing Challenges Faced by Racialized Licensees (Consultation paper) and especially the strategies proposed in that report to change inequities entrenched in our legal profession.

Emerging Issues In International And Transnational Law Related To Climate Change - International Environmental Law Consultation Workshop, Patricia Galvao-Ferreira, Oonagh Fitzgerald, Kent Howe

Law Publications

The International Law Research Program (ILRP) of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) held its first multi-stakeholder international environmental law consultation workshop on February 18, 2015. Under Chatham House Rule, in a round table format, there were 29 participants, with 19 making introductory comments. Participants represented the following stakeholder groups: think tanks, private legal practice, public sector (municipal, provincial and federal), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Canadian and foreign university faculties of law and other relevant faculties, private sector and scholarship students.

Personal Plight Legal Practice And Tomorrow's Lawyers, Noel Semple

Law Publications

Commentators have predicted that machine intelligence and off-shoring will steadily undermine demand for lawyers in North America and Europe. This essay argues that this prediction is not equally valid for all types of legal practice. Personal plight practice — in which lawyers help individuals and small businesses involved in legal disputes — is largely sheltered from computerization and off-shoring. The article calls for the profession and legal educators to open doors between tomorrow’s lawyers and personal plight legal practice. Doing so will not only address the economic insecurity confronting tomorrow’s lawyers, but also enhance access to justice.

An Introduction To Exploring Law, Disability, And The Challenge Of Equality In Canada And The United States: Papers From The Berkeley Symposium, Laverne Jacobs

Law Publications

It brings me great pleasure to write this Introduction to Exploring Law, Disability, and the Challenge of Equality in Canada and the United States. This special collection of articles in the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice [WYAJ] stems from a symposium of the same name held at the Berkeley Law School at the University of California on 5 December 2014. Writing this introduction allows me to bring together my identities as a law and disability scholar, the principal organizer and convener of the Berkeley Symposium, and editor-in-chief of the WYAJ.

In these roles, I have had the opportunity to …