It's True

GameStation's Immortal Soul Clause

Clever, clever GameStation.


We definitely need to do a better job with conveying terms and conditions for online transactions.

His Brain Her Brain - Scientific American

Was sauntering through Coles this weekend, and this caught my attention:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/sciammind/

HAD to buy it. Not only is it so interesting from a law perspective, but as a parent, I truly believe that most of the genderized behaviour of children is learned. I've only been able to take a quick scan through it so far, and it looks somewhat promising.

Another Benefit ...

... to having done CPSC as an undergraduate degree before law school ....

sure makes drafting agreements easier. My LE last week asked me to draft a shot-gun clause and a non-competition clause for a unanimous shareholder agreement. We were given precedents, but they were written in an archaic and wordy format, so had to be changed a great deal.

Writing out the draft clauses for that assignment was seriously like programming. Keeping track of the variables, writing the logic to ensure that all contingencies were provided for, and doing it all in a succint and elegant manner. I REALLY ENJOYED this assignment. I like keeping track of the details, and I like the logic. I'm trying to decide if this is the law equivalent of being a computer nerd.

I received fairly good feedback from a fairly tough LGF, as well, so I know that I'm onto something with this.

Exciting. When everything feels so new all the time, it's so nice to find something that seems to be a natural strength.

EGADS!

Alberta unemployment rate climbs

Not good news for a poor soul like me who is looking for a job! At least Alberta is still lower than the national average.

Is It Wrong To Cope Through Chocolate?

Is it wrong that my title is only partly a joke?

Ah CPLED. It would be so easy to whine, moan, wheeze, and otherwise lament about how gruelling you are, but that's just not my style. I'd rather problem solve (of course), and try and think about exactly what it is that is wearing me down, and what could be done to change the process. So ... here goes.

I like the fact that we do modules, rather than a big bar admission test. I like that I have access to lawyers who give me feedback about my writing. I enjoy the opportunity to have discussions with my LGFs ... but.

But.

I am almost CPLED-ed out.

The pace prior to Christmas was a slow and steady pace in comparison to the pace now, which I suppose is a good thing as we are eased into the whole CPLED thing, but I almost wish that CPLED was organized in the opposite way, so that the last month of the process was a more relaxed pace, and I could ease my way out. My WORK work load is a bit more complex now, and I'm not quite as eager about the whole CPLED process. Easing my way out would be a lot easier than easing my way in.

ALSO - at this point, I've had so much feedback from so many various LGFs that all the information is spinning around in my head, and I'm working far too hard to put it all together into coherent assignments, especially when some of the feedback is directly contradictory. Again, it would be easier if the pace were a little more relaxed at this point, so that I could truly synthesize all of this information to try and bring my writing to a higher level, rather than just slap together assignments to get them done and get a CD (competency demonstrated).

So ... my big suggestion ... flip the script. Ease us out, rather than easing us in. We can handle it.

And ... problem solved. NEXT ... solving the problem of finishing my LE that is due tomorrow.

Ah CPLED, how I look forward to the time that we part our merry ways.

iSaw, iWanted, iPaid, iGot iPad

Wish I was one of them .... sigh. One day, toys will be a priority (although, I shouldn't complain, I'm still loving my little blue ASUS EEE netbook).


iSaw, iWanted, iPaid, iGot iPad

Tidbits of Interest for the Day

Making computers think outside the box
at U of C News & Events

Is it bad that this makes me think of some kind of awesome dining room table on which I can eat, search the internet, watch my kid do virtual colouring, help my kid do homework, display virtual tablecloths?

Ah ... the fantasy.




Lawyers can't dump deadbeat clients, court rules
at the National Post
Supreme Court of Canada actual decision can be viewed here.

Top IP Boutiques

As per Canadian Lawyer Magazine:

The pick of the crop - part 1

Maybe one day on that list ... Hutchinson LLP? Mwoo ha ha ha ha.

In the interest of trying to read more about copyright law ...

... here's an article on SLAW:

Copyright reform bill this spring

SAHD Reports

Our evening routine consists of my Husband giving me the SAHD Report (or, the Stay-at-Home-Dad Report), outlining the various adventures and hijinks that he and the kidlet get up to throughout the day.

Today's report was heeeeelarious. I won't go into too many details, just to protect the privacy of our wee one, but there was a poop, a bath, and some screaming, all in the middle of dinner prep.

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that one.

OH - and another gem from today's SAHD Report - Jason and the little Spud were at the library this morning, making their rounds as they normally do. The library was packed with all sorts of little ones. OUR little one set her sights on another little girl, probably a year or two her senior, went up to her and started tickling her tummy. The older girl was not impressed.

Mwoooo ha ha ha ha.

Our kid has no fear, and is definitely NOT shy. I love it.

I guess we'll have to start teaching her to SAY HELLO before you try and tickle someone - it's the polite thing to do.


On a CPLED note - I officially have passed 5/9 of the CEs. Woot woot! The 6th one is due on Thursday, and so I'm in serious crack-down mode. I'm so happy that I'm officially more than halfway done. After this CE is handed in on Thursday, I only have two more written CEs, one more in class CE, and then I'm FREE AS A BIRD (assuming I pass everything, of course).

I can't wait for the FREE AS A BIRD status. CPLED + WORK = very overwhelming, especially where there are no breaks from the week-to-week assignments. Perhaps it would be less so if I skipped some of the LEs, but I just don't have it in me. I can't imagine doing all of the work from scratch for a CE, too much stress for one week. Also - I usually do learn something from each assignment, so I guess that's a bonus too.

AND ... back to the CE writing.

Also -

- as I've been trying to meet my desk organization goal, I NOW am coveting a few of these items, mainly the Grassy Organizer, Desk Dots, and the Kikkerland Wood LED Clock.

How To: Enhance Your Desk
The Precedent

The LLB/JD Debate

So, my alma mater, the U of S, is considering changing the degree that they confer from an LLB to a JD. A survey has been sent to alumni, which you can view here:
http://www.usask.ca/law/documents/JDLLBLETTER-MailedFinal.pdf

I've canvassed those that I know in the legal community here, and it would seem that not many are too concerned with the difference between the two.

I can see, though, that it is the wave of the future, as it would seem that more Canadian law schools are making the switch.

I can also see the benefits that would follow with being able to travel and work abroad.

Interesting. If they do make the switch, will I opt to have my degree retroactively changed to a JD? Must consider.

Sometimes ...

... I just reach my wipe-out point. I'm pretty sure that this point typically gets reached at the end of each CE that I hand in, but I haven't really looked back to verify.

On Wednesday night last week, I fell asleep while putting my kid to bed at 7:30 ... got up at 11:00 to brush my teeth, then went back to bed.

This weekend I've been spending in recovery mode, which to me, consists of chick-flicks on the TV, PJs on my body, and a special kind of hibernation that involves recharging my batteries, chocolate, and cleaning my apartment.

As for my weekly goals, I did clean-up my blog side-bar, have not yet read up on fair use issues, I did finish my CE, have NOT yet made a dentist appointment, and have somewhat organized my desk.

NEW weekly goals:

• finish my LE for Thursday
• make a dentist appointment
• read up on fair use issues with copyright
• go running at least once (yup, am feeling the urge to run again, now that spring is almost upon us, and since I'm not pregnant/the mother of an infant)

I haven't added very many new ones, as far too many of the above are carry-overs. I want to wrap these ones up before I get too crazy ahead of myself.

AND NOW ... to get back to work on my LE. I've already got a good start on it, but I know that it will take a few hours of good solid work to get to where I feel like I've got a solid skeleton of an assignment.

OH - and happy pi day!

π

New Record

Ex-wife's award a Canadian record
Toronto woman to get $110,000 a month in spousal support
The Toronto Star

Internet and Jurisdiction

I have read a little bit about this in the past, but it never ceases to amaze me how truly global our world is.

Something that many internet users definitely do not understand, the long arm of the law is VEEEERRRRRRY long these days:

US Jurisdiction over Canadian Sites
Richard P.W. Stobbe from Brownlee's IPblog

Makes me think of this case too:
Dow Jones & Co. Inc. v. Gutnick

Just Checking In ...

... haven't had very much time to update like I want to, but had to drop in to share:

Court goes digital for first time
Edmonton Journal


So cool, and hopefully the beginning of a new era.

CE Dominates My Week

Today another CE is due. I'm almost finished it, just need a few details refined, and then I can submit my Wills CE. This is module 5 of 9. After this one, assuming I demonstrate competency (knock on wood), I'm more than halfway. Sigh. Sounds better than the 1/9 modules I reported back in November. Much, much better.

Exciting news for me - my kid STTN AGAIN last night. The first occurrence on Sunday night/Monday morning was glorious, but wasn't repeated again until LAST NIGHT! I think we're slowly developing a new pattern that may just make my life a little more rested. I'm so excited.

Last night really was the night for her to STTN, too, as I was up past midnight working on this CE (for the 2nd night in a row). Grrr ... when will we get more hours in the day? I just need a couple more, then I'd be able to crank through these CEs AND get my required sleep. Ah well. A couple of puffy-eyed days never hurt anybody ... I try and tell myself that people PAY to make their faces look as puffy as mine today, and I got mine for FREE ... mwoo ha ha ha ha.

Also doesn't hurt that it's ROLL UP THE RIM TIME! Woot woot! Makes me miss the good ol' days when I worked in Admitting. I remember drinking coffee with Jen (because you have to finish the beverage before rolling the rim, or it's unlucky), and then going through our routine of saying "Rrrrrrroll up the Rrrrrrim to win!", rolling our "r"s of course, and then rolling our rims. Feels like I used to win so many prizes back in the good ol' days.

Makes me miss the Timmy's at U of S, too. So many Timmy runs, so many roll-up the rim wins and losses. Sigh.

I have to say, though, that so far Roll up the Rim has been OK for me. I've rolled two coffees myself, with no wins, but I bought a co-worker a coffee, and she gave me the free coffee that she won on it. YAY! SO ... so far, so good. Maybe it's time to re-engage the Roll up the Rim to Win routine, maybe it will bring me more luck!

As for goals of the week, I'm happy to report that I am so far still on track.

I DID clean up my blog side-bar. The links that are now displayed should all be active. I haven't added any new ones yet, as there are a few more sites that I now frequent regularly, but that will have to be another week's goal.

I'm ALMOST done my CE for this week, so that goal will be taken care of.

My desk is about halfway organized ... I'm getting there.

Have not yet called the dentist or read up on fair use issues. These things will have to wait until my CE is over (today at 4 PM).

SO ... not doing too badly, all in all.


By the way, is anybody else still stuck in January? February went by so fast, I'm in shock that it is already March. Seriously, light speed. I can't believe that we're fast approaching the 1 year mark from when I finished law school. Seems like only yesterday (cue the reminiscing appropriate background music) ...

... anyhoo - back to work on my CE!

A Golden Sunday/Monday

For more reasons than one.

Yay for Canada breaking the gold medal count record for winter Olympics:
Canada's golden Games at CTV's Website

Also - just want to put it out there - my kid STTN (that stands for Slept Through the Night). It's a pretty big deal. We never did any sleep training, as I never had a point in time where I could sacrifice a week's worth of sleep in order to better our sleep situation (what with being a law student and articling student and all). She really only ever woke up twice a night on average, and was quick to put back to sleep. Coping wasn't that difficult.

BUT LAST NIGHT ... she STTN. I'm in shock, awe, and delight. She woke up so happy, and so did I. It may just be a fluke, but if so it's a hopeful fluke, and one that I will revel in for today.

As for the "Two Views" article (page 26 at this link), it was a great read. Both authors clearly know what they're talking about, and lay out the issues in an easy to understand way.

Overall, though, I must say that I agree with Michael Geist on this one. I argued essentially the same thing (i.e. the requirement for a principle based policy that can accommodate faster-than-the-speed-of-light advances in technology) in the major paper that I wrote for my Intellectual Property class Conceptualization of Intellectual Property in a Post-Industrial Era; Protecting Virtual Property in MMOGs).

What I like about this point of view is that it really forces us to rationalize and defend our motives, goals, and ideas about intellectual property. So much easier to say than to actually do, but something that I think is important and necessary.

This leads to the only thing that bothers me about Barry Sookmar's view, the way that he lays out as fact that IP law encourages innovation. This is a contentious point in academic circles, debated at length in various papers. To state that it is fact, without further discussion as to why this is true, or why he believes it to be true, discredits his point of view for me (notwithstanding that this is a brief article, which doesn't get into anything in too much detail). He is stating the popular point of view, but I need back-up and discourse. I'm not saying that I don't think it's true, I think that it is true in some cases, but I do NOT believe that it is always true.

Not sure how I feel about the Fair Use issues, though. Haven't read that much about them. Now that it is March 1st, perhaps that should be one of my weekly goals.

As for last weeks goals:

• blog sidebar clean-up
• finish CPLED LE
• send out at least 2 resumes
• try not to spend TOOOOO much time online shoe shopping for new good ol' trusty shoes that I can blitz around down-town in (sigh, the shoe industry was really not for me for a few years there, but now its' coming back around to styles that I'm coveting ... what is a girl to do?)
• maintain my new "reformed absentee blogger" status
• watch as much of the Olympics coverage as I can

I haven't cleaned up my blog sidebar yet, so that's a rollover goal. I somewhat finished my CPLED LE, I did send out 2 resumes, I didn't ponder shoes too much, I have been faithfully blogging, and I definitely got in some Olympics couch time.

So ... this week, a new list of goals:

• clean up blog side-bar (top of list, as this is a roll-over)
  
• read up on Fair Use issues with copyright
• finish my CE for this week (and do a GOOD JOB ... heh heh heh, I suppose this technically SHOULD be my first priority)
  
• make a dentist appointment (hee - been putting this one off)
• organize my desk at work, and try and actually IMPLEMENT the work flow that I have kind of started to get going

That last goal refers to my ongoing files. I have two file stands that sit beside my desk, I'm trying to use one for files that are waiting for some event (i.e. a return of a phone-call, response by correspondance of some kind, etc.), and the other for files that I have been assigned to do something on, but which I haven't yet touched. Hopefully, I can grab a file from the NEW FILES rack, process it, then either get it to where it is supposed to be, or put it on my WAITING rack. Just need to clear off all the files sitting on my desk that have been piling up. Ack.

Somewhat on track for weekly goals.

Ugh.

Well, I handed in an LE today, but it wasn't quite complete. Grrrr. Just ran out of time, unfortunately. I worked on it at home quite a bit, but I usually get enough time to finish up the details at work.

Unfortunately, my work week has been one of those weeks with MULTIPLE tiny little tasks that didn't really give me very much to wrap up the details that I needed time to wrap up.

Fortunately, this is only an LE (and therefore, not compulsory), and at least I handed in a first draft memo, and a skeleton of some will clauses that should at least garner some helpful feedback for me.

Also - the exercise of completing the LE is helpful in itself, and I did complete my thought process, just didn't have time to write all my thoughts out.

Oh well.

This week I have to work on the CE (compulsory), so I'll make sure that I have some time this weekend to take a good chunk out of it.

No news on the shoe front (I have been sticking to that goal).

Pretty excited about our Women's Hockey gold medal (woot woot).

Looking forward to reading the "Two Views" article in the current CBA National magazine where Michael Geist and Barry Sookman offer their POVs about Copyright Law. Too tired right now, though, I'm thinking over coffee in the morning. Saving it. Putting it next to the coffee maker so that it makes me smile before I get my morning brew.

It's a Happy Wednesday So Far

... ah ... the middle of the week.

I took my goals seriously today, and sent out two resumes this morning. I'm also working on CPLED right now, and rather than thinking about shoes, I'm thinking about cuff-links ... so I guess that's somewhat on track.

I'm wearing my star cuff-links today which were given to me by a friend quite a few years ago. I really don't wear them often enough (I guess, I really only have the one shirt that requires them). Must look into buying more cuff-link-able shirts, and more cuff-links. They're big red stars, which is fittings, as she's from Texas. Sigh. I miss my friends in far away places.

As for the rest of today, I've got stacks of files on my desk that I need to clear away in order to maintain my sanity, and two client meetings. It's a full one. I think I may try and find a lunch date, too, maybe to grab a quick bite of sushi ... hmmmmm.

I'm feeling rather energized, as the spud-let had a really good night last night. So nice. So much sleep. Don't feel like I NEED my coffee, but I will still drink it (because I love it so). Ah coffee - you and I have a long and vividly recorded love affair. I don't think we'll ever leave each other, we just like each other too darn much.