For my must read of the week, I recommend FEED: The Razorfish Consumer Experience Report . Came across it yesterday.

Its stated mission is to help people to gain a better understanding of how technology affects today’s digital consumer experience and explore the emerging trends that will shape those experiences for years to come. It talks about the rise of search as a primary mode of navigation, the widespread adoption of Web 2.0 features and technologies, and how the increase in mainstream social media usage have fundamentally altered the consumer landscape. The main point is that for brands to remain . . . [more]

According to an article in legalweek.com DLA Piper, the Anglo-American giant law firm, has held talks with Fasken Martineau about a potential link between or merger of the firms. DLA Piper has more than 3,700 lawyers in offices in 38 countries, but has no office in Canada. The article also says that DLA Piper is considering, alternatively, opening up an independent office here. Fasken reportedly has said that they may be prepared to talk in January.

An irrelevant coda: DLA Piper uses gangbuster rotating images on its main website page, quite unlike the usual staid graphics found on law . . . [more]

Over the last several months there has been an epidemic of frauds targeting lawyers, both in Ontario and in other provinces right across Canada. LAWPRO has seen a significant number of very costly fraud related claims. YTD in 2008 we have seen 89 claims that have cost us $5.7 millon. We are also aware of many lawyers that have narrowly avoided being victims. Sometimes due their own diligence, sometimes only by good luck.

No doubt many of you have read about these frauds, and some of you may even have been a victim or intended victim. Firms of all sizes . . . [more]

Hi everyone. I’m very pleased to become a member of the SLAW community.

For my first post I want to talk about conflicts of interests claims. They are a key area of risk as I detailed in an article I recently penned on The Biggest Malpractice Claims Risks for LAWPRO Magazine. LAWPRO provides legal malpractice coverage for the 21,800 lawyers in private practice in Ontario. Over the last eleven years in the LAWPRO claims portfolio, conflicts of interest claims ranked fifth by both count (1,322 claims) and cost ($6.0 million), accounting for 6.4 per cent of claims reported and . . . [more]

For my first post, I’ll keep it brief. We’re in the early stages of planning our second Intranet project, using SharePoint 2007. With a renewed focus on the importance of customization, effective search, intuitive navigation, and metrics, we’re clear on the new direction we want to take. What’s not clear at this point is governance – who should own it? Library/KM? IT? Administration? Everyone? Who “owns” the Intranet in your firm? . . . [more]

I’m surprised it has taken so long for a Canadian book on the law of something so ubiquitous, email. Lexis Nexis Canada has released the new title E-mail Law by Charles Morgan and Julien Saulgrain, both of McCarthy Tétrault, and General Editor Dr. Sunny Handa. The description of this 188 page book is given here in the Butterworths catalogue. From the McCarthy Tétrault press release (Oct. 24/08):

It includes systematic analyses of current and upcoming trends, cutting-edge information on e-contracts, spam, e-mail monitoring, document retention, and e-mail as evidence.

Designed for legal counsel, human resource professionals and business leaders,

Attorney Sergei Lemberg, the head of Lemberg & Associates, LLC and who specializes in “lemon law“, has a practical guest blog post over at the Virtual Law Practice blog worth reading. He talks about how he uses newer Web technologies to get work done, collaborate with clients, and advertise his practice.

Some highlights:

I have clients from all over the country and rarely see them in person. I use VOIP for my office phone system for onsite and off-site staff, which gives the impression of everyone being under the same roof. I also take advantage of the Web-based

The Law Society of Upper Canada today announced [PDF] the formation of the Justitia Think Tank as part of its effort to “retain and advance women” in the legal profession. Forty Ontario law firms have agreed to participate for three years (2009-2011) and to:

• maintain statistical data on the gender of lawyers in the firm,
• “review their existing written policies on maternity, paternal and adoption leave and flexible work arrangements”,
• share information on networking and business development opportunities for women, and
• eventually (2011) “develop strategies to enhance women’s participation in the leadership of the firm.”

The think tank is an . . . [more]

Since I flew in only an hour back I haven’t had time to catch up on my reading, but five items on the feeds caught my eye: . . . [more]

A culture of long hours and stress are driving increasing numbers of lawyers to drink and drugs, both within and outside the workplace.

Times Online has a piece, “Long hours and stress drive lawyers to drink and drugs,” on a survey published this week by Legal Business, that shows alcohol and drug abuse to be “endemic” among lawyers in big, City firms. One unfortunate soul, a partner in a big London firm, claims to have spent £100,000 on cocaine in a year “and nobody noticed.”

As the stress caused by the financial collapse works its way . . . [more]

Our colleague here at Slaw, Dominic Jaar, after working for years as a house counsel for Bell, has struck out on his own with a practice — Ledjit — aimed at helping businesses, including law firms, manage information flows. An expert in IT law and particularly e-discovery, Jaar is based in Montreal. His website explains more fully. (You will have better luck with the French version, ledjit.ca; the English version — ledjit.com — still needs some work on the links.)

Giving his enterprise a healthy boost, La Press today has a long piece in the business section on Jaar . . . [more]

Today’s the day that most British judges go bare-headed into court. All save the criminal court judges will appear sans wigs, as the style changes introduced some months ago go into effect.

Part of the change includes new, modernized judicial robes designed by British fashion designer Betty Jackson. Her take on the traditional involves scrapping the wing collars, bands and voluminous robes for more streamlined robes — with pockets, no less — a Nehru collar, and coloured strips of cloth on the breast reminiscent of bands, the colour — gold, red or lilac — indicating place in the hierarchy.

There . . . [more]