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In solo, small, and mid-sized firms, burnout is not just a wellness issue – it is a direct threat to firm capacity, client relationships, and revenue. At the Canadian Legal Summit, general counsel Carole Dagher, retired trial lawyer Jason Ward, and Leanne Goldstein joined moderator Steven Benmor to discuss what the data shows, why language matters, and what firms can actually do. The panel drew on the Cadieux/Sherbrooke study, the most comprehensive national study of its kind on the wellness of the Canadian legal profession.

What does it mean to serve as acting general counsel for a $70-billion AI data centre project – from inside a law firm? Conor Chell, partner and national leader of sustainability, environment and regulatory law at KPMG Law LLP, joins Tim Wilbur to talk through the Wonder Valley mandate in detail: how KPMG’s Major Projects Delivery Office is structured, what the Building Canada Act actually demands on the front end, and why lawyers joining major project teams consistently underestimate two things – speed and technical fluency.

In this episode of CL Talk, host Tim Wilbur speaks with David Wong, chief product officer at Thomson Reuters, and Alexander Kardos-Nyheim, who co-leads the company's foundational machine learning research and came to Thomson Reuters through the 2024 acquisition of his legal AI startup, Safe Sign Technologies. Together, they unpack the strategic reasoning behind Thomson Reuters' decision to build Thomson – its first proprietary large language model – rather than continuing to rely entirely on third-party providers. The conversation covers what domain-specific training actually delivers for legal work, how Thomson Reuters defines fiduciary-grade AI and is tackling hallucinations, and the buy-versus-build question law firms across Canada are navigating. They also discuss Canada's place in Thomson Reuters' product rollout and what they would say to lawyers still skeptical of AI. Thomson Reuters is a supporting partner of the Canadian Legal Summit, taking place on October 14 in Toronto. Register here: https://events.canadianlawyermag.com/canadian-legal-summit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=editorial_article&utm_campaign=CLS2026&utm_content=awareness&utm_term=asset01

Most lawyers experimenting with AI are making one of two mistakes, according to Samuel Puchala, President and General Manager of LexisNexis Canada. One group briefly tries a tool, gets a disappointing result, and shelves it. The other dives in, gets impressive early results, and over-relies on the output. "There's a happy middle ground," he says, "but you have to keep your professional judgment." In this episode of CL Talk, Puchala offers a framework for thinking about AI that any lawyer can apply immediately. He compares working with AI to managing a young lawyer: the leverage is real, but the instructions matter and the output always needs review. That means knowing what the product is actually designed to do — using it outside those parameters is one of the most common sources of frustration — and being specific with prompts. Vague instructions, he says, produce the same result as sending an articling student out with ambiguous directions. On accuracy, Puchala draws a distinction that often gets lost. A verified citation is not the same as a correct analysis. Within a grounded legal AI platform, hallucinations are rare, he explains — but whether the cited authority actually fits the facts at hand is still a judgment call that belongs to the lawyer. The conversation also gets into agentic AI — what it means beyond the buzzword. "With agentic AI, you can give it more of an objective, and it can work through the multiple steps towards that objective rather than have you direct its every move," Puchala says. And in procurement, law firms that are still evaluating legal AI tools sequentially are already behind. "By the time you're looking at that second, third competitor, the first one's already moved several generations ahead." Puchala's path to LexisNexis ran through pharmacology, strategy consulting at Bain & Company, and 16 years as a partner at Satov Consultants — an unusual background for a legal tech executive, and one that shapes how he thinks about what lawyers actually need from software. Puchala will take part in a panel on getting reliable results from legal AI — covering prompts, workflows, and emerging agents — at the Canadian Legal Summit on October 14 at The Carlu in Toronto. Register now: https://events.canadianlawyermag.com/canadian-legal-summit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=editorial_article&utm_campaign=CLS2026&utm_content=awareness&utm_term=asset01

Law firms spend a lot of time writing about their culture. Laura Williams has spent more than 30 years watching what they actually do – and the gap between the two is where most of the damage happens. Williams is the managing partner of Williams HR Law LLP and CEO of Williams HR Consulting Inc. She has advised organizations across industries on HR law, workplace investigations, and culture recovery for over three decades. In this episode, she sits down with Canadian Lawyer Managing Editor Tim Wilbur to discuss the specific pressures law firms face, why high-revenue partners who bully their teams so often go unchallenged, what inclusive leadership actually looks like on a busy file, and the one habit she says is quietly eroding culture at firms across the country. Williams will take part in the closing fireside chat on building competitive advantage through leadership and culture at the Canadian Legal Summit on October 14 at The Carlu in Toronto. Register now: https://events.canadianlawyermag.com/canadian-legal-summit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=editorial_article&utm_campaign=CLS2026&utm_content=awareness&utm_term=asset01

Correctional negligence is one of the most consequential and underexplored areas of Canadian personal injury law. As scrutiny of the country's correctional system intensifies, driven by rising deaths in custody, inadequate medical care, the expanded use of solitary confinement, and a growing number of coroner's inquests, the legal obligations governments owe to incarcerated individuals have never been more relevant to Canadian lawyers. This is not a niche practice area: it sits at the intersection of constitutional rights, government accountability, and the fundamental standards of safety and human dignity that Canadians expect from their public institutions. In this episode of CL Talk, Joel Dick, a Partner at Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP in Toronto and a certified specialist in civil litigation recognized by the Law Society of Ontario, offers a thorough examination of how correctional negligence claims are built and litigated in Canada. Drawing on his experience representing individuals harmed while incarcerated, Dick explores the evidentiary challenges unique to this area of law, the legal duties the Crown owes to people in its custody, and how systemic failures translate into viable negligence claims. He also examines how coroner's inquests contribute to institutional accountability, what reforms would make the greatest difference inside correctional facilities, and why every Canadian lawyer, regardless of practice area, should care about this evolving field. Key Takeaways • How correctional negligence differs from conventional personal injury litigation, and the specific legal duties the government owes to incarcerated individuals • How these cases are investigated, built, and argued, including the evidentiary complexities that make them uniquely challenging • The systemic failures most commonly giving rise to correctional negligence claims in Canada today • What rising deaths in custody and coroner's inquests reveal about accountability gaps within the correctional system • What Canadian lawyers need to know if they are considering this area of practice, and why it matters far beyond prison walls Tune in now and gain a deeper understanding of correctional negligence, and what it means for the Canadians who need the law to work for them most.

In this episode of CL Talk, Canadian Lawyer managing editor Tim Wilbur speaks with Clarke Barnes, Fasken's firm managing partner, and Andrea Alliston, who leads the firm's knowledge and practice innovation programs, about an AI strategy that predates the firm's July 2026 announcement of a firmwide Legora partnership by more than a year. Barnes and Alliston discuss Fasken's joint innovation program with Walter AI — acquired by Legora in March 2026 — how that work began in the firm's emerging technology and venture capital practice, what agentic AI changes about legal workflows compared to earlier tools, why bilingualism was the deciding factor in the platform evaluation, and how the firm is managing adoption through lawyer secondments and dedicated AI engagement roles. They also address how client expectations have shifted in under two years, and where agentic AI may take legal service delivery next. Andrea Alliston will appear on a panel titled "How Law Firms Are Re-Engineering Legal Delivery" at the Canadian Legal Summit in October. Visit us here for more information on the summit: https://events.canadianlawyermag.com/canadian-legal-summit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=editorial_article&utm_campaign=CLS2026&utm_content=awareness&utm_term=asset01.

In this episode of CL Talk, Canadian Lawyer managing editor Tim Wilbur speaks with Mesha Donaldson, founder and managing partner of Tandem Law P.C., a family law, real estate, and wills and estates firm in Pickering, Ontario. Called to the Ontario bar in 2011 after graduating from the University of Windsor, Donaldson made partner at her previous firm within three years, then launched Tandem in 2016 and got it fully operational in less than 24 hours. In this conversation, Donaldson talks candidly about how she has built and leads a team in a small firm environment: hiring deliberately for personality and culture fit ahead of credentials, researching the market to pay competitively despite operating one GO Train stop from Bay Street, tying team bonuses to firm performance, and holding a firm line on no after-hours or weekend client emails to protect the team's mental health. She also shares why she remains skeptical that AI will replace a good clerk or lawyer, and what she would tell any lawyer considering going solo. Donaldson will bring these perspectives to the panel "From Hiring to High Performance: Rethinking Legal Talent Strategy" at Canadian Lawyer's Canadian Legal Summit on October 14 at The Carlu in Toronto. Register now: https://events.canadianlawyermag.com/canadian-legal-summit

In this episode of CL Talk, Tim Wilbur speaks with Kurt Schlachter, chief executive officer of Stringam Law, about succession planning at small and medium law firms — why it is universally discussed and rarely done well, and what it actually takes to get it right. Schlachter draws on his experience running one of Western Canada's largest regional firms to walk through the mechanics that most leaders avoid: how to transfer client relationships without losing them, why governance failures tend to surface long before anyone is thinking about succession, and what a compensation structure that holds together through a transition actually looks like. He also describes the tiered partnership model Stringam introduced in 2023 — and why he deliberately built it so income partners have real skin in the game rather than just a title. The conversation covers the full arc of succession planning, from the first hard conversations with junior lawyers about thinking like owners, to the advice Schlachter gives to firm leaders considering a sale or merger: start early, or there may not be much to sell. Schlachter is speaking on this topic at the Canadian Legal Summit in Toronto on October 14. Details and registration at https://events.canadianlawyermag.com/canadian-legal-summit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=editorial_article&utm_campaign=CLS2026&utm_content=awareness&utm_term=asset01

A single litigation file or regulatory investigation can now surface more data than any team could read in a lifetime, and the temptation is to let AI sort it out. On this episode of CL Talk, Canadian Lawyer managing editor Tim Wilbur speaks with Tiana Van Dyk, managing director of Epiq Canada, about using these tools well without handing over judgment. Van Dyk, who has spent nearly two decades in e-discovery, is blunt that when AI disappoints, the fault usually lies with the user rather than the tool. She explains where generative AI is genuinely delivering in document review, why fluent, human-sounding output tempts lawyers into overconfidence, and why keeping a human in the loop is non-negotiable. She also traces the shift from vendor-as-provider to embedded partner, and makes the case that more affordable tools could widen access to justice for smaller firms. Van Dyk expands on these themes as a panellist at the Canadian Legal Summit in Toronto this October, where she joins a session on how far lawyers can treat AI as a genuine legal partner. For more information on the Canadian Legal Summit, visit our website: https://events.canadianlawyermag.com/canadian-legal-summit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=editorial_article&utm_campaign=CLS2026&utm_content=awareness&utm_term=asset01

What should law firms be hiring for in an era when AI can handle the work that once defined a junior associate's first years? In this episode of CL Talk, Tim Wilbur sits down with Luca Citton, president of Boughton Law in Vancouver and board chair of Meritas, and Marti Phillips, who leads the legal technology program at the global firm network, to explore how legal talent strategy needs to change – and why most firms are still behind. Citton introduces the concept of "lawyer fluidity" – a lawyer's ability to move between legal work, business, technology, and client relationships – and explains why Boughton Law has already shifted its recruitment criteria and rebuilt its mentorship program around it. He also reflects on what law schools are still failing to teach, and shares the moment a ChatGPT demonstration at a Meritas annual meeting changed how he thought about hiring entirely. Phillips brings a global view from her work across Meritas member firms, offering a frank assessment of where the profession stands and what the firms actually getting this right have in common. Her advice to managing partners who feel overwhelmed: start by taking a breath.

What does it take to govern AI responsibly inside a global technology company? In this episode, Sahil Razdan, senior legal counsel at Samsung Electronics Canada and chair of the board of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB Canada) AI and Emerging Technology Committee, traces an unplanned path into privacy and technology law and explains why the privacy infrastructure a company already has is, in his view, the foundation for managing AI. He talks through the legal side of Samsung's ad tech business, the role of consent and privacy by design, how IAB Canada is setting industry standards as AI accelerates, and why human oversight still matters in legal work.

A single litigation file, regulatory audit or breach response can now arrive as a mountain of emails, documents and transcripts. On this episode of CLTalk, Canadian Lawyer managing editor Tim Wilbur speaks with Lindsay Duprey, president of Array Canada, about how legal teams can dig out without sacrificing defensibility or judgment. Duprey, who has led the e-discovery and litigation support firm in Canada since January 2025, breaks down the two forces reshaping the market at once: the rapid shift of AI from conversation to execution, and the competing demand for both speed and predictability. She explains where AI is delivering real value in document review today, why "the human in the loop" remains essential, and how data sovereignty has moved from a question of where data lives to who controls it. She also makes the case that the real challenge with legal technology isn't buying it, but embedding it into how an organization actually works. Duprey expands on these themes as a panelist at the Canadian Legal Summit in Toronto this October, where she joins the session on turning overwhelming volumes of evidence into legal strategy. For more information on the Canadian Legal Summit, visit our website: https://events.canadianlawyermag.com/canadian-legal-summit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=editorial_article&utm_campaign=CLS2026&utm_content=awareness&utm_term=asset01

What does a litigation boutique have that a national firm doesn't? In this episode of CL Talk, Speigel Nichols Fox LLP partner Allison Speigel sits down with host Tim Wilbur to argue that the answer lies in speed, aligned incentives, and candour with clients – not scale. Ahead of her panel at the Canadian Legal Summit, the two get into the billing model she built, why flat fees are trickier in litigation than people assume, and where firms of every size still lose people's trust. For more information on the Canadian Legal Summit, visit our website: https://events.canadianlawyermag.com/canadian-legal-summit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=editorial_article&utm_campaign=CLS2026&utm_content=awareness&utm_term=asset01

Small and mid-size firms head into 2026 with one advantage their larger competitors can't easily match — the speed to adopt technology, keep what works, and drop what doesn't. In this episode, Tim Wilbur, managing editor of Canadian Lawyer, talks with Erin Cowling, CEO and founder of Flex Legal Network and a former Bay Street litigator, about what's actually changing for small firms and what just looks like noise. Cowling explains how she built a freelance practice into a network of more than 80 lawyers, paralegals, and law clerks, and why she thinks the firms that are pulling ahead treat their practices as businesses first. The conversation covers clients running their invoices through AI to test whether a bill is fair, the wide split between firms that go all-in on AI and those that refuse to touch it, and the "shiny object syndrome" that leads firms to overspend on tools they barely use. Cowling also pushes back on the idea that freelance counsel are junior help and describes the emerging bottleneck: as associates move faster with AI, senior review still can't be automated. Cowling will appear on the panel, "Running a Small Firm in 2026: What's Changing — and What Actually Matters," at the Canadian Legal Summit this October in Toronto. Register here for the Canadian Legal Summit: https://events.canadianlawyermag.com/canadian-legal-summit?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=editorial_article&utm_campaign=CLS2026&utm_content=awareness&utm_term=asset01