The Yunusov Question
In progress

Lessons from the guests

A book about what the show's guests have said about practising law well.

The idea

Since 2020, 93 guests have talked with Pulat about their lives, their work and their cases: mostly lawyers and judges, and also law professors, a psychotherapist, a designer and others whose work touches the law. Between them they have said a great deal about how to practise law well. The book gathers those lessons, each in the guest's own words and traced to the conversation it came from.

How readers help

  1. Open an episode that has a transcript.
  2. Press the number beside a paragraph that stays with you. It turns red: that is your mark. Press it again to take it back.
  3. Marks are anonymous and counted, nothing more. The passages readers mark most help decide what goes into the book. Marks are a gift: they give no rights in the book (see the terms).

Transcripts so far

The transcripts are machine-made and checked by AI. These 99 are ready:

  1. 99Noel Semple57:23Oct 2026The Civil Rules Review, judicial independence, and civil jury trialsTranscript
  2. 98Justice Todd Archibald38:52Mar 20261,500 mediations, 22 years as a judge and persuasive mediation briefsTranscript
  3. 97Caroline Mandell47:24Dec 2025Executive Function, Focus, and Performing Better as a LawyerTranscript
  4. 96Justice David Brown1:01:06Nov 2025The Charter, judicial accountability and civil justice reformTranscript
  5. 95Sujit Choudhry57:48Jul 2025Charter litigation, polarization, and notwithstanding clauseTranscript
  6. 94Kannon Shanmugam45:05Jun 2025SCOTUS, DOJ, Antonin Scalia, Ken Starr, and changing meanings of wordsTranscript
  7. 93Walied Soliman48:00Jan 2025Global law firms, corporate lawyers, special situations, and the Middle EastTranscript
  8. 92Annamaria Enenajor50:28Dec 2024Intelligence, the ideals of criminal law practice, and fighting crimeTranscript
  9. 91Ken McEwan, K.C.39:44Oct 2024The Rogers case, litigating on the West coast, and Ontario's influence on BCTranscript
  10. 90Justice Mew55:42Sep 2024Being from England, hearing civil and criminal cases, limitation periods, and emotionTranscript
  11. 89Justin Safayeni57:09Jul 2024Stockwoods, admin law, defending journalists, and growth as a litigatorTranscript
  12. 88Peter Cho55:37May 2024Civil juries and trialsTranscript
  13. 87Michael Geist48:16Apr 2024Intellectual property, digital policy, AI, and law studentsTranscript
  14. 86Geoff Hall45:41Mar 2024Contractual interpretation, standards v. bright lines, and a $5 billion trialTranscript
  15. 85Barry Weintraub1:05:57Feb 2024Mental toughness, civility, judges, law firms, and the formula of successTranscript
  16. 84Ewa Krajewska47:45Jan 2024The Emergencies Act challenge, cabinet confidences, frozen accounts, and the appealTranscript
  17. 83Nelson Rosario59:02Jan 2024What cryptocurrency and AI will do to the financial systemTranscript
  18. 82Kathryn Marshall45:05Dec 2023Canadian politics, fighting, high-profile cases, and the court of public opinionTranscript
  19. 81Gillian Hnatiw56:30Nov 2023Sexual misconduct law, switching firms, building her own firm, and hiring juniorsTranscript
  20. 80Adam Goldenberg52:24Sep 2023Empathy in litigation, working in Canada after Yale Law, and public policyTranscript
  21. 79Jordan Goldblatt49:00Jun 2023Slytherin litigators, his litigation playbook, boutiques, and defending lawyersTranscript
  22. 78Joe Groia59:00May 2023The Bre-X case, civility and incivility, Law Society, and control of the narrativeTranscript
  23. 77Beverley McLachlin56:24Apr 2023Her name, Court of Appeal judges, deciding Charter cases, and Hong KongTranscript
  24. 76Dominique Hussey57:22Apr 2023Big Law governance, equity partners, being Black, and the future of women in lawTranscript
  25. 75Valarie Matthews49:54Mar 2023Harvard Law, love, and marriage contractsTranscript
  26. 74Marie Henein53:49Mar 2023Fame, criminal lawyers, being other, and expanding into civil litigationTranscript
  27. 73Monique Jilesen59:31Feb 2023Running Lenczner Slaght, doubts, her day at work, injunctions and trialsTranscript
  28. 72Sarit Batner1:00:19Feb 2023Math and law, McCarthy Tétrault, medical negligence trials, and empathyTranscript
  29. 71Justice Andrea Himel58:49Feb 2023Family Court Branch, family law, family lawyers, and family court litigationTranscript
  30. 70Cynthia Kuehl50:56Jan 2023Law firm strategy, the life of a litigation file, and what men can learn from womenTranscript
  31. 69George Strathy49:30Jan 2023Appellate advocacy, mental health of the profession, and the good old daysTranscript
  32. 68ACJO Michal Fairburn53:02Dec 2022How the Court of Appeal works, appellate lawyers, leadership, and changeTranscript
  33. 67Harpreet Saini50:13Nov 2022The criminal lawyer's mindset, murder trials, complex issues of fact, and juriesTranscript
  34. 66Earl Cherniak48:22Nov 2022His famous cases, longevity in law, and on Lerners LLPTranscript
  35. 65Justice Paul Perell57:16Sep 2022Class actions, judicial rotations, and the limits of legal researchTranscript
  36. 64Trish Callon53:19Aug 2022Sun Life, growing in-house, her day-to-day as a GC, and the future of insuranceTranscript
  37. 63Ewa Krajewska49:18Jul 2022Public and constitutional practice, hiring lawyers, and why she joined HHLLPTranscript
  38. 62Jason Gottlieb53:48Jul 2022Litigating in New York and differences between US and Canadian court proceedingsTranscript
  39. 61Jonathan Lisus39:09Jul 2022Litigation boutiques, nation-state clients, self-reps, referrals, commercial listTranscript
  40. 60Bhuvana Rai47:13Jun 2022Clerking at the Tax Court, litigating against the CRA, and starting her own firmTranscript
  41. 59Sana Halwani49:42Jun 2022Lenczner Slaght, patent trials, and reputation of lawyersTranscript
  42. 58Justice Jasmine Akbarali53:05May 2022The situation in the Superior Court, lawyers, Caselines, and moreTranscript
  43. 57Peter Henein47:48Apr 2022Comedy and litigation, making partner at Cassels, his last name, and his ambitionsTranscript
  44. 56Michael Lubetsky49:31Apr 2022Davies, tax litigation, and his unusual path to lawTranscript
  45. 55Justice David Stratas1:02:34Apr 2022Vavilov, cooperation between judges, and the federal courtsTranscript
  46. 54Pulat Yunusov and Alyssa Tomkins1:24:24Mar 2022Freezing crypto, possessing money, and Indexed Finance, part 2Transcript
  47. 53Pulat Yunusov and Alyssa Tomkins42:23Mar 2022Public and private keys, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and mining, part 1Transcript
  48. 52Danielle Robitaille50:11Mar 2022Henein Hutchison LLP, the love of her life, and the future of criminal lawTranscript
  49. 51AG Doug Downey42:31Mar 2022The pandemic effect on the justice system, current status and plans for the futureTranscript
  50. 50Suzanne Chiodo52:30Feb 2022Legal academia, what academics do for lawyers, and love for civil procedureTranscript
  51. 49Caroline Mandell47:34Feb 2022Lessons from the ONCA, common written advocacy mistakes, and our brainTranscript
  52. 48Marlon Hylton43:14Feb 2022Jamaicans, achievement in law, electronic records, and the future of e-discoveryTranscript
  53. 47Barry Glaspell49:11Jan 2022Class action defence, counsel fees, and the class action regime in OntarioTranscript
  54. 46Ed Waitzer37:44Jan 2022Corporate lawyers and litigators, oppression remedy, and the future of corporate lawTranscript
  55. 45Justice Fred Myers47:28Dec 2021Becoming a judge, lawyer competency, electronic trials, and changes to comeTranscript
  56. 44Julia Hanigsberg37:44Nov 2021Life-long exploration, defining success, and being a lawyer in times of changeTranscript
  57. 43Andrew Monkhouse50:01Oct 2021Building a top growing employment law firm in CanadaTranscript
  58. 42Justice Lorne Sossin41:18Oct 2021His origin story, what surprised him at ONCA, and the 80/20 ruleTranscript
  59. 41Evan Thomas44:42Sep 2021Wealthsimple Crypto, why lawyers go into blockchain, and the future of blockchain lawTranscript
  60. 40Bob Tarantino45:57Aug 2021Entertainment law, why clients go to big firms and what LSO will be like in 20 yearsTranscript
  61. 39Doron Gold54:00Aug 2021Emotional challenges, seeking help, becoming a happy lawyer and defining achievementTranscript
  62. 38Justin Nasseri48:26Jul 2021McCarthy's, his law school strategy, litigation excellence, and getting clientsTranscript
  63. 37Suzan Fraser55:04Jul 2021Mental health, coroner's inquests, funding social justice, and humanizing clientsTranscript
  64. 36Erin Durant37:53Jun 2021Leaving BLG, her own firm near Ottawa, civil trials, and a subscription planTranscript
  65. 35Chris Bentley and Colin Stevenson40:01Apr 2021Access to justice, Zoom in courts, and the regulatory sandboxTranscript
  66. 34Peter Carayiannis52:51Apr 2021Conduit Law, fractional general counsel, the billable hour, and a watch companyTranscript
  67. 33Pulat Yunusov34:20Apr 2021Osgoode, a minimum viable practice, a paperless office, and preventing emergenciesTranscript
  68. 32Ranjan Agarwal42:30Mar 2021Bennett Jones, public law litigation, litigation funding, the OBA, and diversityTranscript
  69. 31Neha Chugh35:01Mar 2021Starting a practice in Cornwall, hiring, cash flow, Legal Aid, and access to justiceTranscript
  70. 30Juda Strawczynski56:40Mar 2021Clerking at the Federal Court, Law Society policy, LawPRO, and legal techTranscript
  71. 29Andrea Sanche29:54Feb 2021Winnipeg, her LLM, investor liability, and the Advocates' Society 10+ CommitteeTranscript
  72. 28Erin O'Rourke40:53Feb 2021Ridley College, her own practice in St. Catharines, and employment lawTranscript
  73. 27Shaneka Shaw Taylor23:16Feb 2021Jamaica, municipal liability, and real estate agents' standard of careTranscript
  74. 26Andrew Bernstein48:14Jan 2021Preferring Toronto to NYC, exceptional litigators, U of T, and clerking at SCCTranscript
  75. 25Maureen Whelton34:49Jan 2021The ideal litigator, written advocacy, running Stevenson Whelton, and hiringTranscript
  76. 24Chantelle Cseh27:14Dec 2020Class action defence at Davies, the Ontario amendments, resilience, and technologyTranscript
  77. 23Darin Thompson53:43Dec 2020Designing legal systems for users, the Solution Explorer, and expert systemsTranscript
  78. 22Ren Bucholz34:21Nov 2020Journalism, treaty work in Geneva, clerking at the Court of Appeal, and defamationTranscript
  79. 21Gary Kalaci40:15Nov 2020Seven languages, Alexa Translations, machine translation, and CanLII headnotesTranscript
  80. 20Shannon Salter49:35Nov 2020The BC Civil Resolution Tribunal, human-centered design, mediation, and oathsTranscript
  81. 19Monica Goyal45:29Oct 2020Engineering and law, My Legal Briefcase, Aluvion, and virtual in-house counselTranscript
  82. 18Caryma Sa'd52:46Oct 2020Lenczner Slaght, her own practice, comics and billboards, and cross-cultural talkTranscript
  83. 17Colin Lachance50:58Oct 2020CanLII's origins, being CEO, legal APIs, and the Legal Innovation Data InstituteTranscript
  84. 16Alyssa Tomkins47:39Oct 2020Clerking at the Supreme Court, litigating in French, and the "justice of the case"Transcript
  85. 15David Sterns28:45Sep 2020The 2020 Bill 161 class actions amendments, predominance, and access to justiceTranscript
  86. 14Ian Hu39:04Sep 2020Money and lawyers, financial independence, contingency fees, and litigation fundingTranscript
  87. 13Anna Malazhavaya31:34Sep 2020CEBA: the application deadline, allowed spending, forgiveness, the guaranteeTranscript
  88. 12Adrienne Zaya33:59Sep 2020Law school in the UK, networking for articling, mentors, and being called in 2020Transcript
  89. 11Michael Lesage42:15Sep 2020Running for bencher, practising in Florida, e-filing, and court delaysTranscript
  90. 10Rakhmad Sobirov35:49Aug 2020The ICC, moving to Canada, building a law firm, and business immigrationTranscript
  91. 9Kayla Cardinal Lafrance38:20Aug 2020Civil and common law, a French legal clinic, and French in tribunalsTranscript
  92. 8Addison Cameron-Huff51:47Aug 2020Crypto law, a lawyer who codes, flat monthly fees, short contractsTranscript
  93. 7Kat Lyadova37:25Aug 2020Design and linguistics, branding law firms, lawyer marketing, and court formsTranscript
  94. 6Omar Ha-Redeye40:32Aug 2020Durham Community Legal Clinic, Legal Aid funding, poverty alleviation, tribunalsTranscript
  95. 5Ian Hu49:47Jul 2020Philosophy and Kierkegaard, EDI, estates litigation, and the Public Guardian and TrusteeTranscript
  96. 4Lawrence Gridin33:24Jul 2020Criminal trials, admissibility of evidence, preliminary inquiries, and automatismTranscript
  97. 3Anna Malazhavaya33:38Jul 20202020 CRA audit trends, risk software, tax evasion, and COVID relief auditsTranscript
  98. 2Neil Wilson28:41Jul 2020Real estate litigation, purchaser defaults, time of the essence, and CPL motionsTranscript
  99. 1Tom McElroy41:41Jun 2020Licensed insolvency trustees, proposals and bankruptcy, receiverships, and CRA debtsTranscript