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 […]
AI Hallucinations are Proliferating, and IP is Not Exempt
By Julius Melnitzer | July 28, 2025 It was likely inevitable: artificial intelligence (AI) hallucinations are permeating intellectual property (IP) law. Falsely generated legal research first came to the world’s attention in 2023 when an American lawyer appeared on the front page of the New York Times after he included references to non-existent cases in his court […]
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 […]
Lack of International Cooperation Threatens Chaos in AI Management
The hard truth is that there are currently no serious projects to establish internationally binding rules – Francis Gurry Divergent national approaches to regulating artificial intelligence (AI) have created a complex environment for global intellectual property (IP) rights management that cries out for the kind of international cooperation whose attainability seems far-fetched today. “The subject has […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: LexisNexis: AI will allow lawyers to charge $10K hourly | Why criminals love law firms | Everything you’ll want to know about taxes | Novel grounds of appeal: Too Fat to Die | Not a valid TM: “This is the Fucking News”
By Julius Melnitzer | April 13, 2025 AI MAKES LAWYERS MORE EXPENSIVE Sean Fitzpatrick, Lexis Nexis’s CEO, told Business Insider that AI could facilitate lawyers charging $10K per hour because it gives them “that extra set of eyes” that allows them to deliver better service. To some, including myself, this could imply that lawyers charging […]
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: Abusive firm leader disbarred for insulting juniors | Vancouver bar icon dies before facing laundering charges | Trending: return to office | UK Court of Appeal: ANNs not patentable | Arbitrator: Taking a diving course counts as “union business”
By Julius Melnitzer | July 24, 2024 TREAT JUNIOR COLLEAGUES WITH RESPECT – OR ELSE! Domenic Pisano, a lawyer with 23 years’ experience and a director of Domenic Levent Solicitors in London, has been disbarred by the UK’s Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for “offensive, intimidating and insulting” behaviour towards junior colleagues. His sins included shouting at […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Grossly inadequate: two-month practice suspension for Jeremy Magence; | Panama Papers lawyer acquitted of money laundering | The “most American solution ever” | Lawyer addicted to pooping in Pringles can | Barrister attacks fashion designer for taking empty seat at opera
By Julius Melnitzer | July 4, 2024 JEREMY MAGENCE’S SUSPENSION IGNORES PROFITS FROM MISCONDUCT On June 27, the Law Society Tribunal Hearing Division suspended Jeremy Magence of Toronto personal injury firm Bergel Magence LLP for two months and ordered him to pay $5,000 in costs. The panel found that he engaged in misleading advertising by allowing […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Gender pay gap has ‘little to do’ with caring responsibilities: study | Will wearing robes deter violence in the courtroom? | Alberta still only province to recognize tort of harassment | No favours for self-represented: UK court | Lemon lawsuit a lemon
By Julius Melnitzer | April 29, 2024 KIDS DON’T FACTOR MUCH IN GENDER PAY GAP While confirming the ubiquity of the gender pay gap across seniority groups and practice areas, a UK Bar Council study concludes that caring responsibilities “are not the sole, or even a primary, factor in the median earnings difference.” The Law […]