A little late to the party by comparison with other provinces, the Law Society of Upper Canada is now seeking comments on how best to treat the practice of “unbundling” legal services in the rules of conduct. Specifically, a report (undated) prepared by the Policy Secretariat, “Unbundling” of Legal Services and Limited Legal Representation, [PDF] has made a number of proposals for change in the rules governing lawyers and paralegals, and the law society invites responses to these.

In this context, the society means by “unbundling”:

… the provision of limited legal services or limited legal representation. It is

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My assistant came across this YouTube video. It had me laughing out loud. The comments in it are hilarious, and biting. It is worth a look.

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I’ve been asked to speak early next year on how information and privacy issues are shaping the future of employment law. In preparation, I’d like to share three developing thoughts here that relate to: (1) the impending clash between information governance and personal use of corporate IT systems; (2) internet use and the “virtualization” of workplace harms; and (3) labour stability, departing employees and information-related harms. Part 1 is below. Parts 2 and 3 will follow. Please comment.

What does the “information governance” movement mean for employers?

In my view, the building pressure to govern corporate information is bound to . . . [more]

An earlier SLAW post by me commented on the fun aspects of the iPad.

Since then, in addition to my personal Gmail email, I have added my work email to the iPad email client, along with syncing my work Calendar and Contacts, and now regard the iPad as a true BlackBerry replacement (to the point on my recent work trip to the United States I left my laptop and BlackBerry at home, making do quite nicely with only the iPad, relying on WiFi at the hotel and conference centre and using the Skype app for when I needed a . . . [more]

Ethics committees across North America are, as always, in the process of examining issues of great importance to lawyers in the US and Canada. As part of process of establish new ethics opinions and rules, ethics committees typically hold hearings or publish proposed opinions for comment, seeking input from practicing attorneys.

Unfortunately, these hearings and requests for comment are often met with silence from practicing attorneys. Vendors and other interested parties respond in force, but the group that will ultimately be most impacted by ethics committees decisions have, apparently, nothing to say.

For example, only one practicing lawyer signed up . . . [more]

Perhaps not an entirely new concept, considering how well traveled the roads to co-ownership are, but nonetheless, here’s and interesting look at the law of what is becoming easier to do with people you know less well: sharing. . . . [more]

The Practice Directions for the Toronto Region states,

Parties must consult with each other to select a return date convenient to all parties and which will permit all parties to file all necessary materials and conduct any examinations before the return date. At the time of booking, a realistic estimate of the time required by all parties for argument must be provided.
[emphasis added]

Most other regions have similar guidelines on consultation for scheduling.

Finding a single date when all counsel are available, and then also securing that date from the Trial Scheduling Office, can be challenging, especially when there . . . [more]

Will this spread to other jurisdictions? Will people now pay more attention when we talk to them about the importance of proper legal citation? Just a thought :)

Lawyer Fined $100 for Getting a Case Citation Wrong . . . [more]

The Legal Services Act of Scotland has been passed into law allowing up to 49% public ownership of law firms.

As earlier promised, a somewhat delayed post on legal project management (LPM).

The recent Ark Group master class on LPM, by Steven B. Levy of Lexician and Patrick Lamb of the Valorem Law Group, was a good overview of the topic, with Steven drawing on his experiences at Microsoft and from his book, with Patrick providing a law firm perspective based on the approach in his daily practice. The session certainly reinforced the points in Steven’s book and provided useful context and comfort for implementing LPM. In addition to both the various theoretical and practical ideas presented, . . . [more]

LinkedIn has just announced that users can add new sections to their profiles. New boxes will be available for certifications, publications, and even patents, reflecting the broader types of users that LinkedIn has experienced beyond the business and IT communities. For example, I can now add my (American) nuclear medicine technology licenses, and my numerous speaking engagements, important to an aspiring litigator claiming some background in healthcare.

One new section might be of particular interest to lawyers. The Martindale-Hubbell Ratings, which provide scores based on client satisfaction and peer-reviews, are also available as a section feature. The two . . . [more]

Last week Nicole Garton Jones, a BC-based lawyer and fellow Slaw contributor, provided some thought-provoking commentary on the position of the Law Society of British Columbia on the topic of Virtual Law Firms, as discussed in the latest edition of the organization’s Bencher’s Bulletin. In the bulletin, and subsequent response to Ms. Garton-Jones’ post, the LSBC identifies several key concerns relating to cloud computing for BC-based law firms, namely:

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