A Law Society motions panel has done something most AI commentary in law does not: it explained the mechanism of failure, not just the symptoms. A large language model cannot verify its own output, does not know the limits of its knowledge, and does not know when it is inventing something. The costs were $31,150.
Criminal defense lawyer accepted an informal retainer where communication with a client depended entirely on third parties he could not control. When one link broke four days before trial, everything unravelled. The communication chain was the problem. The adjournment was just the symptom.
Veronica Moye was the only licensed immigration consultant in a commercial operation that spanned Dubai, India, and Vancouver. She signed the retainer agreements. She was the authorized representative on every file. And she did essentially none of the work. When five clients complained to the CICC, her explanation was that she had too many files to supervise personally. The Panel's response was permanent revocation. Delegation is not a defence. It never was.
The Ontario Court of Appeal has clarified what the good character requirement actually demands of licensing panels. Working through the standard Armstrong factors: remorse, rehabilitation, passage of time is not enough. Panels must step back and ask the harder question: would granting this licence be consistent with public trust in the legal profession? In Law Society of Ontario v AA, the Tribunal failed to ask that question. The Court of Appeal set the decision aside.
Regulators across professions say that members are expected to maintain professional standards in both their professional and personal lives. What matters is not where you posted or whether you were acting in your professional capacity at the time, but whether the conduct would reasonably be regarded as reflecting on your fitness to hold a licence. A personal account on a public platform is still public, and in the age of real names, profile bios, and professional identifiers, the connection to your profession is easy to make.