THE MANNER, NYC — GREAT PLACE, GREAT PEOPLE, IMPERFECT SYSTEMS
By Janet Carr & Julius Melnitzer | August 26, 2026 In 2001, 60 Thompson, a boutique hotel that made its name on design and the downtown nightlife it drew, helped pioneer luxury boutique hotels in New York City’s SoHo neighbourhood. Standard International gutted the building and reopened it in 2024 as The Manner, at 58 […]
Quebec Regulators Can Now Order Deepfake Ads Offline
By Julius Melnitzer | August 19, 2026 The Bill confers a new power to issue orders usually reserved for courts of law, allowing the regulator to intervene at any time before a ruling and order the cessation of a representation falsely linked to an individual, in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness. — Thomas Chagnon […]
IP Rights in VR and AR Gaming
By Julius Melnitzer | August 18, 2026 “A common issue in VR gameplay arises when a headset receives images and media streams from, and transmits user-movement data to, a remote server rather than processing everything locally. That round trip creates latency. An invention that reduces that latency or computing demand may provide a patentable technical […]
The Value Is in the IP: Protecting Australian Agritech’s Real Asset
By Julius Melnitzer | July 31, 2026 Once the product is out in the field, the marginal cost of copying it is close to zero. That’s a textbook appropriability problem, and it’s more acute here than in most tech sectors — Dr Chris Vindurampulle Few industries are as woven into Australia’s economy and identity as agriculture, […]
Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way
By Murray Gottheil | July 24, 2026 “Lead, follow, or get out of the way” is an expression which some attribute to Thomas Payne. Tommy died in 1809, so this is hardly a new turn of speech. And yet, back in my law firm (and I suspect in many others), there were partners who never came […]
I Heard it Through the Gripe Vine
By Julia Volk at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | July 23, 2026 A long time ago, when I had a modicum of influence in a law firm, I used to include a sentence in every offer letter to associates to the effect that we expected our lawyers to be part of the solution to issues […]
The Co-Applicant Screw Up!
By Andy MacDonald | July 22, 2026 This morning I had the pleasure of waking up just steps from the ocean at my spot in Cape Breton. Picture a travel trailer parked on a rocky beach surrounded by forty acres of forest and about 1200 feet of sheltered and secluded oceanfront. I started the day […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Financing retainers | Cellphone ban in law schools? | Cozen beefs up securities practice | Arbitration Place waltzes to Vienna | Yukon law degree on the northern horizon
By Julius Melnitzer | July 21, 2026 CLIO ADDS RETAINER FINANCING CAPACITY Legal technology firm Clio has partnered with point-of-sale installment lender Affirm to incorporate a pay-over-time option for law firm clients who do not have the ability or desire to fund the full amount of a retainer. Pay Later is now automatically available in […]
B.C. court rules remote working arrangement an essential term of employment
By: Julius Melnitzer | July 17, 2026 The British Columbia Court of Appeal has ruled that an unwritten but long-accepted work-from-home arrangement can become an essential term of employment, so that a unilateral return-to-office order — without notice or agreement — can trigger constructive dismissal. “The decision in Cressey Construction Corporation v. Parolin is getting a lot of […]
Unsuccessful political candidate can pursue civil action against Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer, SCC rules
By Scott Lemke | July 15, 2026 Election officials, including a Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), are not categorically immune from civil claims merely because they are exercising authority under their governing legislation. In Resler v. Anglin, 2026 SCC 23, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) permitted a civil claim that was brought by an unsuccessful […]