Personal Injury
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January 21, 2026
FCA rejects Ottawa’s ‘expansive’ view of cabinet authority to wield ‘draconian’ emergency powers
In a case that might land on the steps the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled unanimously that the federal cabinet wrongly invoked the Emergencies Act to declare a national “public order” emergency in 2022.
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January 21, 2026
Billable hours, client trauma and vicarious stress in legal practice
Lawyers who live in a billable-hour world know that time is money, but for those working with traumatic subject matter, time equals exposure. The more hours spent inside a client’s worst days, the more likely it is that the work follows you home at night.
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January 20, 2026
Manitoba launches security fund for cultural groups, places of worship
Following a handful of recent hate-related incidents, Manitoba’s government is launching a $1-million fund for cultural groups and places of worship to enhance safety and security.
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January 16, 2026
SCC’s packed winter session features momentous appeal on Charter s. 33 override provision
The Supreme Court of Canada began hearings in its very busy winter session this week, which features a potentially watershed constitutional appeal and the surprise announcement that Justice Sheilah Martin, the court’s senior western judge, will retire next spring.
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January 16, 2026
Privacy commissioner investigates social media company due to reports of sexualized deepfake images
Canada’s privacy commissioner is expanding a current investigation into X Corp., the company that operates social media platform X, after reports that the platform’s chatbot is “being used to create explicit images of individuals without their consent.”
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January 15, 2026
Ontario protection order regime in need of urgent reform: law commission
A major law reform agency is saying that Ontario’s system for protection orders needs urgent reform to better prevent intimate partner and family violence in the province.
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January 15, 2026
The case for in-person appearances, part two
I have taught professionalism for years, starting at the old Bar Admission course, at two law schools and on an ad hoc basis to articling students and juniors. I tell all of them same thing on the first day: everything you need to know about professional responsibility can be summed up in two sentences.
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January 13, 2026
Supreme Court of Canada Justice Sheilah Martin to retire in May after eight years at top court
Supreme Court of Canada Justice Sheilah Martin, a former University of Calgary law dean and one of the apex court’s criminal and constitutional law experts, will retire May 30, 2026, after working at the high court for more than eight years.
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January 13, 2026
No error in judge’s alteration of contingency fee arrangement: Ontario Court of Appeal
Ontario’s top court has dismissed a challenge of a judge’s decision to amend a contingency fee agreement, underscoring a court’s role in protecting vulnerable clients in legal proceedings.
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January 13, 2026
Judge nixes federal refusal to pay for surgery to remove excess skin caused by PTSD-induced obesity
A Federal Court judge has ordered Veteran Affairs Canada (VAC) to reconsider its refusal to pay for plastic surgery for a reserve force veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other serious health repercussions triggered by the sexual trauma she experienced while in the military from 1991 to 1994.