Minutes of the April 24, 2006 conference call

Attendees: Edna Brewster, Anne L. Van Iderstine, Michael Cowle, Louise Hamel, Terry Hemingway, Jennifer Jordan, Lucie Laguë, Rick Leech, Denis Le May, Michèle Lesage, Grace Mackness, Frédéric Pelletier, Daniel Poulin, Ruth Rintoul and Elizabeth M.A. Turgeon.

The teleconference is chaired by Frédéric Pelletier and begins at 13:00, Eastern Daylight Time.

The agenda is set as follows:
1- Short announcements and updates;
2- New draft on case naming.

The notes for these minutes were taken by Marie-Odile Désy.

***

1- Announcements and updates

Replacement of the Coordinator

Daniel Poulin informs the Committee that, due to lack of time, he has to step down as Coordinator of the Committee. However, he still wishes to remain a member of the Committee. Daniel also asks the members for suggestions as to who would be the replacement. After having obtained everyone's suggestions, the names of Ruth Rintoul, Denis Le May and Frédéric Pelletier were retained. Denis Le May declined.

Before a final decision is taken as to the new Coordinator, Ruth and Frédéric agree that they would further discuss the role of the Coordinator in order to decide who could best accomplish the task. Their decision will be announced at the next meeting.

New Lexis Nexis Canada Representative

The Committee welcomes Terry Hemingway, a new representative from Lexis Nexis Canada. Terry will be replacing Ruth Rintoul that will remain on the Committee as a Law Publishing Consultant.

Upcoming Meetings

The discussions on case naming will more than likely require more than one meeting. It is agreed that at least two other meetings will be held on case naming. Taking into account everyone's availability, the dates of these meetings are as follows: Mondays, May 15th and May 29th at 1 P.M. EDT

2- New draft on case naming

Frédéric informs the Committee that the new version of the document takes into consideration the issues discussed during the previous conference call as well as the comments received in March 2005. The comments were integrated, whenever possible. Examples were also added in the text. When examples rendered awkward results, alternate solutions were suggested as discussions points in gray shaded boxes. The document also took into account a thorough research of norms applicable in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Frédéric also informs the Committee that the introduction of the document was ratified by the JTAC during a meeting held in February 2006.

It is decided that the Committee would review the document in the order that it is presented; one section at a time, from beginning to end.

Daniel Poulin suggests that a preliminary discussion first be held on the objectives of the new norm. Also, he suggests adopting a more daring approach when it comes to the publisher's current way of doing. This approach would favor a distance from the paper-based traditional legal publishing practices.

The opinions are divided on this subject, but a majority of the members feel that the approach should remain conservative. The new norms will have to take into account the current practices of legal publishers; the principal objective being to simplify these practices in order to favor consistency with case naming. The majority of the Committee is of the opinion that the introductory text is setting the right balance between the need for simplification and the preservation of established practices in this field. It was however agreed that the last sentence of paragraph 4 would be taken out in order to better reflect this balance.

"1. "Short Style of cause""

With regards to the position of the case name in section 1.2, it is decided that minor variations were acceptable, especially when a court presents the information in constant and coherent manner. It was also established that the wording of section 1.2 would not be changed, although the idea that this document gives flexible guidelines instead of strict rules will be added in the introductory part of the document.

***

The time allocated for this meeting ran out, thus the discussions will resume at the next meeting, starting at Section 1.3. The meeting is scheduled to take place on May 15, 2006 at 1 P.M EDT.

The meeting ends at 14:00.

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