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]

Chief Judge Looks to Pro Bono to Address Access to Justice Concerns

The Chief Judge of New York State announced that henceforth (did I really use that word?) all applicants for the New York state bar must complete 50 hours of pro bono work. Can he do this? Yes he can. In New York, as in many states, lawyers are licensed and regulated by the courts. Many state courts have delegated this power to state bar associations, but not New York state. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said that the new requirement was intended to provide badly-needed legal services in urgent . . . [more]

Rule 3.01 (1) of the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Rules of Professional Conduct is always overshadowed by its sister rules. Yet, it is perhaps one of the most important rules of our profession:

3.01(1) A lawyer shall make legal services available to the public in an efficient and convenient way.

This rule suggests that if a lawyer is not providing legal services in an efficient manner, she is breaching the rule; and, if a lawyer is not providing legal services in a convenient manner, she is also breaching the rule. Interestingly enough, the commentary in rule 3.01 . . . [more]

♫ All the details in the fabric? ♫ 

Lyrics and music by Jason Mraz and Dan Wilson, recorded by Jason Mraz.

The secret is out, and in a big way. Large law firms can no longer promise the job security and generous compensation of previous generations.

We were outed yesterday by Margaret Wente yesterday in The Globe & Mail, the newspaper considered to have the highest circulation among the economic elite and law firm partners on Bay Street. Wente laments the demise of all professionals as the sure route to a lush lifestyle, but has a particular bone to pick with a legal career,

Think twice before you encourage your daughter to go to law or med school, especially if

I’ve been thinking a lot about the “end of days” for the traditional legal services provider – partnership law firms.

And I can already hear you grumbling. “How can there be an “end of days” for the current model of law firms? And don’t give us any of that, ‘UK Legal Services Act will change the world,’ crap. Kowalski, you’re crazy.”

Perhaps, but hear me out.

The partnership model of law firms is doomed to fail because of what Mancur Olson calls the collective action dilemma. Collective action dilemma occurs when you have a group of people all acting in . . . [more]

Risk management has been a hot topic in the corporate community for about 10 years, springing mostly from scandals such as Enron, Worldcom and more recently the financial crisis of 2008. The devastation that these events wrought forced boards of directors to devote significant resources to managing risk and to keep abreast of what is happening in the world at large.

When one looks at law firms, we see that attention is paid to risk management only in the micro-sense; controls are put in place to prevent lawyers and staff from stealing trust funds, there are some controls over who . . . [more]

I was involved with managing a litigation file not too long ago. The client had a budget that required its large law firm to be tightly controlled and had asked me to assist in this regard.

Things went off the rails very quickly when the lawyer in charge became angered by the client’s desire to control how he ran the file.

“I’ve heard about you,” he said to me. “And I’ve read some of your stuff. You have a low opinion of lawyers.” It was clear that he was taking the client’s attempt to decide how the file would be . . . [more]

The OBA Civil Litigation section is putting on a session bearing this title on 30 April. Here is how the topic is being described:

The legal marketplace is changing. Lawyers and law firms face increasing pressure to control costs in litigation and must adapt to provide superior results for a lower price. Learn about the trends, tools and techniques that will help you meet client expectations, deliver extra value, minimize overhead and maximize your bottom line.

Topics to be covered are : unbundling, outsourcing, advocacy referral and methods of using technology to do more with less. New ethical quagmires and . . . [more]

The august Royal Canadian Mint, birthplace of the lovely golden loonie (but not the snappy new plastic bills) and soon to be the graveyard for the penny, is moving to take metal out of the coin equation altogether. They’re now promoting a plan to implement the MintChip, a system for exchanging value via electronic devices with ease and security:

MintChip brings all the benefits of cash into the digital age. Instant, private and secure, MintChip value can be stored and moved quickly and easily over email, software applications, or by physically tapping devices together.

Wisely, perhaps, the . . . [more]