Tax season brings the financial aspects of our careers into stark focus. Ledgers of our spending habits laid out in black and white. Nice and not-so-nice surprises in discussions with our accountants. Writing cheques to the Receiver General (what fun!).

In this vein, the topic of financial literacy sometimes crops up in the practice management discussions I have with young lawyers. The cost of living in Vancouver being what it is, student loan payments, social pressures to “keep up” with peers…it all adds up. Sometimes, it reaches a breaking point.

I recently sat down with an inspiring young professional who . . . [more]

I recently retold a story about a colleague of mine, who back in the very early 2000s asked me to investigate whether there was a satellite image of a particular point of interest to our file. It was certainly the coolest research I had done at that point – finding a source of satellite images to prove or disprove the location of an object…new and very interesting stuff at that time. Given the period in time when this task occurred, the point in my recent story telling was how lawyers that I work with are creative in their use of . . . [more]

Last week, I blogged about the fact that Ontario’s court schedules are finally online for viewing by the public. It is a small step; hopefully many more are to come.

Blogger and lawyer Addison Cameron-Huff brought to my attention the fact that the schedule website is protected by a CAPTCHA. The purpose of CAPTCHAs is to prevent automated access by search engines like Google and other similar webcrawlers.

I am not sure yet what to think about this. Cameron-Huff suggests it is a terrible development because the information should be made freely accessible to anyone who wants to use it. . . . [more]

As part of the consultancy work I do, I have the great pleasure and privilege to work with most important, high-profile clients, sometimes to conduct product review processes on their behalf. On a couple of recent projects, an understanding of the status quo was required, combined with an appreciation of the ways in which the products are used and will, most likely, be so in the future. These were to be analysed and measured against industry trends and perceptions and converted into strategic plans for their evolution. The projects were conducted well, I believe and clear directions, pointing out . . . [more]

Here are excerpts from the most recent tips on SlawTips, the site that each week offers up useful advice, short and to the point, on technology, research and practice.

Technology

Clean Your Smartphone Lens for Sharper Pictures and Better Selfies
Dan Pinnington

For most photographers, a clean and unscratched lens is pretty much an obsession – and it is something that also is critical for getting sharp pictures.
Many smartphone users take an opposite tact and would rarely, if ever, clean their smartphone lenses. Needless the say, the design of most smartphones isn’t exactly conducive to having a clean . . . [more]

In a helpful decision for employers looking to minimize wasteful litigation (Frith v. Cable Birdge Enterprises Limited, 2013 ONSC 6436), an Ontario Divisional Court Judge overturned a trial court judge’s decision that a plaintiff could puruse her employer for termination pay (notice and severance) before the Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL) and the Superior Court even though her complaint before the MOL was never adjudicated (it appears she withdrew her complaint months after filing it).

This decision is an important reminder for employees to make sure that they pick the correct forum before going after their employer . . . [more]

Today’s New York Times has started a new feature, taking the more outrageous elements of the US litigation system and dramatizing them.

This is quite wonderful – stick until the end.

They take verbatim (word for word) legal transcripts into dramatic, and often comedic, performances. Here you will find re-creations of actual events from the halls of law and government. You, our readers, can help us find material for future episodes. Have you come across court trials, depositions or government hearings that you think are surprising, bizarre or baffling — and lend themselves to performance?

Hat tip to Stan Freedman . . . [more]

Recently I’ve been playing around with a linked data application called Callimachus.* So far I’ve successfully installed the program on my DigitalOcean server and hope to be able to report positively about developments in the weeks ahead.

Part of the playing around process included watching some of the video tutorials that Callimachus sponsor 3 Round Stones have made available. Along the way I found an interesting unrelated introduction to linked data by David Wood, the CTO at 3 Round Stones called Linked Data: Structured Data on the Web. But it was the sub-title that really caught my . . . [more]

Researching conflicts for law firms has been a function that has been around for many years now and lives in different departments depending on the law firm. But I only recently heard of Conflicts Information Specialist as being a full-time position. I am therefore thankful that Amanda Brooks has kindly shared her experiences as a Conflicts Information Specialist in a Canadian law firm over on the INALJ (“I need a library job”) website in the blog post A Day in the Life of a Conflicts Information Specialist.

Brooks discusses the role of the Conflicts Information Specialist:

The purpose of

Technology is becoming an ever greater part of our lives, both personally and professionally.
On a daily basis most of us use a cellphone or smartphone, a desktop computer and the Internet. Many of us will have an iPad or other tablet device and be posting updates on Facebook, Twitter or other social media tools.

Clients expect their lawyers to be technology literate – and there are always new and improved ways for communicating with clients. Here are some newer tools that you can consider using to better serve and communicate with your clients.

1. Help clients find your office . . . [more]

Here are three rather disparate things of interest that cropped up in my morning stroll through the near web.

1. Internet Explorer has a serious vulnerability

Once again Internet Explorer — every single version of it! — has a vulnerability that “could allow remote code execution” according to Microsoft. Gizmodo has the story. This means that 26% of the browser market is at risk of a “zero day” attack that can corrupt a computer’s data.

Does anyone know what percentage of law firms use (or mandate) IE?

2. New York Times R&D releases Vellum

The New York . . . [more]

Over the last few years most law libraries have cancelled loose-leaf and periodical subscriptions as a way of dealing with reduced budgets and the ever increasing cost of materials. As a result, libraries are less likely to buy materials “just in case”. In the days of less constrained budgets, this “just in case” model made sense; lawyers tend to need materials urgently and if the library does not already own these materials, getting them from another library can take too much time.

However, the increased number of materials available electronically, along with the ability to do document delivery online, has . . . [more]