Nothing to See Here: How coercive control hides in plain sight – from states to households
By Natascha Ibowski | January 12, 2026 When powerful states act in secrecy and justify it afterward as “necessary,” the problem is not a lack of intelligence. It is a failure of attention. Recent developments on the stage of global affairs got me thinking about how the current climate reveals an all too familiar pattern: […]
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: Smaller firms’ hourly rates outstripping Big Law | 87% settlement rate for mediations | Trump punishes immigration lawyers | Pension risk transfers down 60% | Rule of Law pledges growing slowly
HOURLY RATES NEAR RECORD RISE A Thomson Reuters study reveals that lawyers’ hourly rates in the US have soared by 7.4% in the last year. What’s surprising is that the growth for the profession as a whole considerably outstrips the 5.0-5.5% rise at top-100 US firms. While the number for the firms outside the top-100 […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Ottawa lawyer defaces Holocaust memorial | Is a drink at lunch during trial break a no-no for counsel? | AI Knowledge Exchange passes on partners’ insights to associates | Turning Parties’ AI Against Them? | Lawyer swims – but not with the sharks
By Julius Melnitzer | August 5, 2025 OTTAWA LAWYER’S VANDALISM RAISES FEARS IN JEWISH COMMUNITY CBC News reports that Iain Aspenlieder, a 46-year-old lawyer fired by the City of Ottawa after being accused of vandalism, has pleaded guilty to mischief to a war memorial after defacing the Holocaust National Monument in June by painting the […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Law firms’ changing bonus criteria | AI rolls out to thousands of law firms | Vampire lawyer fired | BCSC rebukes LSBC for treating lawyer unfairly | DLA Piper boosts Toronto RE practice
By Julius Melnitzer | July 31, 2025 BONUSES: GOODBYE, HOURS; HELLO, COLLABORATION, INCLUSION & LONG-TERM PERFORMANCE A recent report by Innecto Reward Consulting and HR Network People in Law suggests that law firms may be shifting their bonus criteria from billings, personal performance and profit to structures that are fairer, more transparent, and contribute to […]
7 Reasons Why the Legal Profession often gets No Sympathy
Image from Shutterstock.com. By Marcel Strigberger | July 30, 2025 The legal profession is a noble one. But is that the impression the public has of lawyers? What images generally come to mind? Let’s start with Noah’s Ark. A biblical theme park called Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky, is suing its insurers for insufficient coverage […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: McCarthy partners’ earnings top $1.4M | Canadian lawyers flunk Rule of Law pledge test | Quebec class counsel seek $900M in fees in tobacco litigation | Dentons partners with AXL in AI venture | Alexi launches Alexi Private Cloud
By Julius Melnitzer | July 10, 2025 MCCARTHY TOPS CANADIAN PROFIT-PER-EQUITY-PARTNER RANKINGS McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s equity partners lead Canadian law firms’ profit pool – and by a stretch. The US$1.42M PPEQ haul in 2023 topped the $986K earned at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP by over $400K and more than doubled the Gowling WLG figure […]