This phrase is frequently used by judges and lawyers: there are roughly 400 cases in CanLII which employ it.

Notable among them is R v Neil, 2002 SCC 70, where Binnie J applies a bright-line test to identify lawyers’ conflicts of interest.

We all know what this means (a test that is clear, easily applied and certain in outcome), but how did we come to use it?

The legal notion of a bright line seems to have its origin in Girard Trust Co v Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 122 F2d 108 (3d Cir 1941), where Goodrich CJ observes …

This was adapted from a discussion on the CALL listserv; many thanks to Jenny Thornhill, Bronwyn Guiton and Alexandra Everitt.

Unfortunately there is no easy tool that will allow you easily track the changes to a specific section of the Criminal Code over the years, but the following two resources may be helpful:

• Martin’s Online Criminal Code includes versions of the Criminal Code from 1955 on and is searchable.
• Crankshaw’s Criminal Code of Canada is available both in print and online through Westlaw Canada. Bronwyn Guiton noted that “Crankshaw’s isn’t always reliable in bridging major changes in provisions however

Related, and problematic.

Permit as a noun meaning ‘licence’ is totally fine (In Canada, we require owners of guns to have permits), as is the verb form when it means ‘to allow’ (Smoking is not permitted).

In legal usage – and I think mostly in US legal usage –  permit as a verb has come to mean ‘to license’ or ‘to issue a permit to’ (The permitting of architects is governed the relevant statute and professional rules).

I haven’t heard how permitting in that last sense is pronounced, but I suspect it may more …

The data analytics unit at one of what we used to call the Big Four accounting firms exhorts us to Think different. Do different. Be different.

Be different is fine (grammatically and as a matter of practice), but the other two? Oh, dear.

They really should be Think differently and Do differently, as those verbs need adverbs (typically ending in –ly) rather than adjectives like different.

The copywriters wanted something that would catch the eye, of course – even if that meant resorting to a grammatical solecism.

What these phrases mean is ‘Think[or do] that …

[Admin note: thanks to Karen Sawatzky of Manitoba’s Great Library for this tip; it was originally published on Great LEXpectations.]

Did you know? Plain language summaries of SCC decisions are available under “Cases in Brief”:

Cases in Brief are short summaries of the Court’s written decisions drafted in reader-friendly language, so that anyone interested can learn about the decisions that affect their lives.

They are prepared by communications staff of the Supreme Court of Canada. They do not form part of the Court’s reasons for judgment and are not for use in legal proceedings.

— Supreme Court of Canada website

Ministerial Orders refer to orders “created under the authority granted to a minister under a statute or regulation that are made by a Minister” as opposed to Orders in Council which are issued by the Governor General of Canada or the Lieutenant Governor of a province. 

For that reason it’s generally harder to find Ministerial Orders than Orders in Council, although this depends greatly on the province. Some provinces, such as British Columbia, make all their Ministerial Orders available in one place. For other jurisdictions you may have to look specifically at the Ministry’s website to find …

There’s a knot in your belly. Earlier today you received an email from your client asking you to wire the proceeds of a large real estate transaction to an updated account number. You complied, of course. It’s their money after all.

At least, you thought it was your client. It looked like an email from your client. It read like an email from your client. And they knew all the details of the transaction. But now your client is saying they never sent such an email and never received the funds you transferred.

You’re the victim of wire fraud, you’ve …

For so many busy lawyers it’s almost too easy to go in and do your time day after day, year after year. But at some point you may find yourself wondering if this is really what you still want to be doing.

• If the answer is yes, great, just keep moving forward.
• If the answer is no, listen and change your role.

A simple but illuminating exercise to get the ball rolling in the right direction is to write your future biography. Not based on where things are headed today. But based on where your interests lie. A different area …

If you find you use a lot of semi-colons, there’s a good chance your sentences are too long. Break things into smaller units, especially for readers using a small screen.

Semi-colons can be useful in lists where the enumerated items are clauses with internal commas, so you know what goes with what. Parentheses could help, but a thicket of round brackets (or any kind of brackets, really) is hard on the eye (as my friend and colleague Angela Swan points out).

In those situations, it might be easier for your reader to put the items in a bulleted or numbered …

The Canadian census is carried out every five years (you may remember filling it out earlier this year) and, in addition to basic demographic information, covers such areas as housing and employment.

If you’re trying to find census information on a more granular level than simply for the country as a whole, the first thing that you need to determine is what geographic area you are interested in. Do you want to pull statistics for the country as a whole or on a more granular basis?

Statistics Canada divides the country up in a number of different ways including:

• Provinces