I once had a boss task me with reinventing a litigation procedure that had gone stale. Blowing up the system to find a (hopefully) better way to do something. Every legal nerd’s dream. This pandemic is the bomb that reset the legal system. There’s no going back to the administration we once occupied. How it...Read More

The pandemic has sentenced everyone to an indefinite term of house arrest. Lawyers — especially trial lawyers — fit within one lifestyle extreme or another: Team Sloth; e.g., Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny, mixed with the drinking finesse of Denny Crane from Boston Legal versus Team Crazy; as in, Hollywood divorce queen Laura Dern...Read More

Generally, people don’t sign up to go to jail. Sentencing is not an optional exercise. Society has made peace with the basic punishments of prison life: deprivation of liberty, personal security, goods, privacy. COVID-19 has skipped the line. The virus has added to the list of punishments without going through the proper channels (i.e. the...Read More

Laurelly Dale, 36, is a criminal defence lawyer with Dale Law Professional Corp. in Toronto and Kenora, Ont. In being one-quarter Metis, she has an interest in working with First Nations bands. Ms. Dale is a semi-elite runner using training time to prepare for court and for two more marathons for The Abbott Six Star...Read More

The final report of the Missing Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) national inquiry, published June 3, 2019, evokes mixed feelings. Do I believe that it is a genocide? No. Labelling it as such implies that there is a single villain. They are the forgotten people. Neglected and vulnerable to crimes of violence. I have been a...Read More

Up until this past week Justin Trudeau has been regarded as soft. Dealing with Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott has forced him to begin the growth process into a role his father played well: decisive political leader. The past two months have been rough for Justin. The decision to expel Wilson-Raybould and Philpott is one...Read More

A name change is key step in shedding an identity. Transitioning into a new and exiting life. Marrying the love of your life. Moving to a new country full of opportunities. Transitioning to your true gender. What about changing your name after being released from prison for molesting children? What if you also happen to...Read More

Courtroom civility, though important, must never come at the expense of mounting a vigorous defence, says Toronto criminal lawyer and civil litigator Laurelly Dale. “If you need to make the decision between civility and defending your client, the defence of your client will win because you need to make sure they have a fair trial,” says...Read More

We are loyal to those that retain us. Biologists at the Centre of Forensic Sciences (CFS) are assigned case files to process exhibits submitted to them from the police. These cases are almost always of a serious nature, involving dozens to hundreds of exhibits. What ensues are ongoing teleconferences, meetings and e-mail correspondence between the...Read More

Two reports that address “systemic racism” within the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) should be viewed as a call to action to build trust with Indigenous people, Toronto criminal lawyer Laurelly Dale tells The Lawyer’s Daily. However, Dale, principal of Dale Law Professional Corporation, tells the online publication that she worries that media coverage of these reports could lead to further distrust. “Yes, it’s upsetting that...Read More