The 2019 Canadian Law Blog Awards (Clawbies) Are Here!

By Alan Kilpatrick

Snow underfoot, Christmas music in the air, eggnog, and …Canadian law blogs?  The arrival of the holiday season means that the Canadian Law Blog Awards (Clawbies) are right around the corner.

Created in 2006 by Steve Matthews, the Clawbies highlight great blogs in the Canadian legal sector annually.  Voting is simple.  Write a blog post nominating your favorite blogs and tweet the post using the hashtag #Clawbies2019 by December 20th, 2019.  Steve and the Clawbies team review the nominees and announce the award winners on New Years Eve.

This year is a bit different.  The Clawbies are evolving.  This year’s award is open to any online content or digital publication that is freely accessible: blogs, podcasts, social media, newsletters, online commentary, websites, and videos.

On that note, here are my Clawbie nominations for 2019:

CanLII.org: Primary Law and Commentary
CanLII, more formally know as the Canadian Legal Information Institute, is an outstanding resource.  As a law librarian, I depend on CanLII’s reliable collection of primary law and growing collection of commentary and ebooks while serving lawyers and the public in the law library.  A major proponent of free access to law and open legal publishing, CanLII’s efforts are worthy of recognition.

Family Law Saskatchewan: Form Wizard
The first resource of it’s kind, Family Law Saskatchewan, was launched in 2015 by Saskatchewan’s Public Legal Education Association.  Providing both plain language information on common family law topics and a court form wizard, the website is making strides in improving access to justice in Saskatchewan.  Users answer plain language interview questions and the form wizard generates the forms and steps necessary to start or respond to a family law action.

National Self-Represented Litigants Project: SRL Resources
The National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP), founded by Professor Julie Macfarlane in 2013, researches issues affecting self-represented litigants (SRLs) and creates practical resources for those trying to navigate the legal system on their own.  As a law librarian in a publicly accessible law library, I know how challenging it can be to assist SRLs.  I frequently refer SRLs to the NSRLP’s free collection of resources.  For example, I know of no better legal research guide for SRLs than the NSRLP’s amazing CanLII Primer.