For most of my career, I have worked on the inside of law firms — advising partners, managing change, fixing things that quietly but persistently get in the way of good work. Strategy. Marketing. Associate retention. Recruitment. Training. Culture. All the unglamorous but consequential pieces that impacts whether a firm thrives or stalls.

Along the way, I noticed something that never really changed.

Every year, bright, capable law students arrive at firms deeply motivated to do well — and surprisingly underprepared for what the job actually requires. Not because they lack intelligence or work ethic, but because no one ever . . . [more]

Imagine having a civil trial, just two years after pleadings. To Ontario litigators this may seem an absurd fantasy, like a Stanley Cup for the Leafs or pulling matching socks straight out of the dryer. Four or five years, at least, is the status quo today.

And yet Ontario’s Civil Rules Review suggests that this fantasy can become standard practice. “Trial in Two,” for most two-party actions, is the aspiration animating its 281-page Final Policy Report, released in mid-December.

The Report sets out default timetables that would squeeze documentary disclosure, judicial conferences, and even pared-down examinations for discovery into . . . [more]

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.

Decoding Canadian Legal Research, Writing, and Conventions: A Guide for Internationally Trained Lawyers. By Kellinde Wrightson. Toronto, ON: Emond Montgomery, 2024. xviii, 259 p. Includes bibliographic references and index. ISBN 9781774624296 (softcover) $56.00; ISBN 9781774624319 (ePub) $50.00.

Reviewed by Dominique Garingan
Manager, Legal Learning & Development
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP . . . [more]

“[Productivity] gains only come when companies use AI to redesign processes and ultimately rethink whole business domains. That’s where the step-change in efficiency and growth will come from. To get there, the foundations must be right — clean, well-governed data; secure and interoperable systems; and people who understand how to work alongside AI.”

This observation from Jonathan Keane, Strategy and Consulting Lead at Accenture for UK, Ireland and Africa, was a highlight of the recent Financial Times Special Report on AI. It was meant to apply to a range of businesses, but I think it lands most . . . [more]

The Federal Court of Appeal had the occasion to review the so-called non-use cancellation action under section 45 of the Trademark Act in the context of the acquisition of the trademarks by a new owner in the case Comité interprofessionnel du vin de champagne v. Coors Brewing Company^[1].

Section 45, and more specifically subsection 45(3), authorizes the Registrar of Trademarks, at the request of any person or on the Registrar’s own initiative, and following a proceeding initiated by a notice to the registered owner under subsection 45(1), to expunge from the Register of Trademarks the registration of . . . [more]

In a seminal article from 1994, Fitting the Forum to the Fuss: A user-Friendly Guide to Selecting an ADR Procedure, the authors, Frank Sandler and Stephen Goldberg, both leaders in the ADR movement in the U.S. used ‘Fit the Forum to the fuss” as a principle in dispute resolution design meaning you should choose the right process (the “forum”) for the specific conflict (the “fuss”), tailoring it to the parties (people), the problem’s nature, and the process goals.

For more than four years, lawyers and mediators have lived with a quiet but persistent question, or minor irritant left by . . . [more]

AI came up with this blog title – pretty great, right? It’s descriptive with just a hint of my cheeky writing-style. I tweaked it so it sounded more like my ‘voice’, but I like the blog title. I used a SMART prompt to come up with it – while it is highly probable that my AI prompt took longer to draft than simply coming up with my own title, we’ll just ignore that possibility for now. I use AI in my practice, and it is likely that most of you do as well.

I use AI to assist with social . . . [more]

Imagine that you are a provincial Attorney General. The Cabinet, for whatever reason, has lost confidence in the provincial law society. The Premier asks you for options to decrease its effective authority in the self-regulation of the legal profession. She dares you to think big but also challenges you find a subtle way to achieve this goal.

Your first – and admittedly unimaginative – instinct is to change the composition of the governing board of the law society. You consider abolishing the law society entirely and replacing it with a new body in which elected lawyers will not form the . . . [more]

Given the high value placed on research excellence by legal professionals and consultants, I am surprised that stories continue to be reported about the lack of rigour exercised in the creation of work product by these professional groups. In addition to the ongoing stories of professional sanctions placed on lawyers for including incorrect citations and other issues associated with the use of generative AI, there have been regular stories about the high values for government report contracts and the use of AI to create them. Here are some articles on a report prepared by Deloitte for the Province of Newfoundland . . . [more]

Firms that have multiple lawyers in the same practice who can land marquee clients are in an enviable position. However, if not managed correctly this advantage can quickly turn into a nightmare for the firm.

The McLaren Formula 1 team has this problem. They have two incredible drivers who could each be world champion but only one can stand on the top step. To maximize the team’s success without hindering either of their drivers, they have developed the “Papaya Rules.” The rules are basically race hard but clean, with a team‑first mentality and no contact between teammates.

With a few . . . [more]

On January 23, 2026, a disturbing incident unfolded in the Oshawa courthouse that forced the Canadian legal profession to confront a truth many Black lawyers have long known but too often endured in silence. Sudine Riley, a Black woman and criminal defence lawyer, had just completed a trial and was working in a private interview room when uniformed Durham Regional Police officers challenged her presence in the courthouse. What followed, according to her lawyer, was a violent assault: her head was slammed onto a desk, knees pressed into her back and neck, her headscarf ripped off, and she was handcuffed, . . . [more]

When the distinguished Canadian jurist, Kimberly Prost, began her term as a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2017, she could not have imagined what happened on 20 August 2025. That day, the United States imposed sanctions on her, putting her on a list alongside those implicated in terrorism and organized crime.

Judge Prost is one of eight ICC judges sanctioned by the US during 2025, along with the ICC prosecutor and two deputy prosecutors. They are all being penalised – without any due process – for performing their professional duties as mandated by the Rome . . . [more]