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Isthatlegal.ca Mission Statement"In furtherance of the fundamental democratic principle of access to justice, to create and maintain extensive online Ontario and Canadian-based legal resources."
About IsthatlegalThe brief history of the Isthatlegal website is that I started writing legal 'Guides' (really, online textbooks) about 30 years ago in the areas of my initial legal-political interests - which were social assistance, tenancy, small claims court and employment law. The Guides eventually expanded to about 15 different topics, most of which are still being maintained, albeit not as currently as I would like (they are located alphabetically in the left 'Topics' sidebar).
Then in about 2015 (expanded in 2020) I started regularly reviewing cases from the four Canadian and Ontario appeal courts [Supreme Court of Canada, Federal Court of Appeal, Ontario Court of Appeal, Ontario Divisional Court] for interesting and useful 'dicta' from our hard-working and conscientious judges. Over time, the process of organizing these increasingly voluminous case dicta into topical categories has resulted in rich new resources - which is what you will find (growing daily) in the 200+ sidebar topics.
About 'Something Big'More recently, I'm minimizing my practice - and the website is once again turning back more to it's socio-political-purposed roots (from which I truly doubt that law can be realistically-divorced).
Even more recently I've added inarguably political content with my new Something Big (SB) project, which I mean to keep separate from the legal stuff. It's tempting to blame Trump's 'interesting times') for this, but the truth is I've hankered after expressing my politically-philosophified self since my 20's- and I ain't getting any younger now.
Given recent case law (where a doctor had their license revoked for COVID opinions, made while citing their professional status) it's prudent to caution readers that this Something Big content is not made by me in my professional lawyer capacity - it is content made by me as a politically interested citizen, which I think we all should be.
Interested in Similar Work?If any other Ontario lawyers - ideally with a demonstrated record of work in sharing the law with the lay public - want to discuss furthering this work in a similar fashion to mine, please email me (using email header: 'Interested') and we can talk. This work is particularly suited for disabled, semi-retired or fully-retired practitioners and can also be used in support of an online law practice. The website has one of the highest search-engine ranking for Ontario and Canadian law around and I want to share that benefit with others with similar goals.
If you are an Ontario lawyer and can produce quality legal content, this may assist you in furthering public access to the law, and reaching potential online clientele.
Simon Shields, LLB
simonshields@isthatlegal.ca
03 April 2025
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