BARE BONES BRIEFS: Norton Rose bigwig leaves for Torys | LSO liable for costs of “unarguable” prosecution | Complaints against lawyers at record high | Study: Legal Aid is essential poverty relief | Rotfleisch releases new edition of Canadian Tax Facts
By Julius Melnitzer | June 23, 2026 NORTON ROSE ENERGY CHIEF JOINS TORYS Robert Froehlich, who led Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP’s energy practice and was chair of the firm’s business law group from 2019 to 2025, has joined Torys LLP’s Calgary office as a partner. His experience embraces some of Canada’s most significant and […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Women in law, silent suffering | Hallucination catcher? | Court: AI can’t replace workers | AI beats law profs | Arbitration Place launches in Brazil
By Julius Melnitzer | June 21, 2026 EXHAUSTED WOMAN LAWYERS FEAR SPEAKING UP Some 70% of women in law suffer frequently from exhaustion or low energy, and 65% of those affected, fearing the impact on their careers, won’t speak up, says a report from the Law Society of England and Wales that surveyed 533 legal […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: A classic case of hubris: lawyers protecting misbehaving lawyers | Regulator says lawyers naughtier than accountants | Environmentalists: at least lawyers don’t make bombs or help sell cigars | Should AI-generated docs attract privilege? | DLA Piper appoints Regional Managing Partners
RECORD FINE FOR AI MISUSE IS NO DETERRENT TO LAWYERS In what is said to be the highest fine imposed so far in Canada on lawyers who misuse AI, the Alberta Court of Appeal has imposed personal costs of $17,500 + GST on an Alberta lawyer who filed a factum drafted by a contractor that […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Lawyer disbarred for failing to ID known Client | PE law firm takeovers on the Rise | Farting is a Crime in NB | Trump would have deported Beatles | IACA launches Global Passport for arbitration Community
By Julius Melnitzer | January 30, 2026 CERTIFYING COPIES OF ID DOCUMENTS LEADS TO DISBARMENT Andrew Jackson, a UK solicitor for more than two decades who led the commercial property at Chester firm Cullimore Dutton Solicitors, lost his license to practise when he admitted certifying copies of of a client’s passport and driving license without […]
Bare Bones Briefs: Bennett Jones’ national partner raids bolster energy, mining and M&A groups | LSO stalls on new allegations against disbarred, jailed, and readmitted lawyer | Mathews Dinsdale booming, adds 10 lawyers | Russel Drew is DLA Piper’s new Canada managing partner | BorderPass transforms immigration law practice
By Julius Melnitzer | January 16, 2026 BENNETT JONES ADDS THREE CORE PARTNERS Seeking to align both with the priorities of the firm and the Canadian economy, Bennett Jones has scooped three high-profile lawyers from other national firms to join its energy, mining, and M&A groups. They are: DELAY STILL THE NORM AT LSO Just […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Minimum wage overtakes Legal Aid rates | ICE keeps immigration lawyer watch list | Criminal jury trials on the way out? | Bees awarded legal rights | Legal author’s life imitates art
By Julius Melnitzer | January 4, 2026 RATES HIT NEW BOTTOM FOR LEGAL AID LAWYERS $193.20 for 15 hours: that’s what the UK government paid an experienced lawyer for publicly-funded family law work. And according to a recent Bar Council report, that news doesn’t come close to revealing the personal cost of taking on legal […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Rapper Drake accused of promoting illegal gambling | AI replacing arbitrators | Trump: lawyers’ public service work “illegal” | Government convicted of ignoring itself | Cozen beefs up estates practice
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 […]
Bare Bones Briefs: App predicts judges’ behaviour | Alberta lawyer challenges Law Society’s “wokism” | Solicitor sparks “collective screaming” for stress relief | Are “lawyer apprenticeships” the future of legal education?
By Julius Melnitzer | October 31, 2025 PROFILING THE JUDICIARY DMS developer NetDocuments has joined the wave of judicial analytics app creators, growing the number of profile creator software offerings to eighteen. According to Artificial Lawyer, the Judge Analytics App “transforms curated collections of judicial order into a structured dataset”. The developer claims that users […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Reports that prove lawyers’ well-being is a joke | So is Canadian lawyers’ concern for rule of law | AI hallucinations up 250% in court decisions | Jeffrey Bradshaw co-heads DLA Piper’s Canadian restructuring group | Lawyer is Miss Great Britain
By Julius Melnitzer | October 30, 2025 MORE EVIDENCE THAT LAWYERS’ WELL-BEING IS AN ILLUSION Three news reports have surfaced indicating that lawyers’ well-being may be more talk than walk: Related Article: For all the brouhaha, law firms – and especially Canadian firms – are still “missing the boat” on wellness – and profit DO […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Insurers hit hard: OCA upholds $300K costs award for $16K judgment | Law Firm Marketers: Forget SEO – “Authority” is what matters in the AI era
By Julius Melnitzer | August 31, 2025 INSURER PUNISHED FOR “HARDBALL” APPROACH The Ontario Court of Appeal has awarded $300,000 in partial indemnity costs to a claimant who recovered only $16,000 by way of a jury award in a motor vehicle accident proceeding in which she had sought over $1 million. In doing so, the […]