Almost a year ago, I closed my private practice and accepted a position as in-house counsel. It was an intriguing challenge: I had acted as a kind of “outsourced” in-house counsel to a number of companies, and I now had the opportunity to do that work full time. I was swapping all of my clients for one, and giving up being my own boss in exchange for having one (accompanied by a regular paycheque and a number of extra benefits).

I don’t regret the decision at all. It’s been a fascinating challenge, and I’m relishing all of the new opportunities. . . . [more]

Android-powered phones and tablets are an increasingly prevalent option for lawyers. Android was the operating system on one-third of the smartphones sold in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to the Wall Street Journal. The power of these devices is not the operating system, though. Just as with Apple’s iPhone and iPad, the real punch comes from the small software apps that you install on your device. Unlike Apple, you don’t need any intermediary software like iTunes to access the Android Market. Let’s take a look at some of the apps you might want to grab for your . . . [more]

I recently attended the mid-year meeting of ACLEA, the organization for continuing legal education professionals. This excellent group was started in 1964; it declares itself to be “a dynamic organization devoted to improving the performance of CLE professionals”. It has been a fantastic source of information and support throughout my CLE career. 

Many American CLEs have publishing departments. Some put most of their effort into publishing first-class course materials, but others, such as California (CEB), Michigan (ICLE), and Massachusetts (MCLE) are superb publishers of secondary material. I always enjoy reconnecting with my counterparts from across North America; we all . . . [more]

Over the years many in our profession have come to assume that part of the compromise we must make in order to have a robust practice includes sacrificing holidays, leisure time, and family time.

The longer I practice the more I question this way of thinking. I am far more productive when I am rested and rejuvenated. You likely would be also.

On a regular basis one should keep in mind that you need to maintain your soul and mind as well as your body. So, in addition to exercising, getting enough sleep, and paying attention to a healthy diet . . . [more]

On December 18, 2010 with a stroke of his pen, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law Public Law 111-314, creating Title 51 of the United States Code. Title 51 gathers together all in-force federal law on the topic of National and Commercial Space Programs. Since the Title was enacted as a single piece of legislation, it serves as positive law. There will be no need to refer back to the underlying publication of the statutes that make up its component parts in the Statutes at Large. Though I have had difficulty finding colleagues who find this event as earth . . . [more]

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” — Dr. Seuss (I Can Read with My Eyes Shut)

Early adopters they are not, but lawyers I have found are keen to learn. But as a group, it’s the drive to action that’s the biggest challenge, particularly if it cuts into billable time or doesn’t have an immediate or positive impact that’s within sight.

I’ve been talking a lot about social media to client firms and larger audiences for a while now and the results bring varying degrees . . . [more]

I recently received an email from the University of British Columbia explaining that Access Copyright had proposed to raised the annual fee charged to UBC for “copying material from scholarly journals, textbooks, and other materials” by a factor of three. The university and its students’ bill for 2011 will rise from $650,000 to two million dollars. It was encouraging to see that in its email, UBC stated it was “actively considering a range of options to mitigate the financial burden.” 

I’d like to propose a further option for UBC and other institutions to consider. It draws on a historical principle . . . [more]

Springtime is almost here and for those interested in spreading the word about access to justice this means planning for Law Day 2011 on April 14th.

Law Day is an annual event organized by the Canadian Bar Association that is made possible through the volunteer efforts of hundreds of individuals across the country who donate their time to this worthwhile event. Law Day takes various forms in different provinces and locations across the country however each event shares the common goal of engaging the public and educating them about the law and legal system.

Events this year are slated for . . . [more]

WordPress is one of best examples of an open-source community delivering a feature rich and market-leading product. From lawyer blogs to law firm websites, it has become as popular within the legal community as it has elsewhere. But the benefits of open-source software ownership inevitably come with some requisite cautionary advice.

Last January, I wrote about a hacking trend whereby automated scripts test every word in the dictionary trying to gain access to your WordPress administration password. This is a problem, not least because at least 55% of all content management system (CMS) installs operate on WordPress. 

It’s becoming clear . . . [more]

The stress of passing the Bar is present in every student’s mind from the very beginning of their legal studies. In Quebec, the ideal time to apply and find an internship in one of the top prominent law firms is during the second or third year of law school, during what is referred to as the ‘’course aux stages’’ (i.e. the race to find an internship). Not every student participates in the event and only a select few who take part have the privilege of landing an internship. Some students with connections find a spot in midsize firms, . . . [more]

Everyone’s talking about the future. From LegalTech New York, where the closing keynote was the practice of law in 2020, to IT’s role in the library of the future, and SLA’s FutureReady365 blog. It’s interesting to be reading about predictions on where our profession may be going. One document I came across a while ago was the Association of Research Libraries’ 2030 Scenarios : A User Guide for Research Libraries. I started reading it (it’s 92 pages!) to see if it had any application for a law firm library.

Can you imagine the world in 2030? I can’t, . . . [more]

With the amount of information available to lawyers increasing alarmingly, anything that can unclutter our lives, and relieve the info-burden deserves attention. 

Adrian Dayton explored one aspect in his article “ “. He pointed out that “… it isn’t about consuming more content, it is about consuming more relevant content.“ While on the one hand, presenting us with a ridiculous amount of information, what tools such as Google, and hypertext/the web also do is protect us, to some extent, from this information burden and complexity, at least with respect to navigation.

We know of hypertext via the web, typically as . . . [more]