Simon Wallace is a legal scholar, lawyer, and researcher exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and Canadian refugee law. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Canadian and Indigenous Studies from Trent University, along with a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. Since 2016, he has specialized in immigration and refugee law while also contributing to academia through lectures, course development, and research publications. Currently pursuing his PhD at Osgoode Hall, Simon’s research focuses on using AI to analyze refugee law jurisprudence. His work seeks to uncover patterns in legal decision-making and improve access to legal knowledge through computational methods.
How can artificial intelligence help us understand the law? For Simon Wallace, it’s not about replacing legal expertise – it is about enhancing it. As a lawyer with a background in immigration and refugee law, Simon has spent years recognizing patterns in legal decisions—patterns that are often invisible to scholars, students, and even other practitioners. Now, through his PhD research, he is leveraging AI to categorize and analyze legal decisions at scale.
“I didn’t come to this with a technology background. I came to this with a legal question.”
Simon’s journey into AI wasn’t driven by a passion for technology but by a legal question. He wanted to study legal decisions on a broader scale, but the sheer volume of cases made traditional research methods impractical. This led him to computational tools like machine learning and natural language processing. His work primarily involves using encoder-based AI models, such as BERT, to identify trends in refugee law and judicial review decisions. One of his studies revealed a shift in how courts handle state protection cases, providing valuable insights for lawyers and policymakers alike.
“If you just read the Supreme Court, you would have no notion of what’s happening on the ground anyways.”
Simon emphasizes that AI should be used as a tool for understanding, not a substitute for human judgment. He critiques the legal system’s tendency to focus on standout Supreme Court cases while neglecting the broader patterns of everyday legal rulings. By using AI-driven approaches, he argues, we can gain a more accurate picture of how law is actually practiced.
“Refugee lawyers have likely experienced these trends but are too close to see the big picture.”
Despite his enthusiasm for AI’s potential, Simon also highlights challenges—particularly the lack of open access to legal data in Canada. He advocates for greater transparency and better resources for legal researchers, emphasizing that “no one owns the law” and that legal information should be publicly available.
For those interested in exploring the intersection of law and technology, Simon recommends starting with Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, a beginner-friendly resource for analyzing data. He believes more lawyers need to engage with tech, just as more tech professionals should explore the legal field.
“It’s not as hard as people think.”
Simon’s insights show that AI in law isn’t about automation—it’s about empowerment. By leveraging technology, legal professionals can make more informed decisions, identify systemic issues, and ultimately, better serve those who rely on the law for protection.
tech in law 