In a welcome surprise to employers, the Alberta Court of King's Bench dismissed an employee's claim of wrongful dismissal. In its dismissal, the Court remarkably awarded both compensatory and punitive damages to the employer as a result of the employee's misconduct. Amid a pro-employee legal landscape, this decision serves as…
As the old adage says (and I quote Marshall Goldsmith), “What got you here won’t get you there.” In other words, later in your career, moving fast and having all the answers is actually detrimental to your executive presence and your ability to motivate and engage others. Let’s unpack this…
Maintaining an expert’s independence is of utmost importance. All participants in an arbitration or court proceedings know that a situation where an expert’s independence is being questioned should be avoided. However, what is a reasonable level of caution for legal advisors to hold when working with experts? Rebecca Ruthven Associate…
As part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress on November 15, 2021, BABA established a domestic content preference for federal financial assistance obligated for infrastructure projects. The domestic content preference applies to three separate product categories: (i) iron or steel products, (ii) manufactured products, and (iii)…
From software that once came in a box to phone apps that do simple tasks, more products and services are moving to a subscription model—and consumers are feeling it. The average US consumer last year spent $273 a month on 12 paid subscriptions. People were already used to paying for…
The technical term for platforms like AirBnb and Task Rabbit is “peer-to-peer exchanges,” but most people know them as part of the sharing economy. The sharing economy, or that part of commerce where individuals share their resources with others for a fee, has been around for thousands of years. Tuck…
Amidst a landscape of uncertainty and volatility, business leaders are increasingly recognising the paramount importance of ensuring business resilience. The Global Economy today is experiencing cross-cutting forces. On the one hand, exports are back on the rise, supply chain pressures are disappearing, AI-driven technological disruptions are accelerating and the post-pandemic…
Did you know that every third week of October is Workplace Bullying Awareness Week? It is a week to be daring and bold. This week is all about breaking the silence and shame that often surround this problem. In a perfect work setting, it should be a place where every…
Bio/pharma patents are rarely targeted in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings because their technical vulnerabilities often relate to written description and/or enablement. IPR, of course, is restricted in scope to grounds of unpatentability that are based on patents and printed publications. Claims in the unpredictable arts, even when challenged in…
Boss's Day, observed on October 16th in the United States, is a day marked on the calendar for employees to express gratitude toward their bosses. Patricia Bays Haroski, who registered "National Boss' Day" with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1958, had a more idealistic aim: to bridge the emotional…
The theory has held for decades: give people a choice and you’re also giving them an illusory sense of control. For example, a much-cited 1975 study found that if people are allowed to pick the numbers on a lottery ticket rather than having them randomly assigned, they’re more likely to…
The act of challenging a superior necessitates more than just raising one’s voice; it involves understanding, navigating, and engaging in the subtle yet complex dance of power dynamics, diplomacy, and mutual respect. Approaching someone above you in the professional hierarchy requires a delicate balance and a deep understanding of…
The famous daredevil Evil Knievel once said: “Risk is good. Not properly managing your risk is a dangerous leap.” While he was talking about jumping a motorbike over a line of school buses, the sentiment still holds true when thinking about investments. Without exposing your wealth to some level of…
When the world was a simpler place, most manufacturers did their work in-house and in their home country. This included product design and innovation; making inputs and assembling them; and sales, marketing, and distribution. In the early 1900s, for example, Ford made almost all of its 15 million Model Ts…
The European Commission’s Recommendation on critical technology areas for the EU’s economic security, issued on October 3, 2023, kick-started an urgent risk assessment by policymakers and private sector stakeholders across the European Union. While this work will be completed over the next few months, policymakers have already given a strong…
A first-of-its-kind study by Stanford Medicine researchers lets patients practice letting go of treasured objects in simulations of their own homes. - By Nina Bai Many people who dream of an organized, uncluttered home à la Marie Kondo find it hard to decide what to keep and what to let…
Online shopping vs in-store experience - What if meaningful transformation actually felt ‘old school’ rather than new? Post pandemic, customers have expressed a returning desire for in-store experiences. As a result, we’ve seen major online brands like Amazon and Shein open bricks-and-mortar stores in response to changed customer expectations. Customers…
This decision will be of interest to controllers who are processing children’s data as it illustrates the importance of carrying out comprehensive data processing impact assessments (“DPIAs”), implementing appropriate technical and organisational measures, as well as using clear language in customer communications, including clear directions on registration and in the…
This past May, the New York Times reported that the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force changed the age at which it says women should start getting regular mammograms to detect breast cancer. Since 2009, the task force had recommended periodic breast cancer screenings for women 50 and over. The new…
Ontario recently amended its class proceedings legislation to include multi-jurisdictional provisions that are like provisions that already exist in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.1 Few courts have considered these provisions, but the decisions that are available provide insight into the circumstances when a court may, or may not, certify (or stay)…
The way businesses connect with customers has changed a lot in the digital age, offering new opportunities but also presenting new risks. To address this evolving landscape, the European Union (EU) has introduced the Digital Services Act (DSA), a pioneering regulatory framework aimed at governing digital platforms and services while…
Good Estate planning will ensure that the assets you’ve built over your lifetime pass easily and tax-efficiently to your chosen beneficiaries. Yet there are a number of areas which frequently catch families out. Steve Wright, our Estates Director, takes a look at 10 of the most common mistakes when it…
The case Catherine Buhagiar u Frank Buhagiar (the “Plaintiffs”) vs. Claudio Caruana u Josephine Caruana għal kull interess li jista’ jkollha (the “Defendants”) was brought before the Court of Appeal (the “Court”) on the 12 July 2023, and was presided over by Prim Imhallef Mark Chetcuti, Imhallef Christian Falzon Scerri…
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) carried out a full review of the current shortage occupation list. What has the Migration Advisory Committee said? The committee is not convinced that the current shortage occupation list provides the answer to the UK’s labour shortages and has recommended that the shortage occupation (with…
Bård Harstad tells his students that every environmental problem is, at its core, an inefficiency problem. “This inefficiency means that, overall, you’re losing something,” he explains. “It means that there is another way to make decisions so that we could potentially all be better off.” Harstad, a professor of political…
Drop a few simple conversational prompts into AI, and the results are pretty astonishing. But these tools also have a deeper potential to transform how work gets done for those who learn how to fully leverage it. Think of generative AI as a digital assistant that augments your own knowledge…
As three longtime advocates for Mideast peace, from both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations, we believe that a silver lining could eventually emerge from the shocking invasion of Israel by Hamas and the tragic slaughter of over 1,300 civilians. Despite Hamas’ intention to prevent wider Mideast peace from emerging from…
As Mark Twain might say, reports of the death of G-7 Russian oil price cap have been greatly exaggerated. Devised by the U.S. Treasury Department and adopted by all the G-7 and European Union countries, the novel oil price cap was designed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to limit…
At Lenovo, our approach to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is driven by our vision to provide smarter technology that builds a brighter, more sustainable future for our customers, colleagues, communities, and the planet. Our commitment to meeting our ESG goals and moving our efforts forward is dependent on learning from peers, being inspired by […]
In a lawsuit, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Amazon used a secret algorithm to determine how much to raise prices in a way competitors would follow and that brought the company $1 billion in revenue. Amazon insists the project had a benign aim and was scrapped. In this context, a new study…
An alliance between UC Berkeley researchers and partners in Singapore shows that combining ceiling fans with higher air conditioning set points can lower energy use by one-third without sacrificing comfort.
Strategic planners are often blind about how the future will challenge their status quo. A scenario-planning mindset can help them see what they’re missing. Executives engaged in strategic planning typically have a blind spot. They focus almost exclusively on possible courses of action and pay little attention to the future…
Quick Hits Employer monitoring of workers must be carried out in a way that is lawful and fair to the workforce so as not to infringe on the rights of data subjects, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office said in updated guidance. In order to lawfully collect and process information from…
Generative AI is just scratching the surface in this new era of AI. We are knocking on the door of superintelligence, which promises to radically change our world as we know it. But what does that word even mean, when will it be here, and how will it affect everyday…
As computers evolved from room-sized contraptions wrangled by specialists to machines that displaced typewriters on more and more desks, the change was met with excitement, anxiety, hype, and skepticism. Workers feared being replaced by machines; managers weren’t sure, despite the eyewatering expense of equipping everyone with a computer, whether the…
One in eight people, or nearly 1 billion, live with a mental health condition. Given the scope of the challenge, innovation is key to advance mental health support for greater numbers of people around the world. For instance, in India, an estimated 83 percent of the 300 million people who…
Once enacted, the legislation will give the Minister the power to mitigate the effect of transactions in sensitive sectors identified as problematic or, if necessary, prohibit them outright. This note provides an overview of the key aspects of the proposed investment screening regime on the basis of the current draft…
Q: You are two of the co-authors of a paper, “The Bias Time Out: A Practical Tool for Advancing DEIB in the Healthcare Space” that proposes a real-time process for reducing errors and negative outcomes due to bias. How did you develop this tool? Dr. Cecelia Calhoun: Five of us…
A new executive order signed by President Biden in August 2023 restricts outbound investment to China in several critical cutting-edge technologies.
Stanford University reported returns on its investment portfolio as of June 30, 2023, and the value of its endowment as of the close of its fiscal year, August 31, 2023. Stanford University today announced a 4.4% investment return in its Merged Pool, net of all external and internal costs and…