After well over a decade of ceasing to formally learn and teach the practice of piano, I recently started playing again for my mental health and enjoyment. I decided to focus on the works of probably my favorite composer of all time, Frédéric Chopin, and took on the challenge of learning his first Ballade in G minor. After months of using my free time to learn the score and technique, I’ve come to a level of proficiency where I can play the entire piece from start to finish. Even with the passage of over a decade, I still recall perfectly many, if not most, aspects of piano performance because I once dedicated so much of my life to that training. There is a semi-climactic passage

Last week, I closed three full real estate transactions (purchase/sale) without leaving home, and I did not hire a “runner” or any third-party to go to a bank for me. (I almost closed two more refinances, but both were delayed for reasons unrelated to me.) After the sales, I ensured my clients received their funds the same business day, or the next one.  I was able to close my transactions so efficiently because my bank account manager, after observing the volume of my real estate transactions, some time ago, more or less forced me to learn how to use the bank’s business platform, from where I now prefer to send transfers. At first, I was put off by the slightly higher cost — albeit an

Recently, I was retained for a subsidiary matter involving the provision of a payout statement to a client’s borrower to authorize the discharge of a mortgage on title to a property in Windsor, Ontario. Prior to my retention, the client forwarded me an email thread in which the borrower’s lawyer was seen pressuring them to “immediately” provide this payout statement. Specifically, this lawyer stated, “…You are required under the Mortgages Act [sic] to provide the payout statement immediately. You can charge whatever penalty you need, but a two-month delay on your end may result in legal consequences to you as this delay would be highly prejudicial to my client. Please provide a statement as soon as possible.” Upon reading this, I immediately undertook to review

Society is facing a paradigm shift with the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI), being effected by technologies like Large Language Models (LLMs), a type of AI trained on vast text data specifically to understand and generate human-like language. As AI invariably integrates into the legal profession, it presents both opportunities and challenges within the ethical framework established by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO). While discussions often focus on the risks inherent in using AI, and numerous practitioners vocalize opinions against it, I believe in the foreseeable future, AI will become as ubiquitous as email and the Internet. Indeed, we are standing on the precipice of another technological shift comparable to the one in around 1998.  The question will soon become, could a lawyer’s failure

My practice is built upon foundational principles of honesty,  transparency, and efficiency in serving my real estate clients in Windsor and Ontario. I believe that delivering quality legal service should not entail opaque billing or inflated fees.  Achieving this balance is significantly enabled by my strategic implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into my work. However, my approach to practice is not yet the universal standard within the legal profession, particularly in real estate law. Consequently, when engaging other legal services for real estate transactions, clients should exercise caution in reviewing the final “Statement of Account” provided post-closing. This document, often generated via standard industry software, details the transaction’s financial components, including professional fees and “disbursements”. A disbursement is a cost that a law firm pays

Artificial intelligence is steadily integrating into the legal sector, offering potential efficiencies in areas such as document review, legal research, and predictive analytics for case outcomes. However, the deployment of AI in law frequently encounters skepticism, often highlighted by anecdotes of its errors — misinterpretations of legal clauses, citation of non-existent precedents, or flawed legal suggestions. These incidents are scrutinized and sometimes used to argue against AI’s suitability for the complexities of the legal field. Such criticisms possess a degree of validity. AI systems can and do make errors, occasionally significant ones. As with any emerging technology applied to intricate domains like law, imperfections are expected. However, the disproportionate focus on AI’s fallibility often obscures that human error is pervasive within the legal profession and