In September, 2025, the Commonwealth formally adopted theCommonwealth Model Law on Digital Trade. It replaces the Model Law on Electronic Transactions from 2002.

The 2002 Model Law essentially provided a consistent method for Commonwealth states to implement the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce(MLEC)(1996). The MLEC has now been adopted in over 100 jurisdictions worldwide and underpins the global legal use of e-communications.

All Canadian jurisdictions have had a version of the MLEC since the early 2000s, all but Quebec through adoption of the Uniform Electronic Commerce Act created by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada in . . . [more]

Every lawyer who hangs that metaphorical shingle must ask themselves a key question: which is the most appropriate business structure for my firm? This question may be posed at various points in a lawyer’s career. I remember when I was at law school (Queen’s Law, Class of 2007), there were intrepid students who were already laying plans. For myself, I started my business in 2015, after articling at a big firm on Bay Street, working as Staff Lawyer for a community legal clinic and then at a boutique law firm (under a truly terrible owner). For the . . . [more]

The Condominium Authority Tribunal is experiencing a trend. There has been an increase in the number of applications filed that do not fit within its jurisdiction. The parties in these cases are often neighbours who live in a community while they continue looking for ways to resolve their dispute.

In such situations, people can often find guidance on how to escalate matters, but what happens when a situation does not warrant that time and cost?

Let’s look at a couple of examples and explore ways the parties can address their issue without resorting to escalation…

Ramadhin v. Niagara South Standard . . . [more]

Each month, we tell you which three English-language cases and French-language cases have been the most viewed* on CanLII in the previous month and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about.

For this past month, the three most-consulted English-language decisions were:

1 . Nootchtai v. Nahwegahbow Corbiere Genoodmagejig Barristers and Solicitors, 2025 ONSC 6071

[11] The issue before me in this proceeding is whether the Legal Team, as licensed legal professionals and members of the bar of Ontario, are entitled to a whopping $510,000,000.00 as a 5% contingent fee on the $10 billion settlement . . . [more]

While reading Susannah Tredwell’s post, Does this case really exist? from last October, I realized how much this question is at the heart of my work. As the Associate Librarian for International and Comparative Law, I joke with my students and colleagues, most people think they don’t need my expertise until they desperately need me. Despite the fact that they come to my office last minute, with multiple deadlines upon them and at the cusp of a nervous breakdown, I do tend to help them with a simple yet existential question: Does this even exist?

When it comes to legal . . . [more]

Trouble sleeping? Try having your phone read the Rules of Civil Procedure to you. You’ll drift off to a soothing stream of minutiae, like sheep jumping over a fence. Very few Big Ideas will excite you. Most rules (not to mention the subrules and the clauses and the subclauses) are about what a party or court must do in a very specific scenario. For example, my civil procedure students always perk up when I tell them about Rule 20.04(4), which explains what to do if a summary judgment motion is deemed to involve only a question of law, but . . . [more]

It’s December first and that of course means it’s time to open up Clawbies nominations! And because we are getting set to issue our 20th edition of the awards, we called in for reinforcements!

The 2011 Friends of the North Winners, Three Geeks and a Law Blog were kind enough to use their Geek in Review podcast to host Sarah, Jordan and myself to kick off this year’s awards. The conversation gave us a chance to reflect on twenty years of open legal web publishing, and the role of legal authors as beacons for truthful online conversation. . . . [more]