As a lawyer setting up a sole practice after many years with a Firm, I have had to read about technology recently. A lot. One topic on which so much has been written is Cloud computing and concerns for Canadian lawyers raised by the PATRIOT Act. A simple search of SLAW alone lists 53 articles touching on this topic.

This is the situation as far as I have been able to cobble it together.

The PATRIOT Act is intended to simplify the US government’s access to business records for intelligence gathering permitting quicker, easier access to otherwise confidential records and . . . [more]

The Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC), which for the purposes of clarification is not the regulator of Nunavut but of Ontario, has just released the Interim Report by the Articling Task Force.

The Task Force has previously been commented on Slaw by Adam Dodek and John O’Sullivan. The five options under review include:

1. Maintaining the status quo

2. Status quo with added quality assurance measures

3. Replace pre-license transition requirement with post-license requirement

4. Allowing students to do a practical legal training course (PLTC) during or after law school

5. Abolishing articling in favour of a PLTC . . . [more]

Recently I spoke at lawTechcamp at the University of Toronto about the future practice of law. The session generated a great deal of discussion with the audience, some of it quite heated – particularly when I raised the question, “Why should we hire students or junior associates?” The point of my question was to force lawyers to question everything we do – not take any process or practice as a given. The players in the legal industry who are able to forget the past and re-invent how legal services are delivered will be wildly successful.

One of the questions from . . . [more]

Altman Weil just released its Altman Weil 2012 Law Firms in Transition Survey. This is the fourth time they have released this survey. While a tad big US law focused, it does clearly show that the bigger firms are waking up to and addressing the profound changes and challenges that are occurring in the practice of big law. A good read for those with a bit of extra time this long (at least here in Ontario!) weekend. . . . [more]

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the need for firms to take a stronger look at risk management – in other words, to see risk management as much more than simply compliance with law society and other regulations. I suspect that many firms do not have a formal risk management role within the firm because they don’t believe there is much risk beyond compliance issues or that the role is not robust enough to warrant a special position within the firm.

Both of these viewpoints are incorrect, so let me bulk-up the risk manager’s role to include innovation to . . . [more]

Toronto will have the first court in Canada which will have a formal policy for the kirpan, a ceremonial dagger worn by observant Sikhs. Other courts in Canada may allow the kirpan, including the Supreme Court of Canada, but do not yet have formal procedures in place.

The arrangement came about through cooperation between The World Sikh Organization of Canada, the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Toronto Police, the Toronto Police Services Board and the Ministry of the Attorney General.

Curtis Rush of the Toronto Star explains,

The policy was developed as a settlement of two separate human rights cases.

♫ I know you’re waiting and you’re so damn nervous
I know you’re hoping that I could explain this
Look in my eyes
I will try and show you…♫

Lyrics, Music and recorded by Rains.

Two different articles hit my desk this morning and I thought they provided a sharp contrast into the divisions within the legal profession and ultimately, the future of the legal profession.

The first was from Kirk Makin writing for the Globe and Mail. His article, “Courts turn to Wired Justice in Push to Cut Costs” contained some interesting quotes. The article is . . . [more]

On Friday online legal services provider LegalZoom filed for a $120m Initial Public Offering. For those unfamiliar with LegalZoom (likely only our Canadian readers, shielded from the ubiquitous LegalZoom advertising in the US), Richard Granat has authored an excellent series of posts on his eLawyering Redux blog.

As with Facebook’s S-1 filing from a few months ago, LegalZoom’s S-1 filing offers up a wealth of information on the company’s progress to date:

• LegalZoom has served approximately two million customers over the last 10 years;
• In 2011 consumers placed 490,000 orders on the site;
• 2011 revenues were $156m, up

At yesterday’s lawTechCamp, Garry Wise, Bob Tarantino, Mitch Kowalski and I hosted a panel session on law, ethics and technology, where we facilitated a discussion on issues ranging from the cloud and confidentiality to the ethics of purchasing Twitter followers. One of the most enthusiastic discussions centered around whether we should have cameras in the courtroom.

Given that the audience was comprised of both lawyers and members of the public, including several media members, the conflicting principles at play over the issue of cameras in the courtroom were carefully teased out.

The call for the cameras emerge from the . . . [more]

A Ministry of Justice press release dated this Monday announced that British Columbia will become the first province to institute a system of online dispute resolution. Bill 44 — 2012, the Civil Resolution Tribunal Act, creates a tribunal with jurisdiction and powers very much the same as those of the small claims court but mandated to:

2 (1) . . . provide dispute resolution services in relation to matters that are within its authority, in a manner that
(a) is accessible, speedy, economical, informal and flexible,
(b) applies principles of law and fairness, and recognizes any relationships between parties

If a lawyer is caught in a Canadian forest, and their phone battery dies leaving them without e-mail and phone access, are they still a lawyer? We don’t need to contemplate this technologically-modified philosophical question any further, because soon you can power your cell phone with a camp fire.

You can now charge your phone by burning simple wood from said fire using a new product called the BioLite CampStove. You’re also being environmental by using this product, because it only takes excess heat from the stove to convert into electricity.

The worst part is that clients will no . . . [more]

There is a certain foreboding in this David Bowie lyric. The song warns those in power of an emerging class that will replace them.

There are parallels in the modern world of the administration of civil justice.

The need for civil justice is as strong as ever. But although the core qualities of our civil justice system are beyond reproach, some of our machinery for delivering it is rusty and inefficient. This drives up the cost for the individuals and businesses that need it and hurts the image of the bench and bar.

The irony is that we are more . . . [more]