The Hon. Leonard Marchand is Chief Justice of British Columbia, and a member of the Sylix Okanagan Nation. Justice Marchand was the guest on a recent episode of the excellent Canadian Lawyer Magazine podcast. He suggested that we think about the access to justice problem in terms of three groups of people.

The Strugglers

First are people who try to use the justice system, but fail to get justice because of barriers such as cost, time, and the system’s complexity. I think of these people as the strugglers, and their plight has been extensively studied. It is widely understood . . . [more]

Generally, if an act does not have any explicitly stated coming in force provisions, it comes into force on the date of Royal Assent. There are, however, exceptions.

For the period after December 31, 1918 and before July 25, 2007, any Ontario act that did not have explicitly stated coming in force provisions did not come into force on Royal Assent. Instead, depending on the date that they received Royal Assent, the coming into force provisions were as follows:

• Acts that received Royal Assent between January 1, 1919 and April 13, 1925 came into force 60 days after Royal Assent.

“If I was having a conversation with someone I disagreed with, in good faith, I would probably start that conversation with what we do agree with.” – Ronny Chieng

The very notion of mandatory mediation is inherently flawed.

A process based foundationally on collaborative self-determination cannot really be forced upon people. There must be buy-in, some desire amongst those experiencing a dispute to work together to sort it out.

While contracts and laws can force mediation on paper, the reality is that the process can practically only come together with willing participants. They can be skeptical – it is not . . . [more]

The Canadian Patent Office has a procedure for the “re-examination” of a granted patent. However, this procedure is rarely used in Canada for several reasons. Less than half a dozen re-examinations are filed each year.

Anyone, including the owner of the patent may request re-examination on the basis of prior art, namely patents, patent applications and printed publications (see s. 48.1 of the Patent Act). The patent office forms a panel that determines whether the request raises “a substantial new question of patentability”.

If so, the patentee is notified and the patentee can respond to the request, including providing . . . [more]

Sometimes life requires us to take a break from work. Whether due to pregnancy, caring for family, one’s own medical needs, or a desire to take some time to regroup, many lawyers will need or want to take a leave from practice at some point in their careers.

While you can step away from practice, you cannot step away from your professional obligations. Fortunately, with some thought and planning, you can ensure you comply with your duties even when you’re out of office and not checking your work email.

This column outlines some (non-exhaustive) practical tips for lawyers on how . . . [more]

In previous columns, I have examined the evolving trajectory of AI regulation and warned of the precarious path ahead. Regrettably, I must now report that the regulation of artificial intelligence in North America has become a project stalled by political circumstance. In both Canada and the United States, efforts to establish comprehensive governance frameworks for AI have encountered untimely political disruption, legislative dissolution in Canada and executive reversals in the United States.

This confluence of events has left two of the world’s most influential jurisdictions without durable regulatory mechanisms to manage the profound legal, ethical, and societal risks posed by . . . [more]

All of us have seen the consequences of a family in distress. Whether through separation, divorce, or child protection, the family justice system profoundly shapes the lives of children—often without truly hearing them.

Too many young people describe feeling invisible, disempowered, and voiceless in the very processes meant to protect their best interests.

That’s why the Family Justice Innovation Lab (via its Youth Voices Initiative) and the Transform the Family Justice System Collaborative are working to find new approaches—by centring youth with lived experience at the heart of reform.

We are expanding our network of young people who have . . . [more]

It is normally frowned upon to suggest that experiences from the past might be indicators of outcomes in the future. The problem is that invariably to follow that line runs a significant risk of naivety, for want of understanding that history does indeed frequently repeat itself, and humans are inclined to repeat their own mistakes, as they search to replicate their successes from the past. It was, therefore, noteworthy that the global US-based law firm, Cleary Gottlieb, has acquired the small London-based AI-focused startup, Springbok AI, the latter described in The Lawyer as “a challenger to the Harvey . . . [more]

I’ve always prided myself on being a good writer. I spent years honing my grammar skills and natural instinct for sentence flow and ‘what just sounds right’. However, it has also become second nature to rely on some writing tools in my day-to-day work. Like most, I utilize spell check. I also rely upon tools like Hemingway App to ensure my plain-language projects are at the appropriate grade level for the intended audience. Yet I haven’t incorporated Generative AI into my writing toolkit.

What is holding me back from potentially a more efficient writing process? Even if I believe my . . . [more]

Succession is a critical yet often ignored component of business strategy that left undone can lead to unfortunate outcomes from client and legal talent departures to law firm failure. Best to act now because it’s not how you start; it’s how you finish.

Do you plan to work forever? Or live forever? For your sake, I hope not. After all, as Bugs Bunny—probably the world’s most famous cartoon rabbit—says: “Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll never get out of it alive.”

Because change happens throughout our lives is exactly why succession and the planning of it is a critical business . . . [more]

Sometimes it’s nice to know you are not alone. A recent survey of international arbitration practitioners shows that Canadian administrative justice practitioners are not the only ones with frustrations about slow and inefficient processes. The survey results are also a strong indicator of the universality of process challenges – these challenges exist in both public and private sector dispute resolution fora and across many (all?) countries.

Every year, White and Case – an international arbitration firm – conducts surveys of international arbitration participants, including in-house counsel of public and private sectors, arbitrators, private practitioners, representatives of arbitral institutions and interest . . . [more]

To understand the benefits of competency-based learning, we must first understand what it is. Competency-based learning is like learning to ride a bike. The journey starts with a tricycle, where the rider first learns to pedal. Eventually, they graduate to a bicycle with training wheels. As confidence builds, the training wheels are raised and eventually removed. The novice rider wobbles and falls, scraping a knee. But they learn from each fall, getting back on the bike with increasing confidence and steadiness. Eventually, they can ride smoothly and consistently. Later, the rider may decide to try mountain biking, applying their prior . . . [more]