Articles 2025

Lawyers practising in a variety of areas, such as real estate, municipal/planning, insurance or estate law, will often approach my colleagues and me about a “one-off” contaminated land issue they are facing in a matter. Following is a brief overview of contaminated land and minimizing personal environmental liability.

Landing a first-year associate position can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. Following are ten tips for landing your first associate position.

There are times in every litigator’s practice when he or she concludes that for one reason or another they can no longer act for their client. In order to get off record when a client does not agree, counsel must bring a motion seeking an order removing him or herself as lawyer of record. In doing so, there are three principal issues the lawyer must consider: when, why and how?

This year is shaping up to be a great one for legal innovation in Canada. For many lawyers and firms the task of updating their systems and processes to currently existing technology is an intimidating challenge, and the prospect of actually pursuing innovative or novel solutions is just not on the table. However, and despite this apparently ubiquitous problem, lawyers across the globe have finally begun to embrace technology.

The sun is finally starting to shine, and it seems that spring has arrived. With summer just around the corner, Ottawa has a number of great outdoor team sporting events coming up that you can get involved in with fellow young lawyers or even potential or existing clients.

The race to seek a resolution in Kinder Morgan’s hard-fought Trans Mountain Pipeline saga is making headlines. Kinder Morgan, in news reports, has imposed a May 31 deadline, after which it will cancel its multibillion dollar pipeline project. Meanwhile, Alberta Senator Douglas Black has tabled a public bill that would see that the “Trans Mountain Pipeline Project and related works are declared to be works for the general advantage of Canada.”

The typical articling term involves a steep learning curve and long hours. It can be difficult to think about or plan for life after that ten-month end date. But once you’ve run the gauntlet and been called to the bar, it’s time to transition into life as an associate. The following observations and tips, learned through experience, can ease this transition.

This article discusses pursuing a career in politics and public policy, the day to day work of a political staffer, and how a career in policy differs from law.

This article discusses practice tips and tricks on surviving the practice of law for young lawyers.

While many young lawyers benefit from a generalized legal practice, others decide to specialize early on in their career. Some of the reasons why a young lawyer may decide to specialize include (i) developing technical skills early on in the subject area; (2) developing an understanding of clients' specific interests and needs; and (3) receiving training by the best lawyers in the field.