The Complete Brief
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March 24, 2026
Court finds it has no jurisdiction for Ontario resident’s crypto loss
In a case where an Ontario resident alleged the loss of six bitcoins, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has found that it did not have jurisdiction simpliciter over an electronic payment service based out of Europe despite the alleged damage.
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March 24, 2026
Generative AI not immune from potential legal action
The use of AI chatbots by self-represented litigants and lawyers has raised alarms in the justice system because the chatbots are prone either to hallucinate cases or to cite a legitimate case for a proposition which simply cannot be found in that case. With respect to lawyers, in general, the courts have awarded personal costs sanctions against them and are beginning to refer them for potential disciplinary penalties. A lawyer has a duty to not mislead a court.
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March 24, 2026
CanLII, Caseway resolve lawsuit over alleged bulk downloading of records
The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) and AI legal research platform Caseway have settled a lawsuit over Caseway’s alleged use of records from CanLII’s website without authorization.
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March 24, 2026
ABORIGINAL STATUS AND RIGHTS - Aboriginal persons - Indians - Registration - Indian Register - Entitlement to status
Appeal by Attorney General of Canada (Canada) from a decision allowing the respondents’ statutory appeal from the registrar’s refusal to register them under the Indian Act, 1985.
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March 24, 2026
When does an email settlement become binding? Lessons from JH Drilling in Alberta
Settlement negotiations increasingly happen by email, often before a formal agreement is signed. In JH Drilling Inc. v. Barsi Enterprises Ltd., 2026 ABKB 48 (JH Drilling). The Alberta Court of King’s Bench confirmed that an email correspondence may constitute a contract binding upon the parties. As a binding contract, the parties’ settlement agreement may preclude further litigation.
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March 24, 2026
Midnight in the garden of good and evil logic
AI now pervades civilization and the legal system. As AI becomes our “partner in understanding” we must interrogate what these systems might be thinking — or valuing. We sometimes want something from them and get something completely unintended. We ask AI to produce as many paperclips as possible and in order to secure the materials and power it decides to destroy humanity. Computer scientists, perhaps underwhelming, call this the alignment problem.
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March 23, 2026
McCarthy Tétrault, Western Law to launch AI-focused corporate practice course
McCarthy Tétrault LLP and Western Law are co-developing a new upper-year course aimed at preparing law students for AI-driven changes in corporate practice, as firms grapple with how to preserve high-quality training while artificial intelligence takes over more routine legal tasks.
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March 23, 2026
Dentons adds commercial litigator Corry Clark in Vancouver
Corry Clark has joined Dentons’ Vancouver office as a partner in the firm’s national litigation and dispute resolution group.
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March 23, 2026
Alysa O’Keefe joins Aird & Berlis
Alysa O’Keefe is a new associate at Aird & Berlis LLP.
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March 23, 2026
Manitoba Court of Appeal determines frustration and fear, not drugs, led to murder
Jon Preston Hastings was convicted of first-degree murder in a King’s Bench judge-alone trial (R. v. Hastings, 2024 MBKB 171). Although conceding that the evidence established an intent to commit murder, Hastings argued that the trial judge erred in finding planning and deliberation, which are essential elements for a first-degree murder conviction. The Manitoba Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal (R. v. Hastings, 2026 MBCA 11).