We’ve assembled some of Canada’s top legal minds… to give you book recommendations for the holidays.

Why can’t lawyers and judges just say what they mean? Karen Jacques and Paul Aterman argue that complicated legalese impedes access to justice and diminishes trust in the justice system.

According to Premier François Legault, his government’s new proposed provincial constitution is a landmark document that will “affirm Quebec’s distinct national character.” But many commentators view it as a threat to Quebecers’ rights. The CBA-Quebec’s Alexandre Forest and Montreal law professor Stéphane Beaulac explain why – and what they’re doing about it.

Once considered an extreme measure, the Canadian Charter’s notwithstanding clause has been invoked more often lately by provincial governments, and federal politicians have been musing about it too. In this episode, which first aired in January 2025, Marion Sandilands and Geoffrey Sigalet debate the pros and cons.

Is the bar exam the best way of ensuring the readiness of new lawyers? Jennifer Pink of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and legal analyst Jordan Furlong discuss why several provinces and territories have already ditched it, and what they’re replacing it with.

How can we recognize and address threats to the rule of law? And how can lawyers persuade the public that judicial independence is everyone’s concern? UN Special Rapporteur Margaret Satterthwaite has some ideas.

How do we tap the vast potential of artificial intelligence systems without exacerbating biases inherent in the data they train on? According to law professors Dr. Gideon Christian and Jake Effoduh, the answer begins with listening to AI experts from impacted communities.

Criminal lawyers Melanie Webb and Daniel Lerner take on some of the key questions raised by Ottawa’s new bail and sentencing legislation: Do reverse onuses matter? Will the new bill aggravate court delays? And why is stealing from Walmart worse than stealing a stranger’s purse?

Three criminal defence lawyers discuss the obstacles they’ve faced as women in their field, and the community they’ve built to overcome them.

As Canada’s Supreme Court begins its fall session, court watcher Nadia Effendi previews some of the main cases to keep an eye on.

How can Canadian courts reduce delays? According to retired Ontario judge David Brown, it starts with actually understanding the problem, and he has some outside-the-box ideas to make it happen.

To begin the fall season, award-winning journalist Karin Wells discusses her new book about major cases in the history of women’s rights in Canada, their tenacious – and often reluctant – protagonists, and the ongoing relevance of the issues raised.

In this special episode of Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices, political commentator David Frum discusses the evolving state of the Canada-U.S. relationship with host Alison Crawford at a live event jointly presented by the Canadian and American Bar Associations.

In this episode of Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices, historian Constance Backhouse shares the story of the momentous 1997 RDS case and the effect it had on the career of Canada’s first Black female judge, we speak with lawyers who in their spare time do stand-up comedy and run a fantasy court league, and we look at the Safe Third Country Agreement.

In this episode of Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices, two Chief Justices share their experiences incorporating Indigenous cultural and legal practices into proceedings, we hear concerns from the legal community about the Federal government's proposed new Strong Borders Act, or Bill C-2, and we take a look at the landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision on publication bans, Dagenais v CBC.

In this episode of Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices, we examine a troubling trademark scam targeting clients of Canadian patent lawyers, we discuss a recent case of AI hallucinations in documents submitted to the Ontario Superior Court, and we take a look at the 1998 Supreme Court of Canada’s Reference on Secession.

In this episode of Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices, we welcome the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario Geoffrey Morawetz for a conversation about the Civil Rules Review, we talk about the current realities of traveling south of the border and we take a look at landmark immigration cases at the Supreme Court of Canada.

In this special election edition of Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices, we take a closer look at the federal parties’ criminal justice platforms, former attorneys general Anne McLellan and Peter MacKay talk about major legal issues that have been missing from the political debate during the campaign and CBA President Lynne Vicars talks about the association’s priorities for this campaign.

In this episode of Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices, we evaluate the current state of the international rule of law, especially as the United States re-thinks its relationship to global institutions and legal principles, we have an interesting discussion about tax reform, and we take a look at landmark Supreme Court decisions on access to abortion.

In this episode of Modern Law: Verdicts and Voices, we welcome Federal Court Chief Justice Paul Crampton who explains how virtually no one is declaring the use of AI in their filings; we take a look at the recent Supreme Court hearing into the proposed new tort of family violence; and we dive into R v. Drybones, the first case the Supreme Court decided under the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights.