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I’m number 24! I’m number 24!

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Look out Kim, it's a cougar!Look out Kim, it's a cougar!Happy New Year to you kids! And to me too, because I am proud to be number 24! Canadian IP lawyer extraordinaire and blogger Barry Sookman has ranked the most popular intellectual property and technology law blogs. He ranked the Top 10 for the world, and a bunch of other geographic areas (EU, US, UK, etc.) and most importantly, Canada.

Most importantly because your humble blogger appears on the Canadian list, at the awesome Jack Bauerian ranking of 24! Hells yeah!

Thanks to all of you readers for making this achievement possible, and to Barry for compiling the rankings. Let’s aim for top 20 in 2013! And then we’ll knock Geist off his perch in 2014. He has it coming.

Media whoring alert! [updated with audio]

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Old school

I’ll be on CBC Radio Noon today at about 12:10 to discuss the Liberals’ use of Facebook video for their Pauline Marois ad. And possibly taking questions from listeners! There’s a listen live link at the top right of that CBC page. As usual my biggest challenge will be not to swear.

UPDATE – that’s good work CBC getting this online so fast, and embeddable too. Someone understands social media.

UPDATE #2 – nothing pisses me off more than autoplay files on a web page. That’s bad work CBC. I’m removing the embed, here’s a link to go listen. Sorry for any inconvenience.

A personal snark-free (well, mostly) note

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The above video is a wonderful documentary about the Mile End Legal Clinic, an organization that did more good in the last month than you’ve done in your lifetime. The Clinic helps people who can’t afford a lawyer get access to justice and know their rights, thanks to the efforts of lawyers and law students. Notwithstanding its name, it serves people from all over Montreal and Quebec. And I am proud to say that last week, I was named to their Board of Directors.

Now, you may say “but we have legal aid to help people who cannot afford a lawyer.” Well we do, but the system is pretty fucked. To qualify for legal aid as a single person in Quebec, you must have an annual income of $13,007 or less. Stats Canada’s Low Income Cut-off (essentially the “poverty line”, but they’re too chicken-shit to call it that) for a single person in Montreal in 2010 is $18,759. So basically, you can be poor and not qualify for legal aid. That’s fucked up. And that’s why clinics like Mile End are so important, and why I’m excited to help them as a Board member.

So let’s start with this – give them money. Your personal tax year is coming to an end, and you need some charitable deductions, don’t you? Or, you know, helping people.

A month of blogging and already I am re-using content

Privacy

Sorry I haven’t posted this week, I’ve been busy preparing my liver for my Law 10-year reunion this weekend. But I still have something for you. Here’s an article I wrote about Facebook and privacy for McGill’s Faculty of Law magazine, Focus online. It lacks my usual sarcastic snark you’ve come to love, but it’s educational I guess.

Here’s a little internet law primer of sorts

Internet law basics

Embedded below are the slides I used for a presentation to a Montreal law firm about internet law and advice for their corporate clients. Of course, you don’t get all my witty banter and brilliant oration skills just looking at some dumb slides, but maybe it’s interesting anyway. Though I doubt it.

Law firm Presentation

Willkommen. Bienvenue. Welcome. C’mon in.

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Hi there! Welcome to AllenMendelsohn.com, your source for all things Allen Mendelsohn. Well actually that’s not true. It’s really your source for all things internet law-related. Wait, don’t go away! This is going to be interesting, I promise. Join me after the jump so I can explain why this isn’t your average boring law blog that no one reads.

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