Canada’s online legal magazine.

Tips Tuesday: Finding Court Information

While I’ve written about this issue efore, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the excellent summary that the Globe and Mail has put together of How to access Canadian court records by jurisdiction. The list includes all provincial and territorial jurisdictions, links where appropriate and contact information for those jurisdictions that don’t make their court records easily available online. 

Susannah Tredwell . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Information

RECLAIM: A Cultural Operating System for Law Firms

Law firms are often described as professional services businesses, knowledge businesses, or relationship businesses. All of that is true. But at their core, law firms are 100% people businesses.

Every outcome partners care about be that the client experience, quality of work, risk management, profitability, reputation, succession, these all flow through people. The results you will achieve in any of these domains depend on how motivated, focused, engaged, and well those people are. There is no separating firm performance from human performance.

And yet, many partners find themselves spending far less time than they would like on activities that are . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law

Summaries Sunday: Supreme One-Liners

As a supplement to our Sunday Summary each month, Supreme Advocacy LLP in Ottawa presents Supreme One-Liners, a super-short descriptive guide to the most recent decisions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Supreme Advocacy LLP offers its more comprehensive weekly electronic newsletter, Supreme Advocacy Letter, summarizing all Appeals, Oral Judgments and Leaves to Appeal granted.

Appeal

Criminal Law: Character Evidence
R. v. Hussein, 2023 ONCA 253, 2026 SCC 2 (41015)

Clarification of Corbett framework re XE’g accused on criminal record.

Oral Judgment

Criminal Law: Historic Sexual Assault
R. v. B.B., 2025 ONCA 318, 2026 SCC 1 . . . [more]

Posted in: Summaries Sunday

Summaries Sunday: SOQUIJ

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : Dans une affaire de proxénétisme, le juge de première instance a erré en affirmant qu’il importe peu que la police, qui a obtenu des fiches d’inscription d’un motel pour des chambres louées au nom de l’accusé, ait ou non induit en erreur la propriétaire du motel; par . . . [more]

Posted in: Summaries Sunday

Beyond Regulatory Silos: Announcing the Canadian Centre for Responsible AI Governance

Over the past two years, much of my writing in this space has focused on the accelerating risks associated with artificial intelligence and the uneven state of AI regulation in Canada. I have written about stalled federal legislation, the growing role of privacy regulators, the increased risks of AI use for regulated professionals, and the early signs of AI related litigation beginning to surface in Canadian courts. Taken together, these developments point to a growing tension. Artificial intelligence is being deployed at speed, while the institutions tasked with managing risk remain fragmented, reactive, and unevenly equipped.

This column steps back . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Technology

From Anecdote to Evidence: Why Students’ Experiences With Generative AI Matter

Generative AI is nearly impossible to avoid as a law student. Over the past few years, it has been embedded into many of the products commonly used for legal work (See e.g., proprietary research platforms, Google, Microsoft products, etc). Whether welcomed or resisted, generative AI is now part of the legal information environment.

There are many questions remaining about how to prepare students for the use of generative AI during their legal education for their future practice. While technological competence ≠ generative AI, we know that use of generative AI systems is a technical skill . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Information, Legal Technology

Book Review: Jones & Murphy on Cultural Humility in Libraries

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.

Cultural Humility in Libraries: A Call to Action and Strategies for Success. Edited by Shannon D. Jones & Beverly Murphy. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2024. xv, 179 p. Includes bibliographic references, figures, and index. Medical Library Association Books Series. ISBN 9781538162149 (hardcover) $138.95; ISBN 9781538162156 (softcover) $56.95.

Reviewed by . . . [more]

Posted in: Book Reviews, Legal Information

From Exception to Expectation: Advancing Accessible Content in Canada

Canadians with disabilities are sure to have improved access to copyrighted works with the release of Accessible Content: A Guide to the Canadian Copyright Act on Searching for Accessible Formats and Producing and Distributing Alternate Formats by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA). Written by Victoria Owen, Alexandra Kohn and Laurie Davidson, and released on September 15, 2025, this comprehensive guide marks a significant milestone in Canada’s pursuit of practical, lawful, and equitable access to copyrighted works for people with perceptual disabilities.

The Accessible Content guide provides a clear . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Publishing

Facilitating or Teaching: What Best Supports Experiential Learning?

Experiential learning—learning by doing—is central to competency‑based education because it bridges theory and practice. The question for instructors is not whether experiential learning matters, but how best to support learners on that journey. Should instructors be teaching, facilitating, or something else entirely?

Teaching vs. Facilitating: What’s the Difference?

To answer that question, it helps to clarify the distinction between teaching and facilitating.

Teaching focuses on the delivery of knowledge from an expert to a learner. It is most often associated with lectures or demonstrations, where the instructor’s role is to explain concepts, model skills, and ensure learners understand foundational theory. . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Education

Age-Appropriate Design for Canada: Moving Beyond One-Size-Fits-All Consent

Canada is at a pivotal moment in children’s privacy. Federal reform under Bill C-27, including the proposed Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA), continues to advance, while provinces such as Quebec—through Law 25, which introduces enhanced rights and stricter consent obligations, have already begun reshaping the legal landscape. At the same time, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) continues to identify children’s privacy as a policy and enforcement priority, underscoring the need for a modernized framework that reflects minors’ unique vulnerabilities and developmental needs. OPC Annual Report 2021 , Bill C-27 Overview Quebec Law 25 Summary

Despite . . . [more]

Posted in: Justice Issues

Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Double Aspect 2. Condo Adviser 3. Precedent: The New Rules of Law and Style 4. Excess Copyright 5. David Whelan

Double Aspect
The Kiwis Do It Better

I have blogged about the issue of imprisonment to life without parole, in name or in effect, for some years

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

Summaries Sunday: SOQUIJ

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : Dans une affaire concernant des infractions de nature sexuelle, vu l’ensemble des erreurs qui entachent le jugement de première instance au chapitre de l’appréciation du témoignage de l’accusé et leur effet cumulatif, il y a lieu d’ordonner la tenue d’un nouveau procès.

Intitulé : Langlois c. R., . . . [more]

Posted in: Summaries Sunday

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This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada | Ce projet a été rendu possible en partie grâce au gouvernement du Canada