If you want a read a web page but it isn’t loading, you can look at the cached version on Google. Google makes a copy of each web page it indexes so that it can be used as a backup. 

You can access Google’s cached version in one of two ways. 

If you found the page through a Google search, simply click on the three dots next to the search result and then click on the button that says “cached”.

Alternatively, if you have the URL, go to Google and enter the link preceded by cache:, e.g. cache:https://www.gazette.gc.ca/accueil-home-eng.html. . . . [more]

The world of legal services is changing. Whether everyone is onboard or not, it is no longer possible to deny the need for non-traditional delivery of services; a different attitude toward clients and justice-system users more broadly is needed.

Given the reality that the vast majority of litigants are no longer able to afford traditional services, there is a growing expectation that clients will be able to access alternative, lower-cost services. As well, changing social norms about the relationships between clients and service providers means that the public expects more collaboration, more respect for their knowledge, skills, and experience, and . . . [more]

I believe that a professor should always be on the lookout for innovative and enticing ways to engage students in class. The more a professor finds inspiring and captivating ways to convey a message or introduce new content, in my experience, the more students interact with the information in class and participate in the discussions.

Basically, this is the philosophy that prompted me to contact our law school’s media department and ask to use their fancy green room for my Foreign, Comparative and International Legal Research class. Despite my initial apprehension, the team gave me full liberty and my . . . [more]

Each year, over 100,000 Ontarians seek justice from Tribunals Ontario. This group of people —the size of a small city— includes tenants, landlords, motor vehicle accident victims seeking insurance benefits, people denied disability benefits, and those who believe that their fundamental human rights have been infringed. This group of 100,000 is significantly larger than the number of plaintiffs who start civil lawsuits in the Superior Court of Justice each year. The numbers are similar in other provinces. For most civil rights, tribunals are Canadians’ first and only opportunity to seek authoritative dispute-resolution and enforcement.

The highest-volume fora within Tribunals . . . [more]

ChatGTP has been making headlines as one of the “smartest” chatbots on the market. It is easy to use and free to use. Simply come up with a topic or have it come up with one for you based on what is trending then sit back and let ChatGTP draft your next article. If it is that easy should lawyers be using it when developing marketing content?

In reality, no, lawyers or anyone that is creating legal content should not be using AI exclusively. ChatGTP has not passed a bar exam after all so it cannot provide legal advice or . . . [more]

Is 2023 the year you start to think more clearly about the culture you are creating at your firm?

When I started my career in legal services in the late 1990’s law firm culture was something amorphous that no one quite had a handle on.

Sometimes a prospective hire would ask – what is your law firm culture? And the answers would include such things as we get together every Friday afternoon for drinks in the boardroom. We work hard and play hard.

In truth, most firms had no real sense of what their culture was all about nor why . . . [more]

The Federal Court has noted that the Patented Medicines (NOC) Regulations^[1] “seek to balance the patent enforcement rights of innovative drug manufacturers with the timely market entry of lower-priced generic drugs by “enabling summary legal proceedings that would address patent concerns without unduly delaying access to generic medicines”.^[2]

Before marketing a drug in Canada, manufacturers must obtain a Notice of Compliance (NOC) from Health Canada. A “first person” who obtains a NOC for an innovative drug may list any associated patent on the Patent Register. If a “second person” subsequently requests a NOC for a competing drug by . . . [more]

 Zero Trust Architecture simplified

Lawyers have a “deer in the headlights” look whenever we talk about Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) – and we do understand that look. ZTA is complicated and often causes your eyes to glaze over about two minutes after we bring ZTA into the conversation.

Let’s keep it as simple as a complicated subject can be.

Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is not a product you can buy in a store or online. It is a security model presented in 2003 by the Jericho Forum, although the term “zero trust” dates back to 1994. The zero trust model . . . [more]

Over the years I’ve spoken with many people who believe they “have a book in them” or an idea for a book. But to take liberties paraphrasing Stephen Fry’s protagonist in The Hippopotamus: books aren’t made up of ideas, they’re made up of words.

So how do you string those words together at scale?

Firstly, I’d like to encourage you to reconsider. Writing a book is difficult, and it means spending pretty much all your spare time for a year or so working, and the remuneration is almost never good. Almost everyone I’ve spoken with gets more return doing . . . [more]

We lawyers have done a good job convincing ourselves, convincing the courts and convincing legislators that we are more special than other professionals. But are we really more deserving of the special protections and privileges that we have convinced others to afford us? Increasingly, those special privileges are being called into question around the globe and it is only a matter of time until the searchlights focus their lens on us here in Canada. I fear that we will be found to be wanting.

This occurred to me during a recent panel discussion on “The International Bar Association’s Gatekeepers Project: . . . [more]

I’ve observed a trend. It involves the feelings of legal advocates coming into play during mediation. This is often presented as an emotional tie to the client, passion about the collaborative opportunity or being personally dedicated to finding a fair outcome. While I am not sure this is planned strategy, it suggests a ‘heart on one’s sleeve’ fashion in mediation representation.

If you want to paint a mental picture, or otherwise embrace a stereotype about the emotional type of lawyer I am referring, consider Angry Dad from The Simpsons as counsel at your mediation. A male-presenting legal advocate who would . . . [more]

This is the second of a two-part series regarding Associate churn. My earlier post focussed on the Associate. This one focuses on the law firm.

The other day, an international client of mine thinking about re-entering the Canadian marketplace asked me why there was so little loyalty in Canadian law firms these days. He was referring to the amount of lawyer churn in most law firms. I don’t believe this issue is limited to Canadian firms, but the question made me think back over my past 30+ years in law firms and how things have changed.

What’s the Value