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 […]
Ontario court rules employer’s return-to-workplace request amounts to constructive dismissal
By: Julius Melnitzer | March 24, 2025 Ontario’s small claims court has ruled that recalling an employee from a remote working arrangement to in-person work can amount to a constructive dismissal giving rise to liability for damages. The employee in question, Lesley Byrd, had worked for Welcome Home Children’s Residence Inc. in Ottawa since 2018, but […]
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 […]
Soaked to the Skin
Photo by Min An at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | March 17, 2025 I don’t consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin – Leonard Cohen I have a friend who is a dermatologist. I will call him Howard. Howard […]
Quebec’s approach to remote workers’ rights holds lessons for other provinces: lawyer
By: Julius Melnitzer | March 13, 2035 Quebec’s approach to legislation impacting remote workers’ rights holds lessons for the rest of Canada, says Geneviève Beaudin, a Montreal-based partner in Lavery de Billy LLP’s labour and employment law group. “There have been five cases in Quebec that focus on the meaning of ‘establishment’ [in a remote working […]
Murray’s Masterclass in Managing Client Expectations
By Murray Gottheil | March 9, 2025 Photo by Max Fischer at Pexels At My First Rodeo Client (C): We need to close this transaction in two weeks. Murray (M): That is impossible. C: The vendor said that his lawyer told him that deadline is perfectly reasonable. Why are you creating roadblocks? If you cannot get […]
Odour in the Court
By Marcel Strigberger | February 24, 2025 Can farting constitute an assault? Gone with the wind? Not exactly, but how do I start a commentary on a case about farting? In Wales. Rhionan Evans had some issues with Deborah Prytherch, her current beau’s ex-girlfriend. Rhionan decided to clear the air. She recorded eight videos of […]
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, […]