Canada’s online legal magazine.

Beyond Regulatory Silos: Announcing the Canadian Centre for Responsible AI Governance

Over the past two years, much of my writing in this space has focused on the accelerating risks associated with artificial intelligence and the uneven state of AI regulation in Canada. I have written about stalled federal legislation, the growing role of privacy regulators, the increased risks of AI use for regulated professionals, and the early signs of AI related litigation beginning to surface in Canadian courts. Taken together, these developments point to a growing tension. Artificial intelligence is being deployed at speed, while the institutions tasked with managing risk remain fragmented, reactive, and unevenly equipped.

This column steps back . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Technology

From Anecdote to Evidence: Why Students’ Experiences With Generative AI Matter

Generative AI is nearly impossible to avoid as a law student. Over the past few years, it has been embedded into many of the products commonly used for legal work (See e.g., proprietary research platforms, Google, Microsoft products, etc). Whether welcomed or resisted, generative AI is now part of the legal information environment.

There are many questions remaining about how to prepare students for the use of generative AI during their legal education for their future practice. While technological competence ≠ generative AI, we know that use of generative AI systems is a technical skill . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Information, Legal Technology

Book Review: Jones & Murphy on Cultural Humility in Libraries

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Cultural Humility in Libraries: A Call to Action and Strategies for Success. Edited by Shannon D. Jones & Beverly Murphy. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2024. xv, 179 p. Includes bibliographic references, figures, and index. Medical Library Association Books Series. ISBN 9781538162149 (hardcover) $138.95; ISBN 9781538162156 (softcover) $56.95.

Reviewed by . . . [more]

Posted in: Book Reviews, Legal Information

From Exception to Expectation: Advancing Accessible Content in Canada

Canadians with disabilities are sure to have improved access to copyrighted works with the release of Accessible Content: A Guide to the Canadian Copyright Act on Searching for Accessible Formats and Producing and Distributing Alternate Formats by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA). Written by Victoria Owen, Alexandra Kohn and Laurie Davidson, and released on September 15, 2025, this comprehensive guide marks a significant milestone in Canada’s pursuit of practical, lawful, and equitable access to copyrighted works for people with perceptual disabilities.

The Accessible Content guide provides a clear . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Publishing

Facilitating or Teaching: What Best Supports Experiential Learning?

Experiential learning—learning by doing—is central to competency‑based education because it bridges theory and practice. The question for instructors is not whether experiential learning matters, but how best to support learners on that journey. Should instructors be teaching, facilitating, or something else entirely?

Teaching vs. Facilitating: What’s the Difference?

To answer that question, it helps to clarify the distinction between teaching and facilitating.

Teaching focuses on the delivery of knowledge from an expert to a learner. It is most often associated with lectures or demonstrations, where the instructor’s role is to explain concepts, model skills, and ensure learners understand foundational theory. . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Education

Age-Appropriate Design for Canada: Moving Beyond One-Size-Fits-All Consent

Canada is at a pivotal moment in children’s privacy. Federal reform under Bill C-27, including the proposed Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA), continues to advance, while provinces such as Quebec—through Law 25, which introduces enhanced rights and stricter consent obligations, have already begun reshaping the legal landscape. At the same time, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) continues to identify children’s privacy as a policy and enforcement priority, underscoring the need for a modernized framework that reflects minors’ unique vulnerabilities and developmental needs. OPC Annual Report 2021 , Bill C-27 Overview Quebec Law 25 Summary

Despite . . . [more]

Posted in: Justice Issues

Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Double Aspect 2. Condo Adviser 3. Precedent: The New Rules of Law and Style 4. Excess Copyright 5. David Whelan

Double Aspect
The Kiwis Do It Better

I have blogged about the issue of imprisonment to life without parole, in name or in effect, for some years

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

Summaries Sunday: SOQUIJ

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : Dans une affaire concernant des infractions de nature sexuelle, vu l’ensemble des erreurs qui entachent le jugement de première instance au chapitre de l’appréciation du témoignage de l’accusé et leur effet cumulatif, il y a lieu d’ordonner la tenue d’un nouveau procès.

Intitulé : Langlois c. R., . . . [more]

Posted in: Summaries Sunday

The Law Firm Private Equity Puzzle

Unprecedented market conditions are forcing law firms to choose if and how they meet demands of clients and the legal market itself with private equity being a major and, in many cases, deciding factor in enabling solvency and structural reformation.

My opinion column, The Law Firm Pyramid Rollover, that examined how artificial intelligence, pricing, and transience of the legal service sector’s workforce is causing the traditional law firm pyramid structure to rollover like an upending iceberg sparked two strong and opposing reactions: One was numerous republishing requests, reposts, and commentary while the other was dead silence.

The former . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing, Practice of Law

Competitively, a Challenging Mountain to Climb

Although it is a continuing rather than a new story, I was nevertheless interested to read the recent listing by Publishers Weekly, entitled The World’s Largest Publishers, 2025. For clarity, this is a top 25 of the largest, by revenue, of all publishers in the world and not just those which publish legal information. Nevertheless, first and second on the hierarchy are Thomson Reuters and RELX. The key aspect of the latest report is that after a seven-year run, RELX has been overtaken by Thomson Reuters as the new front-runner in the grouping. In 2024, Thomson Reuters’ revenues . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Publishing

You Are a Loose-Fish and a Fast-Fish

Melville’s Moby Dick, which fell flat out of the presses and was out of print in 1891 when he died, was thankfully revived 70 years later in the 1920s for it gave us access to not only one of the best books ever written, but a legal theory that will stand the test of time, that is, that possession is the whole of the law. How can this be so? By virtue of two simple principles:

I. A Fast-Fish belongs to the party fast to it.

II. A Loose-Fish is fair game for anybody who can soonest catch it. . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law

Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Know How 2. Administrative Law Matters 3. Lash Condo Law 4. David Whelan 5. Vincent Gautrais

Know How
New Year, New Law? Not Always

With a new year comes new legislation, and a common assumption: if a law is repealed, it’s gone for good. However, that is

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

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This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada | Ce projet a été rendu possible en partie grâce au gouvernement du Canada