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 […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Lawyers’ fees approach $1/second | Cheap AI outperforms costly LexisNexis | Death sentence looms as counsel solicits sex in court | “Bimbo” is not a valid TM | Perry Dellelce receives Coronation Medal
By Julius Melnitzer | April 27, 2025 LEGAL FEES: A LICENSE TO PRINT MONEY? American law firms with more than 750 lawyers will be charging $1 per second within a decade, according to the latest annual trends report from LexisNexis CounselLink. An overview of the report in The Law Society Gazette notes that the median […]
Living Paycheque to Paycheque on $6,574,000
By Murray Gottheil | April 2, 2025 Photo by Pixabay at Pexels. It’s Not a Principle Until it Costs You Money – Bill Bernbach We have all been reading about the Paul Weiss law firm settling with the Trump Administration to get out from under an executive order, the legality of which is, to say the least, […]
How India’s Lawyers Are Paralysed by Obsolete Advertising Norms
Prachi Shrivastava By Prachi Shrivastava | March 30, 2025 Somewhere between the Supreme Court’s of India’s shutdown of Internet platform JustDial’s and Quikr’s lawyer listing pages, and the Bar Council of India’s (BCI) passive-aggressive circulars on “promotional activities” by law firms, the Indian legal profession entered what can only be described as a cold war […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Facebook withdraws targeted ads that revealed woman’s pregnancy | Lawyer fined for AI misuse | Massive penalties for tax advisors who facilitate non-compliance | Tax crackdown on lawyers follows AML crackdown | China hit with $24B judgment for unleashing COVID-19 | Arbitration Place opens in Miami
By Julius Melnitzer | March 27, 2025 FACEBOOK CAVES ON TARGETED ADS Faced with a landmark lawsuit alleging that its targeted ads offended privacy laws, Facebook has agreed to stop personalized ads aimed at a UK woman. Tanya O’Carroll, an expert in tech policy and human rights, first took offence in 2017 when she became […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Law firm risked becoming a terrorist agent | Fearful lawyers refusing cases against Trump | FBI criminalizes environmental groups | Legal Aid can’t refuse to pay for 90% of firm’s document review | Avatars are the new court spokepersons
By Julius Melnitzer | March 26, 2025 CENTRAL LONDON FIRM HIT WITH C$47,000 ALM FINE The UK’s Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has imposed a maximum fine of C$47,000 on PCB Lawyers LLP, a central London property law specialist, for breaches of anti-money laundering regulation that exposed the firm to being used as a conduit for […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Paul Weiss caving to Trump isn’t the problem: the profession is | ALM crackdown on lawyers continues | Law firm penalized $883,000 for breaching Russia sanctions | OCA: Courts can’t compel contempt defendants to testify | Alexi survey confirms AI threatens lawyers
By Julius Melnitzer | March 25, 2025 AMERICAN LAWYERS’ INACTION ON TRUMP REMINISCENT OF NAZI ERA Most of the criticism surrounding Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s capitulation to Donald Trump’s retribution campaign has focused on the firm. But firm chair Brad Karp’s widely disseminated email accusing the profession of not being supportive and […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Dentons faces AML charges | Is private equity taking over the profession? | Historic Shell emissions judgment overturned – but landmines remain | Hogan Lovells mistakenly discloses 4,321 privileged documents | Sun Life report: Canadian pension risk transfers exceed $3 billion in 2024
By Julius Melnitzer | March 23, 2025 DENTONS MUST FACE AML CHARGES The Law Society Gazette reports that the UK’s High Court has overturned the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s (SDT) dismissal of anti-money laundering charges against Dentons. The SDT ruled that Dentons’ breach was “inadvertent” and did not amount to professional misconduct. But on appeal by […]
Jewish Lawyers Unite in Fight against Anti-Semitism – Finally!
By Julius Melnitzer | March 20, 2025 It’s been years since Jewish lawyers and legal professionals in Canada had a united voice, and about 18 months since the horror of Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023. But the recent formation of the Canadian Jewish Law Association (CJLA) has at last given a voice to a group that […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: LST says 5-year “inordinate delay” causes “no prejudice” to investigated lawyer; “Ashamed” of “greedy” Big Law, lawyer leaves profession; Critics pile on UK PM for his “lawyer brain”; Study: PEI first, Quebec 10th, Ontario 5th in use of PI lawyers; Alexi launches large-firm AI workflow solution
By Julius Melnitzer | February 22, 2024 CHAOS RULES IN LAW SOCIETY DISCIPLINE INVESTIGATIONS A recent Law Society Tribunal (LST) decision leads to the vexing conclusion that a five-year delay in investigating complaints against lawyers causes no prejudice to them. And combined with the ongoing brouhaha about a $400,000 pay raise for a senior executive, […]