Wills, Trusts & Estates

Wednesday, July 12, 2023 @ 9:02 AM

While “discovery” is a term widely used by lawyers and non-lawyers alike to describe the fact-finding stage of will challenge litigation, the term discovery conflates two distinct proceedings — an application and an action. There are important procedural and evidentiary nuances between these two proceedings. Those nuances are not trivial and should not be overlooked.   ... [read more]

Tuesday, July 11, 2023 @ 5:00 PM

As Ontario reintroduced the honorary title of King’s counsel (KC), one name on the list of those receiving the designation stood out: former attorney general Caroline Mulroney. Minister Mulroney was called to the Ontario bar just days before the designation was given, leading many in the profession to raise concerns with the process surrounding the awarding of the title. ... [read more]

Tuesday, July 11, 2023 @ 2:04 PM

The Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) is developing “guidelines” over the next few months to help judges deal with the ramifications of lawyers and litigants’ use of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools in court cases, Law360 Canada has learned. ... [read more]

Tuesday, July 11, 2023 @ 9:22 AM

So, imagine that you are a newbie lawyer working for a firm. When looking for your first job, nobody told you that the most important consideration was to work for a competent person of good character, so you chose your job based on other factors which seemed important at the time, like prestige or money. ... [read more]

Monday, July 10, 2023 @ 9:56 AM

As the legal industry continues to evolve with the advancement of technology, law firms and lawyers are constantly seeking new tools to improve their efficiency and productivity. One tool that has gained traction in recent years is ChatGPT. This tool allows users to utilize a chat function to ask questions, perform tasks and conduct substantive research. ChatGPT produces natural language responses and is trained on a substantial set of text found online as the basis for its responses. ... [read more]

Friday, July 07, 2023 @ 2:16 PM

The decision of the Court of Appeal of Alberta in Bacanora Minerals Ltd v. Orr-Ewing Estate, 2023 ABCA 139 (Bacanora) has freshly demonstrated the potential usefulness of seeking proper declaratory relief when other claims are limitations barred. ... [read more]

Friday, July 07, 2023 @ 1:00 PM - Last Updated: Friday, July 07, 2023 @ 1:30 PM

The Supreme Court of Canada is among the courts mulling whether and what practice direction to issue to counsel and litigants about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation of Supreme Court materials, after two superior trial courts recently required disclosure to the bench of AI used in court submissions. ... [read more]

Thursday, July 06, 2023 @ 3:17 PM

The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Canadian Council for Refugees v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) [2023] S.C.J. No. 17, focuses mostly on Charter issues, which are discussed by other commentators. ... [read more]

Thursday, July 06, 2023 @ 10:37 AM

In what may be the first Canadian case on whether a contract was accepted via emoji, but will certainly not be the last, the Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench found a valid contract was created when a person sent a single 👍 (thumbs up) emoji. ... [read more]

Wednesday, July 05, 2023 @ 2:18 PM

This is for the young folks looking for jobs in private practice early in their careers. Here is what matters and what does not matter so much. Ignore this at your own peril (and I am sure that a great many of you will both ignore it and eventually be in peril.) ... [read more]