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 to creep into the conference in 2023. A friend and colleague, Will Tao, did excellent work at that time reporting on the use of Chinook at IRCC and he published the article, AI statecraft heating-up: the automation of governance through Canada’s Chinook case study.  Back . . . [more]

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 lens, this challenges common-sense. We need only look in the medical field, where patients can shop for medical services like MRIs, specialists, family physicians, anywhere they like. Yet the courts prefer to treat themselves as islands.

What do we look for in a justice system? . . . [more]

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 Injustice on the Shoreline. Edited by Setha Low. New York: NYU Press, 2025. 336 p. Includes bibliographic references and index. ISBN 9781479821952 (softcover) US$35.00; ISBN 9781479821945 (hardcover) US$99.00; ISBN 9781479821969 (eBook) US$25.00.

Reviewed by Emma Cornelius
Reference Librarian
Lawson Lundell LLP

Beach Politics answers two . . . [more]

Artificial intelligence is making its way into courtrooms around the world, and not always for the better. Judges have been caught embedding AI-generated fictitious case references in judicial decisions, in Canada and internationally; and there are no doubt other, more subtle, machine delusions slipping into case law undetected. Judicial misuse of AI tools has profound consequences for the administration of justice and for public confidence in the courts. But a less obvious threat also deserves our attention: a growing body of research indicates that large language models (LLMs) have a homogenizing effect on writing and analysis, meaning that judges’ . . . [more]

Artificial intelligence has become, in one way or another, a part of many dispute resolution practices. Counsel use AI to prepare mediation briefs, assess litigation risk, test settlement ranges, or draft suggested terms. Parties use it to understand the process or evaluate options. Some mediators may use it to organize information, draft correspondence, test language, or reflect on process choices.

The discussion about AI in mediation has also become more urgent and comprehensive. Much of it properly focuses on confidentiality, neutrality, party autonomy, disclosure, competence, and human judgment. For working mediators, however, the next step is practical: distinguishing between lower-risk . . . [more]

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. ReconciliAction YEG 2. Robeside Assistance 3. Canadian Privacy Law Blog 4. Barry Sookman 5. Double Aspect

ReconciliAction YEG
Alberta Justice Finds that Alberta Independence Would Contravene Treaties with First Nations (Chief Electoral Officer of Alberta v Sylvestre, 2025 ABKB 712)

On December 5, 2025, Justice Feasby of . . . [more]

In previous articles, I introduced the RECLAIM model as a cultural operating system for law firms and explored the first four elements: Respect, Equity, Clarity, and Learning. This month, I turn to A: Autonomy.

Let me introduce you to Priya.

Priya is a fifth-year associate with a busy corporate practice at a mid-sized firm. She is capable, hardworking, and well-liked by clients. She has recently found her work coming from one partner, and the working relationship follows a pattern. He hands her a file and tells her it is hers to run. Then he rewrites her drafts, . . . [more]

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : La peine de 21 mois d’emprisonnement avec sursis infligée à un jeune homme de 23 ans n’est pas manifestement non indiquée; celui-ci, par le biais d’un média social et d’une fausse identité, a eu une liaison avec une adolescente de 15 ans, laquelle a comporté plusieurs relations . . . [more]

As a supplement to our Sunday Summary each month, Supreme Advocacy LLP in Ottawa presents Supreme One-Liners, a super-short descriptive guide to the most recent decisions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Supreme Advocacy LLP offers its more comprehensive weekly electronic newsletter, Supreme Advocacy Letter, summarizing all Appeals, Oral Judgments and Leaves to Appeal granted.

Appeal

Civil Litigation/Elections: Collateral Attack; Abuse of Process; Parliamentary Privilege; Immunity
Resler v. Anglin, 2024 ABCA 113, 2026 SCC 23 (41298)

Election claim not barred by collateral attack, abuse of process, privilege, immunity.

Leave to Appeal Granted

Elections: Returning Officer Appointments
Canada (Attorney . . . [more]

The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia was released on May 15^th to much press and discussion. For many, it was a relief that a significant and precedent-setting case sought to tackle a pervasive and insidious social problem: intimate partner violence. There will no doubt be much commentary on the substantive content of the case, the scope of the tort of intimate partner violence, the manner of its proof in family law cases, and the implications for individual litigants going forward.

However, there is another thread weaving through the fabric of this case in its journey . . . [more]

Take a moment to thank Eric Appleby, founder of Maritime Law Book, because the Canadian legal AI future announced today by Clio is only possible because Eric was sufficiently frustrated by the lack of access to New Brunswick case law in the 1960s that he decided to start a legal publishing company. No Eric, no MLB. No MLB, no Canadian case law in Clio and no next wave of Canadian legal AI.

You know the saying attributed to Nelson Mandela that begins “the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago?” Well, the tree now bearing fruit is . . . [more]

Recently, I was invited to be a guest speaker at a Law and Literature Course here at my workplace, University of Arizona College of Law. As part of our Law Library Team and Professor of Legal Research, the invitation to speak came to my desk almost naturally. Perceptions on the voracious reading habits of librarians permeate even in the hallways of academia. Given my close connections with our Faculty colleagues as well as law students, I was not surprised at all at the speaking request. I have indeed shared with students and colleagues alike my lifelong obsession with reading world . . . [more]