The Complete Brief
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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).
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March 23, 2026
Deepfakes, texts and secret recordings: Growing role of digital evidence in Ontario family law disputes
Digital communications are everywhere: text messages, emails, social media posts and recorded conversations. They are an entrenched part of modern daily life.
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March 23, 2026
The joint expert playbook: What you need to know about Rules 20.1 and 20.2
Most family lawyers have used a joint expert at some point. Fewer have a clear sense of when joint retainers advance a file and when they create more problems than they solve. The difference matters. A well-managed joint retainer saves money, narrows issues and moves files toward settlement. A poorly managed one generates motion after motion, escalates costs and poisons settlement prospects.
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March 23, 2026
Proposed settlement of $650K reached in Toronto fire class action
A proposed settlement of $650,000 has been reached in a class action relating to a fire at a Toronto residential building.
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March 23, 2026
Class conflicts in corporate COVID-19 claims: Alberta court weighs limits of one class
Class actions promote litigation efficiency and access to justice, but they can also expose tensions between groups of plaintiffs whose interests do not fully align. In Ingram v. Alberta, 2025 ABKB 420, (Ingram) the Alberta Court of King’s Bench (the court) showed how those tensions can become a certification issue when a proposed class definition sweeps together businesses with potentially opposite economic interests.