At a conference of law teachers at Western in June, I took part in discussions among professors and lawyers about whether facility with AI should be a core competence in a Canadian law degree at this point in time. This gave rise to larger questions about whether law profs now have an ethical or pedagogical
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The Dangers of Catastrophizing in Client Communications
Through my own journey with chronic pain, I am acutely aware of the impact language can have on your health. More specifically, I recognize the role catastrophizing plays in magnifying pain and that simple word substitutions can facilitate healing. It has also triggered a recognition that the language I use with clients may also negatively
Wednesday: What’s Hot on CanLII? – June 2026
Each month, we tell you which five English-language cases and French-language cases have been the most viewed* on CanLII in the previous month and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about using summaries sourced from the case text, CanLII-published AI-generated summaries of the case, or anonymized excerpts from the case
The Wellness Lawyer: “How Are You?”
How many times have you asked someone , “ how are you?”
Similarly, how many times have you been asked the same question?
If we think about this, the question becomes very mundane and actually quite meaningless.
“How are you?” has become a customary greeting, wherein we don’t expect to receive or give a response
Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Research Libraries, AI Research and Contract Override
Research libraries are integral to scholarship, scientific discovery and economic innovation. A foundational element of this support is providing access to extensive collections of scholarly content — peer-reviewed journals and monographs, databases, archives and primary source materials — that enable current research methodologies. Of increasing concern is how libraries can fulfill these obligations when access
“Refs, You Suck!”: Personal Attacks on Decision Makers
I watch a lot of hockey – but mostly on television. This year I attended a playoff game of the PWHL’s Ottawa Charge at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. It was an exciting game, but for me there was one concerning moment, when I heard thousands of people chanting, “Refs, you suck!”, after a
Tips Tuesday: Use Newspaper Archives to Find Cases
Not all mystery cases are caused by a mistyped citation or AI hallucination. Sometimes people remember only the vague details of a case (“it was an employment case involving someone who insisted on dressing up as a clown at work”) but not the names of the parties. While they may have a vague idea of
AI Tools in an Immigration Practice
This past CBA National Immigration conference in Ottawa marked the 20th year I have attended this rendezvous. Every year, the conference is packed with updates from IRCC and brainstorming with colleagues from across Canada. After each conference, I meet with my team to review new programs and innovations from other law firms.
AI issues started
Forum Shopping Could Fix the Delay Problem
Forum shopping, that taboo practice in which a litigant chooses the most favourable jurisdiction to try a case, is generally looked down upon. Indeed, courts frown upon the practice even if the sole reason is to stem delay; that is, that a case can be tried faster in one jurisdiction than another. From a system-wide
Book Review: Beach Politics: Social, Racial, and Environmental Injustice on the Shoreline
Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.
Beach Politics: Social, Racial, and Environmental