Generative AI is already reshaping legal practice, not only through new tools, but through fake cases, misstated authorities, longer AI-generated submissions, and new pressures on courts, tribunals, regulators, lawyers, and law schools. In this episode, Armin Alimardani and Mark Bennett speak with Associate Professor Amy Salyzyn from the University of Ottawa about how AI is appearing in Canadian legal practice and litigation, what courts and regulators are doing in response, and why cost consequences, personal costs orders, discipline, and professional responsibility are now part of the AI conversation. The discussion also turns to legal education: how to teach AI in law school and professional responsibility courses, why students still need to “do the reps” of reading cases, writing, and legal analysis, and how to avoid cognitive deskilling or “cognitive foreclosure”. Amy closes with a practical mindset for lawyers and students navigating this moment: curiosity, confidence, and caution.

Guest

Prof. Amy F. Salyzyn is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, Common Law Section. Her work focuses on legal ethics, lawyer regulation, legal technology, AI in the legal profession, and access to justice. She teaches Torts and upper-year seminars in legal ethics and AI and the legal profession, is a regular legal ethics columnist at Slaw.ca, and co-authors Understanding Lawyers’ Ethics in Canada. (University of Ottawa)

Guest links

University of Ottawa institutional profile: https://www.uottawa.ca/faculty-law/common-law/faculty/salyzyn-amy-f

SSRN author page: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1956286

LinkedIn profile: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/amy-salyzyn-a86264222

Slaw.ca author page: https://www.slaw.ca/author/salyzyn/

Prof Salyzyn’s related work and references

Amy Salyzyn, “AI and Legal Ethics”, in Artificial Intelligence and the Law in Canada: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3733952

Amy Salyzyn and Florian Martin-Bariteau, Legal Ethics in a Digital Context, Canadian Bar Association: https://www.cba.org/getmedia/d68b09a5-d4e6-4393-be6b-7d87e9cd8381/LegalEthicsInaDigitalContext.pdf

Amy Salyzyn, “Deceptive Dynamics of Generative AI: Beyond the ‘First-Year Associate’ Framing”, Slaw.ca, 28 October 2025: https://www.slaw.ca/2025/10/28/deceptive-dynamics-of-generative-ai-beyond-the-first-year-associate-framing/