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 contribute to their anxiety.

Catastrophizing involves exaggerating the severity of a situation and jumping to the worst possible conclusion. As noted in the recent Psychology Today article, “Catastrophizing”:

Everyone has negative thoughts. But for many people, negative thinking can spin out of control and be

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.

Equal and Inalienable Rights: Essays on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Edited by Melanie R. Bueckert & Derek B.M. Ross. Toronto: LexisNexis, 2024. xlii, 458 p. ISBN 9780433533801 (softcover) $145.00.

Reviewed by Emily Da Silva
Head, Research Support (Education, Law, Management, and Social Sciences)
University of Ottawa Library

This . . . [more]

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 text.

For this past month, the five most-consulted English-language decisions were:

1. Mazaheri v Law Society of Ontario, 2026 ONLSTH 112

Summary from case:

MAZAHERI – Costs – Negligent and Irresponsible Use of Artificial Intelligence – The Lawyer brought a motion to cancel or . . . [more]

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 that is more than “I am okay.

Recently, after being asked by a friend “how are you?” I realized in mid answer, that this person was not even listening to what I was saying.

I am certain that many of you have found yourselves in . . . [more]

The troika of artificial intelligence, pricing, and talent transience has been with us for some time now. As a result, traditional pyramid-structured law firms grappling with these bet-the-business juggernauts are at an inflection point. I propose a flatter way forward.

I have been writing and talking about this issue for many years, most recently as part of my ‘The Law Firm’ series: Pyramid Rollover, Private Equity Puzzle, Disappearing Act, Foundational Rebuild, and now this one, Inflection Point.

My argument throughout this series is that traditional law firm pyramid structures will not hold against AI, pricing, and . . . [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. BC Estate Litigation Blog 2. Administrative Law Matters 3. Equilawbrium 4. Civil Resolution Tribunal blog 5. Labour Pains

BC Estate Litigation Blog
What I’m Reading: Interesting Estate Articles for May 2026

The following is a round-up of noteworthy articles published this month on estate litigation issues: Eric . . . [more]

Earlier this year, a motion at the Ontario Superior Court paused while everyone in the room went looking for a quotation. The factum on one side quoted a decision of the Court of Appeal, and opposing counsel could not find the quoted words anywhere in that decision. He suspected the factum had been drafted with AI. The judge called a short recess, so the party who filed it could go and find the passage.[1]

The citation was correct, and anyone who looked it up would have found exactly the case named. In this instance, AI produced a fake quotation . . . [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) : Serge Audette est reconnu coupable de l’homicide involontaire d’une jeune femme qui a disparu 30 ans plus tôt et dont le corps n’a jamais été trouvé.

Intitulé : R. c. Audette, 2026 QCCQ 2478 *
Juridiction : Cour du Québec, Chambre criminelle et pénale (C.Q.), Montréal
Décision . . . [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

Criminal Law: Police Misconduct Disclosure
Edmonton (Police Service) v. McKee, 2026 SCC 24 (41110)

Multiple disclosure issues re prior police misconduct.

Leave to Appeal Granted

Torts: Future Care Needs; Deductibility of Provincial Payments
H.D v. British Columbia (Ministry of Children and Family Development), . . . [more]

In a previous article, I wrote about the benefits of simulations in jump-starting learning. In this article, I want to focus on one specific aspect of simulation: the use of simulated clients.

Medicine has long used simulated patients to help students develop practical skills and bedside manner. The use of simulated clients to support law student learning is a more recent development. Through the pioneering work of Paul Maharg and others, simulated clients have become an important educational tool in legal education in Canada and around the world.

Rather than discussing the history of simulated clients or the training they . . . [more]

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 to much of the essential research corpus is through digital access and governed by contracts that often explicitly or implicitly prohibit certain uses, including AI-driven research methodologies.

AI, cloud computing and increased processing power have accelerated the growth of computational research methodologies and scholars from . . . [more]

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 call on the ice against the home team. As a hockey fan, I too did not like some of their calls, or non-calls, but there is a critical difference between attacking a decision and attacking the person who made the decision.

Before the game started, . . . [more]