Should AI be declared a separate legal personality? Ask your motherboard
By Marcel Strigberger | August 14, 2025 Hey humans! Should AI be declared a separate legal personality? The Law Commission in the U.K. is studying the notion, noting that the thought is not far-fetched. This means the entity can be a “person” in the eyes of the law, such as corporations, sovereign states, etc., all capable of […]
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 […]
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 […]