April 8th, 2010
I am very happy to announce that AdviceScene will be launching its own online TV show, entitled, Family Matters with Justice Harvey Brownstone. Yes, AdviceScene is now a TV producer! Family Matters showcases prominent guests from the legal community & elsewhere, in a talk show format; and it also provides educational episodes available on DVD and as downloadable iTunes episodes. Last week we were on location in Toronto, Ontario shooting the first 3 episodes of this new and exciting TV show. Family Matters is the first show of its kind to be hosted by a sitting judge. Justice Brownstone was the first judge to write a book about family law meant for the public. 
His book, Tug of War: A Judge’s Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles, and the Bitter Realities of Family Court, was an instant success last year when it was published. Justice Brownstone and I both believe that there is a huge public demand for legal information. People are very interested in learning about the law and our legal system. This is very clear, given the popularity of seemingly mundane legal information that is provided on AdviceScene.com; and the huge success of a book written by a judge about the basics of family law. People want and need the kind of information and education that AdviceScene, Tug of War, and now Family Matters offers. Stay tuned for more information on the first episodes.
Pictures to follow, but here is a link to Omar Ha-Redeye’s pictures for now: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10221277@N03/ (he helped out on set–thanks Omar!)
Nancy Kinney
AdviceScene Founder & President
Tags: advicescene, court, family law, family matters, harvey brownstone, judge, justice browntone, law, lawyer, legal advice, nancy kinney
Posted in family matters | 1 Comment »
January 20th, 2010
Victoria Firm Settles Online Defamation Case
AdviceScene.com announces today that it has reached a satisfactory settlement in its Internet defamation action against LawBuzz.ca. This case is one of a growing number of defamation cases involving online postings. Forum users are generally guaranteed anonymity, but as part of the settlement, LawBuzz.ca agreed to disclose and provide AdviceScene.com with the Internet Protocol (IP) and email addresses of four lawbuzz.ca anonymous forum members.
Read full AdviceScene v. Lawbuzz – Online Defamation Case press release here.
Tags: advicescene, case, defamation, law, lawbuzz, lawyers, libel, Press Release, slander
Posted in Legal, Press Release | No Comments »
January 15th, 2010
AdviceScene recently settled a case against Lawbuzz Canada Inc. over comments published on their legal forum last year. The apology is part of the settlement agreement. We sued Lawbuzz for publishing defamatory statements made by four of it’s anonymous members; and we also included those four members in the suit. We feel the posts by those members had the effect of discouraging lawyers from joining our site. Lawbuzz isn’t just any online forum. It’s specifically geared toward the legal community in Canada. Most likely nearly all the members on that site are either lawyers or law students. So, when members who appeared to be lawyers made statements that were clearly defamatory against this site, we had to take action. If any one group of people in this country should know that what one says online has the same (or even more) effect than the printed or spoken word, it is the lawyers. These are the very people that should know better. Lawyers have huge influence on public opinion and on the legal community. As such, they should be held up to at least the same standard of conduct as the rest of us. Lawyers should know better than to publish blatantly untrue and defamatory statements, even if they were made online anonymously.
AdviceScene.com is the first site of its kind in Canada; and last March we were struggling for acceptance in the legal community. The very last thing we needed at that time was for a popular legal site to publish untrue things about us. We have continued to struggle over the past year to get Canadian lawyers to answer questions online; and it’s our contention that the Lawbuzz statements certainly did not help us.
I am a huge supporter of free speech and I don’t like censorship at all, however when free speech reaches the point where people and businesses get hurt, there should be a way to put an end to it. People are free to be completely critical of me and this site; in fact I welcome criticism openly. However when those criticisms are based on untrue allegations specifically meant to hurt my business, that’s where I draw the line. Statements like the ones made last year on lawbuzz.ca, some of them from well-known lawyers, hurt our chances of making a go of a site that strives to bring greater legal understanding to the public; and can not be tolerated.
The documents that pertain to this case are listed below.
Sincerely,
Nancy Kinney
Documents pertaining to case in PDF format:
AdviceScene v. LawBuzz. Statement of Claim
AdviceScene. Moving Party Factum
Tags: advicescene, defamation, law, lawbuzz, lawyers, libel, slander
Posted in General, Legal | No Comments »
January 15th, 2010
Welcome to AdviceScene’s company blog. Our team will be posting news and updates here.
Posted in General | No Comments »
