Family
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September 16, 2024
Federal Court CJ says huge funding shortfall for translation will delay rulings, access to justice
A new statutory duty that requires the Federal Court to simultaneously issue its “precedential” rulings in both French and English — without Parliament also providing the many millions of dollars the court needs to carry out its task — will spark judgment delays and exacerbate translation backlogs unless the government steps up with adequate resources, Federal Court Chief Justice Paul Crampton tells Law360 Canada.
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September 17, 2024
Why are divorce lawyers so bad at marriage? | Steve Benmor
Divorce lawyers, despite their expertise in navigating the relationship challenges of their clients, often find themselves struggling in their own marriages.
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September 13, 2024
Judge declines to boot novel JR of Ottawa’s renewed funding for the UN relief agency in Gaza
After the federal government failed to get the case dismissed on a preliminary motion to strike, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and four victims of the Hamas massacre in Israel last year can move ahead with their novel judicial review of Ottawa’s decision to resume funding the largest humanitarian aid agency in the Gaza Strip.
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September 13, 2024
Family, estate law overlap: Conflicting rights of surviving spouses, children and creditors
Upon a person’s death, an unfairly-treated spouse should consider whether they will be better off by settling for their entitlement under the will or by electing and commencing an application for an equalization of net family property. This is not an easy choice. Sometimes insufficient information is available to make proper calculations and because of the competing rights of creditors, and other dependants.
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September 12, 2024
Rape exemptions to abortion laws, or why women shouldn’t have sex for fun | Abby Hafer
The issues of abortion and rape are frequently intertwined. There is something viscerally disgusting about the idea of a woman being forced to carry to term a fetus caused by her rapist. For this reason, advocates for abortion rights often use this as an example of why abortions should be legal.
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September 11, 2024
Property division and discretionary trusts: Half of nothing is still nothing
Courts in common law jurisdictions continue to grapple with how to deal with a spouse’s interest in a discretionary trust when there is a marital breakdown, and whether to include them in property division and, if included, how to value them in dividing family property.
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September 10, 2024
Federal lawyers’ union contends Ottawa’s return-to-office order is ‘arbitrary, counterproductive’
Arguing that the federal government’s return-to-office directive to public servants is “costly, inefficient, arbitrary, and counterproductive,” the union for more than 3,500 federal lawyers has challenged the federal Treasury Board direction that lawyers and most other federal workers must be physically present in their workplaces at least three days a week.
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September 09, 2024
Manitoba court approves $530M settlement involving special allowances for children in care
The Manitoba Court of King’s Bench has approved three class action settlements totalling $530 million related to the province’s withholding or clawing back of the children’s special allowance (CSA) for kids in the care of provincially funded Indigenous and non-Indigenous child and family services (CFS) agencies.
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September 09, 2024
3 new shareholders leading influx of Cozen O’Connor staff
The Vancouver office of Cozen O’Connor saw a “game-changing” expansion when the firm added 13 new lawyers and nine support staff to its fast-growing team, a Sept. 3 news release from the firm announced. The incoming team is led by shareholders Virgil Hlus, Cam McTavish and Chantal M. Cattermole. All members of the incoming team join Cozen O’Connor from Clark Wilson LLP.
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September 09, 2024
New rules for legal name changes in B.C. now in effect
Legislative changes are now in effect in British Columbia to prevent people convicted of serious Criminal Code offences from legally changing their names.