When my company started working with Clio back in 2008, I had a gut feeling they were onto something. But frankly, I never would have predicted the immense success this cloud-based software start-up would see over the next six years. Even without my admitted bias, I think most would agree that today, Clio has evolved into a major player in the legal software sector and one of the most engaged companies within the North American legal community. And by many accounts, they’re also the brains behind one of the most unconventional and enjoyable legal conferences we’ve seen to date. . . . [more]

We often speak of litigation coaching for clients as a form of unbundled services, as one of the new frontiers for providing cost-effective legal services. But I’ve also identified the challenges that young lawyers have in developing the practical skills in litigation, especially given the strong emphasis in the system to resolve issues outside of the courtroom.

At the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) Canadian Legal Conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland this weekend, I had the opportunity to speak in greater depth with some vendors and discovered a product of interest.

Taran Virtual Associations, a domestic legal outsourcing company who . . . [more]

Is saying no to technology even an option for lawyers in modern practice? The Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s Model Code of Professional Content defines competence as follows:

3.1-1 1 “Competent lawyer” means a lawyer who has and applies relevant knowledge, skills and attributes in a manner appropriate to each matter undertaken on behalf of a client and the nature and terms of the lawyer’s engagement, including:
…
(j) pursuing appropriate professional development to maintain and enhance legal knowledge and skills; and (k) otherwise adapting to changing professional requirements, standards, techniques and practices.

If lawyers do not have certain . . . [more]

My colleague Greg Harding an active member of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice. He recently alerted me to an upcoming half-day seminar taking place on Friday, September 26, 2014 titled Ethics and Civility in the Practice of Law. As the program describes, this session will address some tough questions:

Do the courts, and law societies have a role in regulating civility and, if so, how do their roles differ? What role is there for professional bar associations? What unique ethical and civility issues arise in the context of administrative proceedings? What special ethical and civility issues

This week I am at the SLA (Special Libraries Association) conference being held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This morning at the Bloomberg BNA SLA Legal Division Breakfast & Business Meeting, the following awards were given:

•  The Bloomberg BNA Outstanding New Member Contribution award is presented to Christine DeLuca of Bennett Jones LLP in Toronto, ON, CA.
• The Wolters Kluwer Law & Business Innovations in Law Librarianship award is presented to Zena Applebaum of Bennett Jones LLP in Toronto, ON, CA.
• The Thomson Reuters Westlaw Award for Career Achievement award is presented to Tracy Maleeff of Duane Morris LLP in

The call for papers for Law Via the Internet (LVI) went out recently. The conference is to be held September 29-October 1, 2014 in Nairobi, Kenya. The theme – The impact of open access to legal information : bridging the gap between accessibility and usefulness – presents attendees with huge scope for discussion, and as a parliamentary librarian, I’m interested to see how many of the suggested themes go beyond the courts and into areas of citizen participation in law-making. The idea that there is a gap between accessibility and useful is also a compelling idea, and I look forward . . . [more]

There are plenty of fabulous continuing professional development offerings available for law librarians. MOOCs and webinars, local meetings and seminars, national and international conferences. For me, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries annual conference is a must attend event. Every time I select an ‘instead’ option (as opposed to and ‘in addition’ option) for my annual major professional development, I have regrets for several reasons:

1. I miss hearing about the enhancements that Canadian legal publishers are undertaking
2. I miss keeping up with the adjustments to my professional network – who is where
3. I miss the extraordinary information sharing that inspires

The next Canadian Corporate Counsel Association National Conference will be taking place in Calgary from April 6 to 8th. The conference theme this year is “Energy matters” explained below (from the website):

ENERGY MATTERS

Energy as resource, as catalyst, as inspiration. The energy of in-house counsel, ignited.

The Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (CCCA) is the official voice and forum of Canada’s in-house counsel community; a community that is passionate, energetic, and always evolving.

Join us at The Westin Calgary in Calgary, April 6-8, 2014 for our National Conference, the largest gathering of in-house counsel in Canada. Featuring a program

From Legal Sourcery:

CBA Legal Research Section

CBA Saskatchewan is considering expanding its sections and providing a Legal Research forum for lawyers that are interested in maintaining and honing their research skills. This section will be geared towards those who conduct legal research, including lawyers with firms, the courts, government, corporations and law reform and other legal institutions, contract research lawyers, and law librarians in the private and public sectors. If you are interested in being part of the section, please contact the Branch. Based on the level of interest, the Branch will consider introducing this section during the 2014-2015

What sort of skills would you like to see besides “traditional lawyer skills” included in new lawyer training? That was the first question asked in the CBA Futures Initiative’s afternoon Twitterchat Wednesday, hosted by Sarah Glassmeyer, Director of Content for CALI, the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, in Chicago, in a wide-ranging discussion on how, what, and where to train new lawyers.

One of the first responses came from Karen Dyck, a freelance lawyer in Winnipeg and member of the Legal Futures Initiative’s Steering Committee. “Essential is communications, i.e., listening, restating, clear writing and speech, avoiding miscommunications.

“Interesting that you . . . [more]

My class at University of Ottawa Law is now over. But the thoughts provoked in class hopefully are not. U of O has, probably more so than other Ontario law schools, a social justice/access to justice bent and I have been critical of the CBA’s recent Reaching Equal Justice Report mostly because it is unrealistic and provides little hope for change. So it was interesting for me to see two presentations by students that focussed on ideas that should have been part of that CBA Report.

One student presented ways in which gamification could be used in legal services. It . . . [more]

Why is it still so common to see a panel predominantly made up of middle-aged white male lawyers on the dais at a legal conference or CPD session? I noted this again at a legal conference I attended last week. Of course, there were exceptions – the panel of women in corporate counsel positions and the Aboriginal law panel, for example – but shouldn’t a gender balanced, diverse panel of speakers now be the rule, rather than the exception?

These questions have been roiling about my mind since last fall, when I read the numerous, thoughtful comments to my Slaw . . . [more]