Be Careful What You Wish For
Photo by Abhishek Shekhawat at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | June 7, 2025 Those of my era may remember the comic book character known as “Richie Rich”. A nice little kid, but having been brought up by wealthy parents, he was not on the same wavelength as some of his friends. My friend Stan had a […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Help protect the Rule of Law in Canada | Toronto lawyer gets 9-month suspension for misconduct in investors’ $105M loss | BLG hops on sports branding bandwagon | Counsel caught with pants down – for real | UK lawyers must reinforce clients’ right to complain
By Julius Melnitzer | June 3, 2025 PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT TO RULE OF LAW CANADA Concerned about recent developments that have exposed the fragility of the Rule of Law (ROL) and “how quickly it can be eroded”, a group of lawyers has come up with the idea of having Canadian lawyers unite by collectively pledging […]
Alternate Nostril Breathing
Photo by Jan Koetsier at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | May 31, 2025 Those of you who have read my stuff before may have seen my article titled, Beyond Pizza and Yoga: Let’s Get Serious About Mental Health for Lawyers, in which I advanced the theory that billable hour expectations, a dearth of mentoring, cultures of disrespect, and […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Mandatory mediation undermines experts’ reports | DEI malaise infects UK | Susskind wrong: AI not lawyers’ demise | Law firm bet on the Leafs | Rap sheet for rapping lawyer
By Julius Melnitzer | May 27, 2025 GETTING EXPERT WITNESSES BACK ON TRACK There’s little doubt that courts have manifested an increasingly critical look at expert testimony lately. Gerald Genge, a claims adjudicator and expert witness with 25 years’ experience, is not surprised: he says the quality of experts’ reports has dipped with the introduction […]
Pay for Play
Photo by Cottonbro at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | May 26, 2025 A friend of mine, whom I will call Bill, was named as a Best Lawyer. Bill is a sole practitioner in a narrow specialty, and I am inclined to believe that having his peers vote him that award is meaningful. Unlike some of […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Law firm branding mania: Are Leafs Next? | Five years: Harshest sentence ever for OHS criminal negligence | Div. Ct.: LST has power to order compensation for pending claims | Taliban: Chess not compatible with Islamic law | Lexis+ AI fuels revenue growth – says Lexis Nexis
By Julius Melnitzer | May 22, 2025 LAW FIRM PAYS $11.4M FOR STADIUM NAMING RIGHTS CITY AM reports that Liverpool’s Hill Dickinson, a top-50 UK law firm whose profits exceed C$95M, has paid $11.4 million for the naming rights to soccer team Everton’s new stadium. The move is apparently part of law firms’ realization of […]
Pivoting From Big Law
Photo by Allison Browning on Pexels By Murray Gottheil | May 20, 2025 Sometimes I meet a young lawyer whose career goal is to work in Big Law. That might not be my first choice, but they should go for it as long as they know what they are getting into. This article is not about those […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: “Woman means woman” as UK Supreme Court refuses to recognize gender identity | Alberta lawyer challenges “woke” Law Society rules | World’s first AI law firm says system can do “anything” | AI video of murdered man gives his impact statement | Training AI on someone else’s headnotes is copyright infringement: USCA |
By Julius Melnitzer | May 12, 2025 “GENDER RECOGNITION CERTIFICATE” DOES NOT A “WOMAN” MAKE The United Kingdom Supreme Court has ruled that “woman” in the Equality Act (EA) means a biological woman. The ruling strikes down guidance from the Scottish government stating that a gender recognition certificate issued to an individual brings that person […]
For all the brouhaha, law firms – and especially Canadian firms – are still “missing the boat” on wellness – and profit
By Julius Melnitzer | May 7, 2025 Sadly, the International Bar Association’s (IBA) Workplace Wellbeing Survey 2024 Analysis and Discussion reports that law firms still don’t understand “the importance of addressing workplace well-being challenges”. The heart of the problem seems to be that line managers, who are crucial to supporting mental health, “currently lack the […]
Sometimes, I Just Don’t Care About The Client’s Damn Budget
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | May 1, 2025 A young lawyer named Eve called me today about a fee dispute. She had quoted an hourly rate without providing an estimate and issued an interim bill for the time spent. The client did not think it should have cost that much […]