Pulse
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January 29, 2026
B.C. Court of Appeal decides procedural issue, bringing 1994 Mr. Big case closer to appeal
A Newfoundland carpet cleaner convicted of murdering his girlfriend in a 1994 shooting death in Richmond, B.C., is one step closer to having his conviction overturned after the British Columbia Court of Appeal outlined procedural issues that must be resolved before a new appeal can proceed (R. v. Skiffington, 2026 BCCA 26).
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January 29, 2026
Holistic mentorship in the legal field
The role played by mentorship in both professional and personal development is indisputable. Whether based on professional-sector or personal identity, mentorship can contribute to higher rates of success. Studies have established a positive correlation between mentorship and youth mental health, as well as sense of belonging in their communities.
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January 29, 2026
Dating rules as learned in criminal law practice
Dating advice is as old as ancient Rome itself. Ovid, the first-century poet, devoted an entire manual — The Art of Love — to the subject. His guidance was straightforward: wear a clean toga, mind your hygiene and present yourself well. Other advice, however, such as persistent pursuit or ignoring rejection, would today be more likely to attract police attention than romantic success.
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January 28, 2026
Anu Koshal named head of McCarthy Tétrault’s national tax disputes group
Anu Koshal, a partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s Toronto office, has been named as lead of the firm’s national tax disputes and tax litigation group.
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January 28, 2026
Goodmans announces 4 new partners
Goodmans LLP has named Larissa Fulop, Owen Gaffney, Christina Liao and Jaclyn Tilak as partners.
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January 28, 2026
A practical way for wills and estates practitioners to start using AI: document review
For many lawyers, including wills and estates practitioners, artificial intelligence (AI) may feel both promising and risky. On the one hand, AI offers the potential to complete comprehensive work more efficiently than ever. On the other hand, using AI for legal tasks may be outside a lawyer’s comfort zone.
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January 28, 2026
Before the doctor called back, the algorithm answered: AI and health care information
It always starts the same way. A report. A result. A line of text that feels heavier than it should. Numbers that mean something; just not to you. You tell yourself you’ll wait. You tell yourself not to panic. And then, because waiting is the hardest thing of all, you open your laptop.
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January 28, 2026
Balancing transparency and privacy in municipal governance: Analysis of the Planning Act and MFIPPA
Transparency and privacy are two core principles of municipal governance. In Ontario, laws regulating municipal activities, such as the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25, s. 224(d.1) and the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, require administrators to ensure openness and transparency to foster public participation in governance and municipal activities. The Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56 (MFIPPA) imposes obligations to protect personal information. These requirements often create the perception of legal conflict.
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January 28, 2026
Court ignores Arbitration Act Regulation, endorses process with unenforceable outcome
A Superior Court decision has struck a blow to the effectiveness of family arbitration in Ontario by endorsing an arbitral process that failed to comply with mandatory regulatory requirements, resulting in an award that is unenforceable.
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January 28, 2026
AI at the helm of legal evolution
In the Dec. 17, 2025, issue of the Harvard Business Review, authors Julian De Freitas, Gideon Nave and Stefano Puntoni write that “the rise of generative AI is reshaping not just how we work, but how we think. In our experience, many leaders focus on productivity in generative AI deployment. Generative AI will indeed make many tasks easier and quicker to perform, increasing efficiency and decreasing costs. But we think that one of the biggest promises of this technology lies elsewhere: in unlocking new forms of human creativity that can drive innovation and growth.”