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 […]
Experienced Legal Researcher Available
Hi Everyone, I’m looking to expand my professional portfolio by adding more legal research projects. I have 17 years’ experience as a trial and appellate lawyer in Ontario and 30 years as a legal affairs journalist with over 3,500 print and online articles published in Canada’s major dailies and trade journals. I’ve worked with a […]
Random Thoughts About In-House Counsel
By Murray Gottheil | February 2, 2025 I never worked in-house. Of course, having no such experience is not going to stop me from spouting off about in-house counsel (“IHC”). So, here we go! CYA Some IHC strive to avoid personal risk. They may always hire Big Law as outside counsel, so that if something goes […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Leafs’ John Tavares has new linemates for tax appeal | Virtual Reality comes to courtroom | Lawyer on career break entitled to bonus | Jeffrey Leon joins Arbitration Place | Alexi introduces Advanced Legal Reasoning platform
By Julius Melnitzer | January 11, 2025 FORMER LEAFS JOIN TAVARES IN MULTIMILLION DOLLAR BONUS TAX DISPUTE According to The Province, former Toronto Maple Leafs players Patrick Marleau and Jake Muzzin have filed Tax Court of Canada appeals mimicking John Tavares’ challenge to the Canada Revenue Agency’s $6.8 million assessment on a $15.4 million bonus […]
Lawyers, Be True to Yourself: Know your Capabilities
By Rose Avarino | January 9, 2025 In my last article, Mental Health in Law Firms, I focused on mental health in the workplace. In this article, I will be zoning in on a strategy I suggested for achieving mental wellness: “Be true to yourself in knowing your capabilities”. Although presented as a general mental […]
Do we lawyers complicate simple matters? Yes and no—Maybe?
November 6, 2024 The following is an excerpt from Marcel Strigberger’s new book, First, Let’s Kill the Lawyer Jokes: An Attorney’s Irreverent Serious Look at the Legal Universe A lawyer is a person who writes a 10,000-word document and calls it a “brief” – Franz Kafka Do we lawyers unnecessarily complicate matters? Are we windbags? […]
BREAKING NEWS: Law Society Tribunal of Ontario reprimands “most positively reviewed” Toronto lawyer Lior Samfiru, who faces additional misconduct allegations in Alberta
By Julius Melnitzer | June 10, 2024 The Law Society Tribunal of Ontario has reprimanded Lior Samfiru, the Toronto-based national co-managing partner of employment law boutique Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, a firm that claims to be the “most positively reviewed in the country”, and ordered him to pay $5,0000 in costs. The Tribunal found that Samfiru […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Trump judges, citing university’s failure to condemn antisemitic acts, won’t hire Columbia grads | European Human Rights Court opens floodgates for climate change litigation | Kielburgers’ mother can proceed with defamation claim | Federal Court certifies class action for “mental illness stigmatization” by Canadian Armed Forces | Bennett Jones appoints new office managing partners
By Julius Melnitzer | May 21, 2024 TRUMP APPOINTEES BOYCOTT COLUMBIA GRADS NBC reports that 13 federal judges appointed by Donald Trump chose Holocaust Remembrance Day to announce that they would not hire students who graduated from Columbia University, which they called “an incubator of bigotry” in which “professors and administrators are on the front […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Climate disruption and natural asset management: perfect legal storm? | Neurodivergent lawyers stay under the radar for fear of discrimination
By Julius Melnitzer | May 6, 2024 NATURAL ASSETS INITIATIVES’S LEGAL PRIMER EXPOSES RISKS IN NATURAL ASSETS MANAGEMENT The growing frequency of climate disruption with its associated impacts in costs, combined with the steady growth of climate and nature-related litigation will doubtless increase the legal risk associated with natural asset management, the process of inventorying […]