I was expecting my second child, my son, as yet unnamed, in the summer of 2005, when a (then very) young man named Danann Hawes spotted me giving a talk about the Consent and Capacity Board at (I think) a Law Society of Ontario Conference. At that time Danann worked for LexisNexis – he is now a leader in legal publishing with Emond, and is responsible for important criminal law content in their series.

Danann came up and said “We don’t have a book on this area of law, can you write one?” So I said: “Sure”. And he came back with “The only thing is we’ll need it in about 5-6 weeks at most.”

AND THAT IS HOW MY LEGAL PUBLISHING JOURNEY STARTED!!!

Many months pregnant, I was in a hurry too to finish the first manuscript, as baby was coming in the fall. My then law partner, D’Arcy Hiltz, and I really did crank out an entire book in a month and a half. The work on the first Edition of the Guide to Consent and Capacity Law in Ontario, in 2005, was nothing short of miraculous. The amount of sheer knowledge that both D’Arcy and I had kept in our heads until it all went onto the paper in that moment was quite astounding. Still, to this day, that first submission forms the basis of the last 20 years’ “updates.”

What a beauty this first ever book was – my first book, the first CCB Guide, the first of many adventures to come:

The Covers Changed over time with rotating bright Red, Blue, Green, Orange and Purple on top and Black on Bottom, and each year, D’Arcy and I set to “update” the volume in Feb-April for publication of the annual Guide in August, ready for the next school year. Many law schools and other programs use this book as the required text, something we are very proud about indeed.

“Updating” the Guide takes many months of serious research and writing. Our readers who receive the volume on a standing order, we know appreciate the effort. But it is actually difficult to overstate the heroic effort it is, every single spring. While there may be only a handful of Court of Appeal or even Superior Court appellate reviews of Decisions of the Consent and Capacity Board, there are many thousands of CCB cases heard each year – coming on 10 thousand annually in fact. Not all of those result in Reasons for Decision, nor are they all important. But all have to be reviewed to determine whether they matter. Many will be conflicting lines of “authority” – informal precedent – at the tribunal level. As a result, we end up reading, summarizing and referencing, several hundred new cases every year.

2023 was a nice bright orange!

2024 a bright green!

We realized, almost all of a sudden, that the 2025 Edition, for which updates were due in spring of 2024 just now, would mark 20 years of our work on this special volume. So we wanted it to look and feel different.

These past few months, we set about seriously revamping the book. Old cases, which were referenced by their tribunal file numbers, were properly cited once reported on CanLII – or QuickLaw, depending on the year. We cleaned up older commentary that has since lost its significance. Everything is again current of course to summer 2024 for the print edition coming our way this August. The inside of the book is more user friendly, more current and more helpful.

Then there is the outside of the book. What can I say other than to show you what’s coming??

I couldn’t be more proud of the work D’Arcy and I have done with this series – and our 20 year milestone!

Look for the New Edition coming soon on LexisNexis sales site here:

A Guide to Consent and Capacity Law in Ontario

This 20 Year Edition doesn’t just mark 20 years of weeks and months of research and writing on this volume. It also marks 20 years of my contributions to legal publishing.

I am now the proud Co-Editor and Author of five textbooks on mental health law in Canada.

Last year, 2023, saw three of my textbooks published. The CCB Guide 2024, of course, plus:

A new edition of the Halsbury’s on Mental Health Law

And the Law Student Casebook – Law and Mental Health in Canada: Cases and Materials

In August of 2024, in addition to the beautiful 20th Anniversary Edition of the CCB Guide, my most ambitious publication, the Canadian Anthology on Mental Health and the Law, will make its debut:

I’ve been very fortunate to have the support of LexisNexis Canada for 20 years in my legal publishing adventures. I’ve also enjoyed working with many co-authors, co-Editors and cherished colleagues. Blessed to have the career I have. I hope it inspires young women in the law to pursue what they love.

Photo of D’Arcy and Me from the time just before the First Edition of the CCB Guide