Episode Details

What would justice look like if legal help were abundant rather than scarce? In this episode, Armin Alimardani and Mark Bennett speak with Professor Benjamin Alarie, Osler Chair in Business Law at the University of Toronto and co-author of Superjustice: Law in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Ben presents a provocative vision of AI-enabled justice that could make legal guidance and dispute resolution more accessible, personalised and responsive - not only to legal rights and material outcomes, but also to whether people feel heard and respected. The conversation explores what superjustice would look like, whether machines can exhibit empathy or support the exercise of discretion, why human values must be built into AI systems through “algorithmic constitutionalism”, and what might happen when legal AI becomes difficult for an individual lawyer or judge to confidently override. It also examines the future of lawyers and legal education: the enduring value of critical thinking, multidisciplinarity, intellectual and social maturity, and learning to work with powerful AI tools while retaining human responsibility for the institutions, values and guardrails that shape justice.

Guest

Benjamin Alarie is Professor of Law and Osler Chair in Business Law at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. His research lies at the intersection of tax law, artificial intelligence, legal theory and judicial decision-making. He is also CEO and co-founder of Blue J, a University of Toronto spinout founded in 2015 that applies artificial intelligence to tax research.

Guest links

University of Toronto institutional profile:

https://jackmanlaw.utoronto.ca/people/benjamin-alarie

SSRN author page:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=384494

LinkedIn profile:

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/aitaxman

Personal website:

https://www.benjaminalarie.com/

The book

Superjustice: Law in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, by Samuel I. Becher and Benjamin Alarie:

https://superjustice.com/

Open-access introduction on SSRN:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6552638

Published by Oxford University Press on 30 July 2026, Superjustice argues that AI will transform law but will not automatically produce justice. The book examines how legal systems might be redesigned to make justice more abundant, accessible and responsive while protecting human flourishing, procedural legitimacy and institutional accountability.

Blue J

About Blue J:

https://www.bluej.com/about-us

Blue J Academic Access Programme:

https://www.bluej.com/academic-access

Blue J is an AI-powered tax research platform serving practitioners in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Its Academic Access Programme provides eligible faculty at accredited institutions in those countries with complimentary access for teaching and academic research.