Firm’s lawyers, acting as instructors, will discuss how artificial intelligence impacts transactions
“AI-Enabled Corporate Practice: Business Law in Action” – a new upper-year course co-developed by McCarthy Tétrault LLP and Western University’s Faculty of Law (Western Law) – will be ready for launch by the 2027 winter term.
According to McCarthy Tétrault’s and Western Law’s announcement, the course will aim to explore how the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into law is altering various aspects of corporate practice, including transactions, governance, regulatory compliance, and legal risk.
The announcement added that the course will seek to examine how lawyers can responsibly and effectively adopt AI tools to assist clients with their corporate matters.
“Artificial intelligence is raising complex legal questions across transactions, regulatory compliance, and disputes,” said Matthew Peters, a partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s technology group and the firm’s national leader of transformation, in a news release.
“Our goal is to ensure that Western Law graduates are equipped not only to understand these technologies, but to structure, govern, and manage the opportunities and risks that accompany them,” added Mohamed Khimji, Western Law dean.
In the new Western Law course, lawyers from McCarthy Tétrault’s business law group will serve as instructors to help students navigate AI-related issues in the context of actual client matters.
According to the firm’s news release, the course will offer insights from those well-versed in innovation. It will also feature seminars, practical exercises, and simulated transactions for students.
The course will be part of Western Law’s AI transactions and governance initiative, geared toward addressing how legal education can better help students advise organizations adopting AI in commercial settings.
“Working with Western Law provides an opportunity to help prepare students for the realities of modern legal practice while contributing to the development of emerging legal frameworks in this area,” Peters said in the firm’s news release.
More on Peters
Matthew Peters was one of Canadian Lawyer’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in 2019.
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory has recognized him as repeatedly recommended in corporate mid-market and technology transactions, as well as consistently recommended in the area of information technology.
The 2025 Lexpert Special Edition on Canada’s Leading Technology Lawyers included Peters as a ranked lawyer. The 2019 Lexpert Zenith Awards also celebrated him as a change agent in law.
According to his Lexpert bio, he is a member of McCarthy Tétrault’s senior leadership team. Based in Vancouver and Toronto, he spearheads the firm’s innovation initiatives, including those pertaining to AI and new lines of business. His responsibility encompasses the firm’s strategy, client service approach, service delivery transformation, and pricing.
As a speaker and presenter at various programs and conferences, Peters has shared ideas with the global legal community on subjects such as the future of the legal profession, legal service re-engineering, and technology within the legal industry.
He earned admission to the British Columbia bar in 1995.
