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On Putting Clients First

A few days ago, Paul Clement, one of the United States' most prominent Supreme Court advocates, left his firm. He'd just prevailed in a significant gun rights case, and his firm had just announced it would no longer represent clients in such cases. Anyone who knows Clement and his practice knew it was only a matter of days. Clement had left another large law firm, King & Spalding, in 2011 when the firm withdrew from defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (a law that defined marriage as between partners of opposite sexes). Here's why I would have done the same thing. It has nothing to do with guns, unpopular clients, or law firm politics.  According to American Lawyer, Clement's law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, is the largest law firm in the world by revenue, and the third most profitable. Its equity partners each made $6,194,000 last year. Clement served in a Republican administration, and he often represents clients whose interests align with
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What Just Happened in the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States just issued a very significant decision. Lots of people are saying lots of things about it. As usual, these range from informative to worryingly incorrect. This is my attempt to simplify what just happened (and what did not), and to give a few pointers on how other lawyers might see the decision.  I must preface this discussion by noting that I am beyond thrilled to see everyday people make the effort to read and engage with a  Supreme Court  decision. I encourage you to read the decision in its entirety. The Justices made an effort (as they now generally do) to use accessible and clear language. We should all be able to understand  Supreme Court  decisions, and you probably will. First, here's what the Supreme Court did not do. It did not outlaw abortion because it can't. Women will still be able to get an abortion, somewhere, sometime (more on that later). In 1973, the Supreme Court had issued another decision, Roe v Wade. You've sur

Should Religions Hoard Their Cash?

People seem to be outraged that religions hoard their cash. While this is in no way a recent phenomenon, the outrage is. The bottom line is that some religious organisations are very, very rich  –  and have been for a very long time.  The Catholic Church, at the helm of the most popular organised religion on Earth, settled sexual assault cases for billions (with a  b ) of dollars. Scientology is estimated to own between one and three billion dollars (net) worth of property. We recently learned that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (known, to its dismay, as the Mormon Church) owns an investment portfolio worth 100 billion dollars. The Church only has some 16 million members. It also takes in some 7 billion dollars each year. (The Church mandates tithing of 10% of its members' gross income.) Recently, some have made that argument that churches should not benefit from a tax exemption if they hoard their cash.  It is true that churches are tax exempt. Their members

Nicholas Kasirer Appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada

As a McGill Law alumn (LL.B./B.C.L. '18), I was pleased to hear that Nicholas Kasirer was nominated to the Supreme Court of Canada.  Justice Kasirer follows in a long line of McGill Law alumni who have dedicated significant portions of their careers to public service. He joins other exceptional leaders such as current Minister of Justice David Lametti ( LL.B./B.C.L. '89) and current Minister of the Environment Catherine McKenna  ( LL.B./B.C.L. '99). Justice Kasirer  graduated from the Faculty ( LL.B./B.C.L. '85) and served as a professor for over a decade. He was later nominated Dean of the Faculty, a position which he occupied for six years. Following his deanship,  Justice Kasirer was nominated to the Quebec Court of Appeal.  Justice Kasirer is an exceptional scholar and teacher. He is thoughtful and humble - as thoroughly reflected in his  judicial questionnaire . I have no doubt that he will, in his new role, further contribute to the developmen