A year after the emergence of a new breed of generative artificial intelligence tools were thrust into public consciousness, French-language law faculties in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick are still grappling over its far-reaching potential impacts.
A series of wide-ranging concrete administrative and structural reforms, coupled with a new regional or municipal court, legal aid for all Inuit, and greater inclusion for traditional Inuit dispute resolution methods, should be implemented by the Quebec government and legal authorities to provide greater access to justice and tackle the alarming and increasing caseload in Nunavik, according to a recently published report.
Nearly every general counsel will sooner or later face the need to conduct an internal investigation into events at an organization, a dark art that presents unique challenges.
In the end she was done in by spite, and greed.
She is the ex-wife of a wealthy Quebec businessman who had sought to maintain an exceptionally privileged and luxurious lifestyle, and fought tooth and nail. She hired and fired more than half a dozen lawyers all the while waging a relentless, and ultimately, vain legal battle to find hidden assets ostensibly stashed away by her husband. She frittered away about $4 million in legal and expert expenses, only for the case to be heard ex parte. She did not show up at trial nor was she was she represented by a lawyer.
Fuelled by big data, increased computing power, and more effective algorithms, artificial intelligence has the potential to change the way that legal work is done, the way that law firms conduct business and the way that lawyers deal with clients.
That may be on the cusp of changing. Fuelled by big data, increased computing power, and more effective algorithms (a routine process for solving a program or performing a task), AI has the potential to change the way that legal work is done, the way that law firms conduct business and the way that lawyers deal with clients.
But it remains that law firms are proving to be a hard sell. A recent survey reveals yet again that the vast majority of law firms are uncomfortable being early adopters.
On top of that, most lawyers view AI as a threat instead of seeing it as an opportunity to help deliver better outcomes for clients.
It may be early days in Canada for fintechs, a catchphrase for new innovative financial technology start-ups and major technology companies that are challenging traditional financial institutions on their turf by offering cheaper and easier-to-use Internet or smartphone based services like payment apps or peer-to-peer lending or digital currencies, but Canada’s Big Six banks are paying heed even though they appear to be on solid ground.
The practice of law is under duress. Legal service innovations driven by digitalization and globalization are propelling seismic change. So too is the emergence of the sharing economy model which has taken the world by storm. Novel ways of delivering new products and services are seemingly materializing daily to satisfy increasingly demanding and fickle consumers. The rapidly evolving landscape is putting a strain on traditional business models, while governments and regulatory authorities are scrambling to keep up with the dizzying pace of change. But with change comes challenges – and opportunities – for legal service providers and legal protection insurers alike, all of which was explored at a conference held in Montreal recently by the International Association of Legal Protection (RIAD).
For as long as expert witnesses have been allowed to testify, expert bias has always been a concern. So too is the quality and reliability of their evidence.
Some law firms are so determined to attract new business that they will go to lengths that confound even the most seasoned legal observers.
The current legal marketplace, characterized by lethargic growth, too many lawyers and a buyer’s market, has driven some law firms to literally conduct fire sales. Offers to work for free are atypical. But seemingly more prevalent are cases where law firms aggressively chase work, offering rates so low that they almost certainly will lead to an unprofitable engagement or at best result in a write-down.
Legal consultant Bruce MacEwen morbidly but aptly describes it as “suicide pricing.”
Thanks to the alarming surge of breaches and the inconceivable reams of data, clients are increasingly putting pressure – and in many cases demanding – higher standards on how outside counsel secure their data and manage access to it. A growing number of law firms determined to keep pace with the new challenges created by mounting security requirements and the data deluge are tackling the issues through a different prism, and turning their attention towards becoming shepherds of all the information in their hands by embracing a relatively new approach — information governance.
Dementia is beginning to creep into the legal profession in the same insidious manner it does in the lives of people, sneaking in and leaving hints before constraining regulators and law firms alike to make heart-wrenching decisions.
“The good news is that an ageing lawyer population means that there is a greater number of lawyers with tremendous experience that have insight and wisdom that could be shared with newer members of the bar,” notes Marian De Souza, the executive director of the Alberta Lawyers’ Assistance Society. “The other side is that as the lawyer population ages, statistically there will be greater numbers that will show cognitive impairment and other medical issues.”
Indeed, the spectre of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia facing the profession is harshly brought home by projections made this summer by the Professional Liability Insurance Fund of the Barreau du Québec — of the 1,949 Quebec lawyers over the age of 65, about 200 risk being afflicted by what British John Bayley called the “insidious fog.”