Bi–
H.W. Fowler refers in Modern English Usage to the ‘misshapen brood’ of bi– words that are used to describe the frequency of intervals: biannual, bi-monthly, bi-weekly and the like.

The problem with them is that they are ambiguous: bi-weekly, for example, can mean either twice a week or every two weeks. At least a biennial (like the Biennale art exhibition held in Venice) is always held every two years, not twice in one.

Careful drafters of contracts will obviously want to make things perfectly clear, especially when dealing with dates of payment obligations and …

As this fall marks another season of incoming new lawyers and articling students, this tip is for you. When you receive your first assignment from your articling principal or senior lawyer, you may be left wondering where you should start. Sometimes the answer is with the assigning lawyer’s assistant or law clerk. The assistant can provide you with similar precedents the assigning lawyer has already perfected. These precedents can provide you with valuable insights into the legal writing and work product you are expected to achieve.

Yes, you can tackle the work on your own without any guidance – but …

Did you know that the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) website provides a wealth of free practice resources?  We encourage you to check it out!

Here is a break down of the amazing resources provided by the CBA:

• Practice Tools
  CBA’s Practice Tools feature a broad selection of online guides covering child rights, tax law, and legal ethics.  For example, check out the Child Rights Toolkit.
• Practice Link
  CBA’s Practice Links focus on work/life balance, mental health, and networking skills for legal professionals.  For example, check out Got Stress? What to Do Before the Burnout Hits.
• Sections and Forums

Feeling respect and regard for your readers is important, but this edition is more specifically about words and phrases derived from respect and regard.

Regard and derivatives
First, regards as opposed to regard.

Regards are what you express, typically at the end of a letter or e-mail, in order to sound friendly; but as your humble scribe has previously said, you could usefully dispense with them altogether – they add nothing (see ‘Beginnings and endings‘).

In any event, do NOT say with regards to or in regards to. Here, the correct word is regard…

Over the summer, we will be highlighting Legal Sourcery’s most popular research tips.  On that note, here are Legal Sourcery’s most popular current awareness tips:

• Follow Legal Sourcery via Email
• Introducing Robeside Assistance
• LegalPubs. ca – The Latest Canadian Legal Publications
• Native Law Centre Case Watch
• Saskatchewan Law Firm Blogs
• Staying Current with the Canadian Law Blogs List
• Staying Current in Legal News (or How to Be a Legal News Ninja)

If you have any questions, ask a Law Society Librarian! We are pleased to provide high-quality legal research services to Saskatchewan members in person, on the telephone, or by …

This tip was inspired by a young mother I know, a senior associate at a big firm, who shared with me her recipe for handling the challenging tension between mom-time and lawyer time: the early escape.

Here’s how it works: One night a week she stays late at the office, until between eight and ten at night, depending on the week. Then, two days later, she leaves the office in the early afternoon to pick her kids up early from daycare for some special time with them.

This wonderful “life hack” checks two important boxes for her. She checks her …

A quick checklist for when a user tells you that they cannot access a particular database:

1. User account hasn’t been set up
2. Using the wrong username
3. Using the wrong password
4. Trying to log into the US version, not the Canadian
5. Trying to log into the legacy version, not the new one (or vice versa)
6. Someone else is already logged in using that username and password
7. Access is through IP authentication and the user is trying to log in from a location that the database doesn’t recognize (like the user’s home)
8. No longer have a subscription to the database
9. Still subscribe

No one likes to talk about digital security. Heck, say “F T P” to some people and watch their eyes immediately glaze over.  I get it. It’s techy and geeky and those who are not, just smile and nod.  However, whether you are geeky or not, digital security is immensely important to the health of your business and even your personal life.

I’ve been trying to get the core concepts of digital security out there for over a decade.  My first presentation for the OIVAC (way back in 2006) only touched upon what one needs to consider when it comes …

I keep a running list of these, jotting them down as I see or hear them. (You’re on notice.)

The both of you/us

Adele may sing in ‘Hello’ about ‘thuh B-O-O-O-O-TH of UH-UH-ss’, but don’t you be doing it.

It is both of you and both of us, with no definite article – not even when it’s from the UH-ther SI-YIDE.

British case

There is no such thing in law. You mean an English case (or perhaps a Scottish one).

(Great) Britain, which came into being when James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne on the death of …

Over the summer, the Legal Sourcery blog is publishing its most popular research tips.  On that note, here are Legal Sourcery’s most popular CanLII tips:

• CanLII’s Boolean Operators
• CanLII Commentary
• CanLII Connects: Start Taking Your Research to the Next Level
• CanLII Tutorial Videos 
• Office of the Residential Tenancies Decisions on CanLII
• Saskatchewan Labour Arbitration Awards
• Saskatchewan Real Estate Commission on CanLII
• What Do You Do When You Find What You’ve Been Looking For?

If you have any questions, ask a Law Society Librarian! We are pleased to provide high-quality legal research services to Saskatchewan members in person, on the telephone, …