On March 1, 2022, the federal government tabled Bill C-13 to modernize the Official Languages Act (the “OLA”), whose review in committee is ongoing. This article provides an overview of some of the proposed amendments that the authors consider important in this proposed reform to the language regime that was initiated in 2018 by the former Minister of Official Languages and suspended during the 2021 federal election.

Despite the meteoric rise of cryptocurrencies, the first tax legislation to specifically address them – an addition to the Excise Tax Act drafted to address crypto mining’s GST/HST treatment – was proposed in 2022, over a decade after Bitcoin’s creation. While a good first step, there are still significant uncertainties as to their proper treatment in other situations that will only become more problematic as blockchain and cryptocurrencies are used in novel ways.

For many lawyers, time is everything. But time is hard to manage, particularly when you are busy dealing with a slew of phone calls, emails, invoices and document preparation. Sukhi Hansra offers innovative ideas for growing your business efficiently, cost-effectively and with savvy application of technology.

Ahead of the OBA’s popular primer program on writing sharply, strategically and skillfully – beyond boilerplates and bound to sway – leading litigators share six deeply held drafting dos and don’ts.

The case of Mister Bull, Madame Curie, a modest Ontario bank account and a missing will provides executors with a lesson in overcoming an international impasse with “proof in solemn form” and an example of a predicament that could have been prevented with an expertly prepared estate plan.

As the Crypto Evolution continues, Brent J. Arnold provides an overview of client onboarding, virtual law offices, videoconferencing and privacy/security considerations pertaining to practicing in the metaverse.

Navigating appeals to the Court of Appeal for Ontario can be a challenge for any lawyer, but new lawyers navigating their first appeal are probably doubly stressed, particularly if they are working alone, and especially where the appeal is complicated by a motion to quash. Nancy Sarmento Barkhordari offers a fantastic ensemble of gems from the gurus of appellate advocacy.

From establishing limits and availing yourself of resources, to building your back-up network and creating routines that capitalize on your capabilities and capacity, a sole practitioner shares his advice on balancing a busy practice with fatherhood.

In an interview with OBA Criminal Justice Section newsletter editor Allison Lee, Jeff Carolin, a criminal defence lawyer with a restorative-justice-informed practice, recounts his experience representing a sexual assault complainant in a restorative justice process in Toronto, the first of its kind.

A law student with a passion for employment law reflects on a thorny topic that formed the focus of a recent OBA program – enforcing COVID-19 vaccination policies – and dissects the latest intel and insights from adjudicators in the know.