Pulse
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November 17, 2025
Refresher on legal ethics for unscrupulous litigators, part one
I am going to tell you a true story from out west. The names and a few details have been changed to protect me.
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November 17, 2025
Continuing education for judges
When an accused person is found guilty and sentenced to prison, it is likely that no one in the courtroom — not the prosecutor, not the defence counsel, not the jury and not the judge — fully understands what a prison term involves. To address this, the Ontario Court of Justice has established a continuing education program to enhance and maintain professional skills, as well as foster social awareness.
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November 14, 2025
Associate joins Thomson Rogers
Thomson Rogers LLP welcomes Melanie White as an associate.
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November 14, 2025
Be it resolved: Finders keepers
Ever hear of a place in Russia called Khanty-Mansiysk? Didn’t think so. Vladimir Rychagov was a factory worker there, until he hit the jackpot, or rather helped himself to it. Through a software glitch, his employer deposited into his bank account the salaries of 34 of its employees, being over seven million rubles instead of about 47,000 rubles, which is $87,000 instead of $581. Vlad, however, refuses to return the slight excess.
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November 13, 2025
Dear Mr. Machiavellian JD: Your services are not needed
Niccolò Machiavelli, the 16th-century Florentine diplomat, philosopher and political theorist, is perhaps best known for his controversial guide for rulers on how to maintain power — even if it meant resorting to deceit, coercion or ruthlessness.
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November 13, 2025
Justice Dumais named senior associate chief justice of Quebec Superior Court
Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed Justice Daniel Dumais, a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec for the district of Quebec, as the court’s new senior associate chief justice.
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November 13, 2025
Justice Jamieson appointed Nova Scotia Supreme Court associate chief
Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed Justice Darlene Jamieson of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia as the court’s new associate chief justice.
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November 13, 2025
Departing Correctional Services investigator cites frustration with government inaction
The 2024-2025 report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator was tabled in Parliament on Oct. 30, 2025. This report may be one of the most significant ever filed by the correctional investigator, as it addresses issues that are well-known to every lawyer practising prison law. Yet, the findings it presents are often the most overlooked.
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November 12, 2025
Tilly Norwood: As AI actor takes the stage, Hollywood A-list erupts, part two
It shouldn’t be a surprise that a coded thespian in the form of Tilly Norwood has emerged. In July 2023, SAG-AFTRA went on strike for 118 days, two months after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) walked out.
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November 13, 2025
Religion, chaplains and irony
Religion has a privileged place in Canadian prisons. After my sentencing, when I was placed in segregation in a provincial jail, the only reading material I could get was a Bible, which was given to me almost immediately after my request, unlike just about any other request I made during that time. Although I’m not a religious person, I am an inveterate reader. Having something to read was essential to being able to cope, so I read the entire Bible, old and new testaments, during those days.