Pulse
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June 12, 2025
Reducing CRR burden: Keep ‘relevance’ as standard, reduce judge-presided conferences
The Civil Rules Review Phase 2 (CRR) report mandates judicial case conferences in two forms: directions conferences and scheduling conferences. In addition, it proposes a completely new standard for productions while removing discovery, which is a cornerstone for ensuring necessary and adequate production. The CRR proposes a new production standard: production of “reliance” and “adverse” documents rather than keeping the current standard of relevance. The net result will be more ambiguity as to which documents are proper productions, and given the absence of discovery, a greater need to obtain full production of all “reliance” and all “adverse” documents.
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June 12, 2025
New Brunswick Appeal Court finds no reversible error in gun permit case
How can our courts protect public safety by revoking a person’s firearms licence without discriminating against individuals with mental health issues? This became a significant focus in the New Brunswick Court of Appeal decision R. v. Wojcik, 2025 NBCA 46.
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June 11, 2025
Maxime-Arnaud Keable joins McCarthy Tétrault’s as partner
McCarthy Tétrault has welcomed Maxime-Arnaud Keable to its Quebec City office as a partner in the firm’s national litigation and dispute resolution group.
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June 11, 2025
Expanded Supreme Court registry services now available in Port Coquitlam, B.C.
The province of British Columbia has announced that residents of its Tri-Cities region (which includes Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam and Port Moody) now have improved access to court services with the opening of a fully equipped Supreme Court registry at the Port Coquitlam courthouse.
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June 11, 2025
When the gatekeeper fails: Lessons from California’s botched 2025 bar exam
In February 2025, the State Bar of California conducted what was supposed to be a streamlined, cost-efficient bar examination — an experiment in modern legal licensure. Instead, it devolved into one of the most publicized failures of professional credentialing in recent memory. As lawyers in Ontario and across Canada observe an evolving conversation around lawyer competence and access to the profession, California’s case serves as a stark warning about the dangers of opaque governance, overreliance on private contractors and the erosion of professional oversight in legal licensing.
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June 11, 2025
Judicial scarcity and Civil Rules Review: We can’t get there from here without more judges
The Civil Rules Review Phase 2 (CRR) states: “There is consensus that the problem of access to timely and affordable civil justice has only gotten worse since Hryniak, particularly following the Supreme Court’s decision in R. v. Jordan” (Hryniak v. Mauldin, [2014] 1 S.C.R. 87; R. v. Jordan, [2016] 1 S.C.R. 631).
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June 11, 2025
Appeal Court stands by trial judge’s balance between probative value and prejudicial evidence
It has been a 13-year ordeal for both the accused and the victim’s family. Unless there is a further appeal, Adam Picard will remain in prison. After being charged with first-degree murder in 2012, a court stayed the prosecution of Picard due to unreasonable delay in 2016 (R. v. Picard, 2016 ONSC 7061). That decision was overturned by the Ontario Court of Appeal (R. v. Picard, 2017 ONCA 692).
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June 10, 2025
Canada’s top judge declares ‘in this country, the rule of law is non-negotiable’
Lawyers, as officers of the court, have a professional “responsibility and obligation” to defend the rule of law and the independence of the bar and judiciary against attacks, Chief Justice of Canada Richard Wagner said at his annual news conference in Ottawa.
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June 10, 2025
Miller Thomson names Enzo Di Iorio as new chair
Miller Thomson has announced that Enzo Di Iorio will assume the role of the firm’s new chair, effective July 1, 2025.
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June 10, 2025
Drew Lambert joins MLT Aikins as associate in Winnipeg
MLT Aikins has announced the addition of Drew Lambert as an associate lawyer in its Winnipeg office.