Justice and the pandemic: stakeholders in the system
July 16, 2020 This article is the fourth of a five-part series examining our courts’ response to the pandemic and what it means for the future of the civil justice system. Endemic problems of delay aside, a significant new challenge faces our civil justice system as the country’s courts tiptoe their way to reopening. In […]
Branding, skillful mergers the keys to Big Law success
Friday, June 02, 2017 It used to be that beyond name recognition — logos and the like — branding served only a limited purpose for law firms who sold services based for the most part on the individual expertise of their lawyers or their practice groups. But as personal contact declined in a globalized, connected […]
Competition Bureau’s approach to antitrust law needs to catch up with the times
Tuesday, September 12, 2017 Even as Canada’s Competition Bureau heralds a focus on the digital economy as its number one priority for 2017-18, experts in the United States have questioned whether antitrust laws, such as the Sherman Act of 1890 and the Clayton Act of 1914, can really do the job that’s required in the modern economy. The irony […]
Toronto’s Arbitration Place offers alternative to Trump’s America
Monday, September 25, 2017 “Bold” describes the legal profession to about the same extent that “discreet” describes The Donald. But there are exceptions. And there’s a lot to be learned from them. For those eager to escape lawyers’ unique brand of quicksand, from which they innately view opportunity as risk, Arbitration Place (AP) in Toronto […]
When sexist, racist robots discriminate, are their owners at fault?
Artificial intelligence has the potential to wreak havoc on diversity initiatives February 20, 2018 Artificial intelligence (AI), it seems, has become the cutting-edge target for proponents of diversity in the workplace. Some experts claim that AI is increasingly biased against women and non-white people. Even robots, they claim, are being sexist and racist. The bias […]
Solicitor-client privilege could be next victim of the Panama Papers
Tuesday, March 27, 2018 Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal, is closing its doors at the end of March. But its legacy, a full-frontal attack on lawyers, looms large. It’s a matter of optics. So far, there’s scant evidence of criminal activity by lawyers in relation to the […]
Blockchain is coming your way
Blockchain technology is transforming businesses in a wide range of industries. Are you ready? Jul 6, 2018 When Samuel Osei of Samuel Osei Law Corporation in Vancouver first found himself dealing with blockchain and cryptocurrency issues, he chose to keep his activities under wraps. “When I first started doing the work, I didn’t put cryptocurrency in […]
Meeting the AI Challenge
Firms are learning to adapt and prosper in the age of Artificial Intelligence Oct 10, 2018 As it turns out, the ongoing debate about the extent to which emerging legal technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), will make lawyers redundant or at least reduce the profession to a small colony of high-level strategists, misses the point. […]
Driving Innovation
Technology aimed at lawyers continues to change the way law is practised as those with deep subject-matter expertise recognize there’s a better way to service clients Mar 14, 2019 Berating the legal profession as lacking in innovative drive — particularly when it comes to technology — verges on the fashionable. But fashion passes, frequently into […]
B is for ‘bachelor,’ not progress
Monday, June 10, 2019 No question about it, diversity and gender equality are all the rage in the profession — and it’s the clients that are driving the horses, with in-house counsel expected to lead both by way of example and by way of shutting out law firms who aren’t sensitive enough to the call. […]