By Julius Melnitzer | November 23, 2025
DRAKE SUED FOR “GLAMORIZING” GAMBLING
Justin Killham, a Missouri resident, has initiated a class action against Drake and others for promoting Stake, an online casino. The claim alleges that the Curaçao-based platform violates gambling laws by using a “dual currency” system designed to evade gambling regulations, and that “Drake’s role as unofficial mascot is quietly corrosive” by encouraging “millions of impressionable fans” to “treat his wild betting habits like gospel”.
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AAA-ICDR DEPLOYS AI ARBITRATOR
In early November, The American Arbitration Association (AAA) and its international division, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), released AI Arbitrator, thus becoming the first major arbitral institution to use AI to actually generate awards. AAA-ICDR, the world’s leading provider of alternative dispute resolution services, will limit the tool’s use to an opt-in process for two-party, documents-only construction cases. A human arbitrator will review the reasoning in AI Arbitrator’s draft awards, evaluate them, and make revisions before a final decision issues.
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TRUMP TO PENALIZE PRO BONO WORK
US law school graduates will no longer qualify for loan forgiveness if their public service work is “illegal”, a category that includes “representing immigrants” and “advocating for transgender rights”. The prohibition, categorized by observers as part of the Trump administration’s war on the legal profession, follows on the release of the US Department of Education’s final rule on restoring the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program aimed at helping Americans working in public service. The measure originates with Trump’s Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness Executive Order, issued in March.
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JUSTICE MINISTRY MUST PAY VICTIM SURCHARGE TO ITSELF
Earlier this year, a speed camera in Manchester, United Kingdom, caught a vehicle registered to the Ministry of Justice speeding through a 50 mile-per-hour (mph) zone at 75 mph. The police requested the driver’s identity from the Ministry three times. When the requests went unanswered, the police sent a notice of intention to prosecute to the Ministry, which continued its unresponsiveness. The trial date came, and the Ministry failed to appear or enter a plea. The upshot? Magistrate Mary Brough convicted the Ministry of failing to provide identification when required, fined the Ministry the equivalent of C$1845, ordered it to pay $221 in costs, and imposed a victim surcharge of $738. Victim surcharges are pooled into the government’s Victim and Witness General Fund, which finances victim support services – meaning the perpetrator essentially paid the surcharge to itself.
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ALEXANDER SWABUK JOINS COZEN O’CONNOR
Citing a rising demand throughout Western Canada and Ontario for estate planning and litigation services, Cozen O’Connor LLP has added estates and trusts lawyer Alexander Swabuk, formerly with Miller Thomson LLP, as a member of its Vancouver roster. With a focus on comprehensive family planning and long-term decision making, Swabuk has spent the last decade serving high-net-worth clients in estate planning and litigation matters. He is a vice-chair of the Vancouver CBA Executive Committee Wills, Estates & Trusts section.
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Julius Melnitzer is a Toronto-based legal affairs writer, ghostwriter, writing coach and media trainer. Readers can reach him at julius@legalwriter.net or on his website.