Belated Happy New Year’s wishes. Things are not looking so happy in the US government so far. Many Civil Service employees are being laid off and/or paid to retire. Information is disappearing or being rewritten on many agency webpages. I just checked out the Department of Justice website that does appear to be reporting business as usual so far. I also found an Associated Press report about why some of the agency webpages went dark in February after an executive order on January 20^th. A follow up AP report on February 12 stated that some health agencies had . . . [more]

Fearmongering and fretting about impacts of the Big Four on the legal services sector are the equivalent of tilting at windmills and just as pointless.

I’m tired of overheated headlines and breathless reporting. No, I’m not talking about the trials and tribulations of tariffs and trade. I’m talking about the handwringing and blathering around KPMG’s successful application to practice law in Arizona.

For the love of all that’s holy, handwringers and blatherskites – knock it off.

Scaremongering and Stress

Many lawyers are triggered by fear. Anyone who deals with lawyers in any way, shape, or form knows that the . . . [more]

Lawyers should “encourage public respect for and try to improve the administration of justice,” according to our code of professional conduct.

The “try to improve” part is fairly straightforward. When we see problems in our legal system we should try to fix them, whether or not we personally or our clients are affected. We should be part of the solutions, not part of the problems.

But what about “encouraging public respect” for the justice system? Improving it is one way to encourage respect for it: by making it more worthy of respect. But I don’t think that’s all the . . . [more]

If you’re fed up with seeing the AI summary at the top of your Google search results you have several options. The easiest thing to do is just add -AI to your search. 

However, if your search includes the term “AI”, this obviously won’t work:

In this case you have two options. You can either click on the web tab:

Or you can add profanity to your initial search:

(Admittedly this last method may give you results you weren’t expecting.)

— Susannah Tredwell . . . [more]

Have you ever glanced into a passerby’s stroller, anticipating the sight of a cooing baby, only to lock eyes with a chihuahua or a pomeranian instead? In Canada’s urban centers, this sort of scene is no longer out of the ordinary. In many households around the world, pets are starting to be seen less as property, and more as family members. This newfound status is reflected in everything from gourmet pet food to elaborate birthday parties (guilty as charged). With over 60 percent of Canadian households now including at least one pet, the bond between humans and their animals has . . . [more]

Section 73(3)(b) of the Patent Act permits the Commissioner of Patents to reinstate a patent that is deemed to be abandoned if he receives a proper application on time and if “the Commissioner determines that the failure occurred in spite of the due care required by the circumstances having been taken and informs the applicant of this determination.”

The Manual of Patent Office Practice sets out the due care standard.^[1] This standard was introduced by the Patent Law Treaty, which Canada adhered to and implemented with amendments to the Patent Act and Patent Rules on October 31, 2019.

The . . . [more]

There is no doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized many industries, the legal sector among them. Furthermore, it will continue to do so in the foreseeable future in ways that we haven’t even begun to comprehend. However, I fear that its promise of solving and revolutionizing every single legal challenge or area is often overstated, especially when it comes to Foreign, Comparative, and International Legal (FCIL) research. AI promises of easiness, rapidity, and exclusively results-oriented approaches fundamentally clash with FCIL work, which demands robust research steps, awareness of processes, and a sense of curiosity in a globalized world that . . . [more]

What was the last good first date you had? There may have been an element of physical interest, but it is highly likely it was a “good” date because it lasted for hours, and the longer you spoke, the more interesting you found the other person, and vice versa. Maybe the conversation didn’t start off strong, but at some point you hit on a topic that you both found interesting. You found common ground and that led to connection. It is also likely that the date was better because it involved a “ping-pong” style of conversation. You asked the right . . . [more]

As we contemplate 2025, the NSRLP is considering how to tackle the ongoing challenges in access to justice. While the barriers facing individuals attempting to access justice remain many, it is challenging to consider where the focus on improving access should be directed, given limited resources and capacity. Moreover, the coming year is likelier than not to have a fair share of political, social, and economic upheaval, all of which may also serve to impact access to justice in both anticipated and unanticipated ways. Thus, thinking about where the NSRLP goes next is a necessary exercise, and one requiring flexibility . . . [more]

What happened in Canadian lawyers’ ethics and legal services regulation in 2024? This column looks back on three high-profile areas of development. It also flags several major court cases and disciplinary proceedings from 2024, as well as cases to watch for the year ahead.

Three High-Profile Areas of Development

1. Generative AI and the delivery of legal services

AI was one of the big stories in 2023 and continued to be big in 2024.

The year started with a cautionary note: there were headlines about a British Columbia lawyer who had included non-existent cases – provided to her by ChatGPT . . . [more]

When issues arise in condos, there are benefits to working with those involved to address them. Collaborating offers advantages unavailable through an adversarial path – such as relationship preservation and creative, sustainable outcomes which extend beyond a tribunal’s jurisdiction. The Condominium Authority of Ontario offers an array of online resources to support collaboration, from communication guidance to help identifying issues, to understanding how the law applies to them and more.

The CAO’s Condominium Authority Tribunal further encourages collaboration within its three-staged online process. Once a case is filed, parties experiencing a dispute are invited to address their issue together through . . . [more]

The traditional business development approaches for lawyers – expensive dinners, conferences, and rigid networking events – are not the only ways to build your book. In today’s rapidly evolving legal landscape, we have an opportunity to reimagine business development into something you will want to do rather than feel obliged to do.

The Authenticity Revolution in Business Development

The most significant shift in legal business development is moving away from “should-do” activities to “want-to-do” initiatives. This is not about following a prescribed set of actions. It is about creating a sustainable practice growth strategy that energizes you.

The most successful . . . [more]