In late April, two groundbreaking decisions concerning legal regulators in Canada were announced — one by a court, and one by a law society.

The first decision came from the British Columbia Supreme Court, which ruled that the provincial government’s proposed overhaul of legal regulation in BC was constitutional and could proceed. I thought this was the obvious outcome from the outset, as I wrote here at Slaw two years ago, and I’m very glad to see the issue resolved — for the moment, anyway.

At the heart of BC’s legislative overhaul (and the lawsuit that challenged its . . . [more]

In my last column, I wrote about the hidden economics of law firm student recruitment and the substantial investment firms make in attracting and hiring students. The conclusion was relatively straightforward. Most firms devote enormous attention to recruitment, but the return on that investment is largely determined after students arrive.

That return is shaped through hundreds of small interactions that rarely receive much scrutiny. How work is delegated. How instructions are delivered. How drafts are reviewed. How students learn what is expected of them.

In most firms, these processes are informal and highly variable. That is understandable. Lawyers are . . . [more]

In previous articles, I introduced the RECLAIM model as a cultural operating system for law firms and explored the first three elements: Respect, Equity, and Clarity. This month, I turn to L: Learning.

In February 2014, Satya Nadella stepped into the role of CEO at Microsoft. The company he inherited was dominant but adrift, slowed by internal competition and a sense that it had been left behind by the cloud and mobile shifts. Nadella opened with a bold move.

Microsoft, he said, would go from being a know‑it‑all culture to a learn‑it‑all culture.

That single reframe became the . . . [more]

The legal services sector is in for rough times for the foreseeable future after which we will see a rebirth of legal services entities that bear little resemblance to those operating in the market currently. This is why your firm’s foundational rebuild must happen now.

Law firms are in the midst of grappling with a tsunami of changes within the legal services market that are impacting both practice and business. This is especially true after coming to terms – if we can honestly claim that – with the ravages of the pandemic. I understand that many people would like . . . [more]

I recently watched a documentary called Sensitive. The topic of this article was inspired by its content.

Introduction

Have you ever been told that you are too sensitive? Or that you need to have tough skin in this world and especially in the legal profession?

Or, how about the time when you are feeling sad or may start to cry, someone looks at you in a judgmental way and says, “what’s your problem? No one wants a sensitive person to be their lawyer.”

It seems that many of us have shut down our emotions and decided to hide who we . . . [more]

In my last two articles, I introduced the RECLAIM model as a cultural operating system for law firms, and then explored the first element of the model: Respect.

This month, I turn to the next two elements: Equity and Clarity.

To begin, let me introduce you to Sam.

Sam runs a busy practice. She has a legal assistant whose performance has been inconsistent for years. There are regular typos, misspelled client names, and a lack of attention to detail that means Sam must review everything herself. The opportunities for Sam to delegate are limited, even for simple tasks.

The . . . [more]

For years I’ve been buying the same turkey bites from the grocery store (Canadian made, of course). They’re a high protein, grab-and-go snack. And, for years, I’ve paid about $7.00 for them. During my last visit to the grocery store, those same turkey bites were a whopping $12.99. Reading the sticker price led to an audible gasp while strangers around me nodded in agreement, because without having to say anything, we were all thinking the exact same thing – yes, an 85% price increase is astronomical, but this is our new reality.[1] Just after my shopping experience, I came . . . [more]

A few recent data points about AI and the law, along with one bracing conclusion.

1. At the end of February, American lawyer Zack Shapiro published an article on Linked titled “The Claude-Native Law Firm.” It described how his two-person firm is powered by customized “skills” that capture and encode his legal frameworks and judgment into Anthropic’s Claude AI, enabling Claude to deliver legal outputs rapidly and transferably across the firm. This interview with LawDroid’s Tom Martin relates what Shapiro is doing and why it’s potentially momentous: It suggests that properly and thoroughly instructed general-purpose Gen AI might prove

A few years ago, I was asked to review a law firm’s student recruitment program. The firm had a respected brand, an engaged student committee, and a long history of bringing in summer and articling students.

The assignment seemed straightforward: review the process and suggest ways to strengthen the program.

So, I began by following the time.

There were student committee meetings. Planning sessions with marketing and talent professionals. Law school outreach events and receptions. Resume reviews. Interview preparation. Full days of interviews involving partners, associates, and administrators. Post-interview debriefs. Offer discussions. Candidate follow ups.

By the time the exercise . . . [more]

Tom is the founder of a litigation law firm in Ontario who is now enjoying life beyond the start-up phase of his practice. His firm is running smoothly, powered by a collaborative team of lawyers and support staff and supported by well-integrated technology. It did not start that way. The early years required persistence and experimentation: hiring, training, and retaining the right people, and implementing technology and workflows for efficiencies. Now, he is beginning to enjoy the benefits of those investments.

What explains Tom’s success? How did he get from those early struggles to a firm that runs smoothly and . . . [more]

The coolest thing about being a lawyer is the ability to walk into privileged space. It’s why every immigrant parent wants their child to be a lawyer, why TV shows perennially propagate legal dramas, why politicians hate lawyers and are lawyers, why in the Godfather the biggest flex is having a lawyer-consigliere, and why there are, for lawyers, only two kinds of people: lawyers and non-lawyers.

Most tangibly, a lawyer enters a courthouse by skipping security, a place guarded by metal detectors, police, jails, and judges. Then, upon entering a courtroom, only the lawyer has the presumptive right to pass . . . [more]

Disappearing acts pertaining to people, skills and talents have always happened every few years in the global legal services market as the sector continually refreshes itself. But disappearing has never been more prevalent than it has been of late and will become even more common in months and years to come. Act now.

As mentioned in my previous column, I am well aware that my opinions and perspectives especially over the last few years and more so lately are becoming more fearless and urgent as factors impacting the global legal services market surge with a magnitude of force that demands . . . [more]