Event provides day out of ‘the tunnel’ with the people who understand what you’re up against: Meghan Thomas
For the second year running, Osgoode Professional Development (OsgoodePD) is returning as the Education Partner of the Canadian Legal Summit and the fit is once again a natural one.
The event brings together private practice lawyers, in-house counsel, and legal tech innovators across three focused streams: small and mid-size firms, AI and innovation, and the GC–law firm partnership. OsgoodePD has stakes across the agenda, but for Meghan Thomas, Director, Professional Graduate & International Programs at OsgoodePD, the summit’s greatest strength is what happens when legal professionals step outside their usual silos.
“It gets us out of the tunnel we sometimes find ourselves in when we work in a particular context and shows us that the broader horizon is really helpful,” Thomas says.
The AI question has shifted
In 2025, artificial intelligence (AI) dominated the summit’s opening conversations. In 2026, the question has changed shape. General counsel are no longer asking whether their external firms use AI, but how those efficiencies flow back to clients and whether the billable hour can survive a technology that compresses 10 hours of work into one. Law firm leaders face their own version of the reckoning, as AI reshapes the apprenticeship model and what it means to develop junior talent.
The AI and innovation stream reflects that shift, moving well past the conceptual to the practical: what tools work and where they fall short, and how lawyers should be incorporating them. It’s exactly the kind of challenge OsgoodePD is built to engage alongside the profession.
“We’re all looking to get as much information as possible for ethical reasons, for client service reasons, for the public interest and academia and how it all relates back,” Thomas says.
Learning that goes both ways
The summit brings the full breadth of the profession into one room, across firm sizes, practice settings, and career stages. That kind of cross-section aligns not only with OsgoodePD’s commitment to interdisciplinary, practical, and interactive legal education, but with its diverse community of learners. 
“The idea that career paths can be varied and what that looks like for people going forward resonates with me as someone responsible for a large professional graduate program where many students are looking to change careers or become aware of options during their time with us,” Thomas notes, adding that OsgoodePD's continued involvement as Education Partner reflects its central mission: ongoing learning.
Providing academic programs and continuing legal education courses means staying close to what professionals need today, while keeping an eye on what they’ll need next. That forward orientation is what the summit asks of its attendees, too. For Thomas, the format is as important as the content. She points out it’s not a “one-way, here’s information situation.” Instead, it’s a “let’s talk about this, look and what’s coming, and discuss how things can work practically” approach.
“Having so many people who have knowledge and things to share, together all at once is a real benefit,” she says. “I’m not sure we can do enough in this area. Everyone needs to be thinking about it.”
Canadian Legal Summit takes place on October 14, 2026, at The Carlu in Toronto. Be part of the conversation and prepare for what comes next. Register now.
This article was produced in partnership with Osgoode Professional Development
