BARE BONES BRIEFS: Canizares disbarred, again | Abuse survivors sue Ottawa over Jordan inaction | Litigant hides AI prompts in court filing | Treatable pedophile dodges dangerous offender label | Epiq picks Bertrand for Canadian class action administration
By Julius Melnitzer | October 12, 2026 CANIZARES DISBARRED, AGAIN Nicholas Canizares has been disbarred for the second time. The Toronto lawyer lost his licence in 1989 and won it back in 2009, on his undertaking to stay out of real estate and criminal law. On October 5, the Law Society Tribunal revoked his licence […]
B.C. pausing consultation on proposed changes to workplace safety legislation following provincial election call
By: Julius Melnitzer | October 8, 2026 WorkSafeBC is pausing its public consultation on proposed changes to the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulation after Premier David Eby called a snap provincial election for Oct. 24. From an employer’s perspective, the pause impacts proposed amendments that would add a new Part 4.1 — titled ‘Psychological […]
Federal change in right to strike splits labour bar
Paul Cavalluzzo | Christopher Pigott Union and employer counsel clash over new limits in Bill C-39’s s. 107 rewrite and whether it survives Charter scrutiny By Julius Melnitzer | October 2, 2026 For labour lawyers, the fight over the Building Canada Strong Act focuses on the rewrite of s. 107 of the Canada Labour Code, […]
Building Canada Strong: lawyers weigh in on ‘coordinated consultation’
Thomas Isaac | Aashish Oberoi Cassels’ Thomas Isaac questions Ottawa’s will to decide; OKT’s Aashish Oberoi warns a rushed timeline could erode trust By Julius Melnitzer | September 26. 2026 Lawyers on both sides of the Indigenous bar agree that the Building Canada Strong Act’s (Bill C-39) promise of coordinated consultation is a genuine improvement, […]
Alberta court approves Paxil birth-defect settlement payout
Jonathan Denis The allocation follows a bitter fee dispute where Merchant Law’s contingency fee agreement was found invalid By Julius Melnitzer | September 24, 2026 The Alberta Court of King’s Bench has approved the distribution of a $7.5-million settlement in a national class action alleging that GlaxoSmithKline’s antidepressant Paxil caused birth defects in children whose […]
Power of attorney owes no duty of care to grantor’s daughter, OCA rules
Martin Zatovkanuk | Soumya Roop Sanyal Husband holding wife’s power of attorney had no duty to tell her daughter of hospitalizations and death By Julius Melnitzer | September 23, 2026 A person acting under a power of attorney for personal care owes no duty of care to the incapable grantor’s adult child, the Court of […]
Paralegal sues Spectrum Family Law, alleging harassment and wrongful dismissal
Kathryn Marshall Claim names managing partner Conan Taylor, whose other firm settled a human rights complaint months earlier By Julius Melnitzer | September 18, 2026 A former paralegal at a Vancouver family law boutique has sued the firm, its managing partner, and a lawyer she reported to, alleging that the lawyer harassed her, the managing […]
THC sticker enough for warrantless search, OCA rules
Defence lawyers say Cannabis Control Act asks too little of officers conducting warrantless searches By Julius Melnitzer | September 17, 2026 A vape pen bearing a THC sticker, sitting beside a vehicle’s gearshift, gave police reasonable grounds to search the car and its occupant without a warrant, despite not questioning the driver or examining the […]
Quebec’s judicial AI guidelines tell judges only what not to do: lawyer
Dmitry Shniger Dmitry Shniger says the joint framework catalogues prohibitions without telling judges how to properly use the tech By Julius Melnitzer | September 16, 2026 Quebec’s new guidelines on the judicial use of generative artificial intelligence are written to discourage judges from using the technology at all, says Dmitry Shniger, a Toronto lawyer whose […]
Jewish lawyers’ group decries LSO inaction on antisemitism at TMU
Joseph Neuberger | Faisal Kutty LSO rejected motion seeking withdrawal of TMU’s accreditation, Muslim lawyer supports ‘measured response’ By Julius Melnitzer | September 15, 2026 The Canadian Jewish Law Association (CJLA) has criticized the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) for its response to the Benotto report on antisemitism at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and called […]