Pulse
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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 15, 2026
The new definition of artwork: Being human, being protected
In September 2025, the Italian parliament enacted a landmark reform that definitively reshaped the boundaries of intellectual property in the age of algorithms. Through Law No. 132 of Sept. 23, 2025, the Italian legislature amended Article 1 of the Italian Copyright Act (ICL), marking a decisive “anthropocentric” turn. This reformation does not merely update the law; it establishes a fundamental ontological boundary: for an artwork to be protected, it must be human.
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January 15, 2026
A few words on prison lawyers
In response to Kurt Suss’s column Prison lawyers: Contraband smugglers or misunderstood advocates? and as a prison lawyer since 1975, let me add the following observations:
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January 15, 2026
Macro marvellous, micro miserable
Bob told me about his law firm exit interview with Joan from HR. When Bob said he was leaving due to the unreasonable workload, Joan was curious, because Bob was one of several associates who had left his department for the same reason. What surprised Joan was that in other departments, the associates were working many more hours, but no one was complaining, let alone quitting.
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January 14, 2026
DLA Piper names Russel Drew managing partner in Canada
DLA Piper has named Russel Drew as its managing partner for Canada, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
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January 14, 2026
Eric Stachecki joins Dentons as partner in Montreal
Dentons has welcomed Eric Stachecki as a partner in its restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy group in Montreal.
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January 14, 2026
Scrapping the bar exam won’t fix Ontario’s licensing problem
The Law Society of Ontario is considering removing the written barrister and solicitor examinations as part of the lawyer licensing process. They published a report on the subject and asked members of the legal community to comment. While I agree that the licensing process and especially the examinations require modernization (and I’ve written about this at length before), I disagree that completely replacing standard written examinations will accomplish this goal but rather will be costly and will lower the standards for entry into the profession.
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January 14, 2026
Charter rights trump requirement to take oath of allegiance
The concept of taking an oath of allegiance can be traced back to medieval times when people took oaths of fealty to pledge loyalty or faithful service to a monarch or a lord. Today, it is not uncommon for immigrants seeking citizenship in a new country to be required to take an oath of allegiance or oath of citizenship. Professional regulatory bodies, such as law societies, may also obligate members to take an oath of allegiance in order to be admitted.
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January 14, 2026
Alberta Court of Appeal delivers lesson in legal history, upholds conviction in 1981 cold case
Cold cases dredge up years of history. In a review of a finding of guilt in a cold case, the Alberta Court of Appeal delivered a lesson in legal history through its own dredging up of legal precedents.
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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.