As winter turns to spring and hockey gives way to baseball and soccer, I can’t help but think about the role of referees and umpires and wonder why we don’t use them more for commercial dispute resolution.

Every competitive sport needs a referee or umpire. Even in recreational leagues, players know there will be disputed plays, broken rules and conflicts.

Business is highly competitive. Technology projects, in particular, need on-the-spot umpires who can make calls quickly and settle conflicts efficiently.

Contracts for large, complex projects typically require disputes to be escalated to senior executives or a project steering committee before . . . [more]

The Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) should make disclosure mandatory in situations where public safety is at risk. The current Rulesof Professional Conduct (Rules) focus on protecting confidentiality: there are only four categories of permitted disclosure; of these, all are optional except disclosure mandated by court order. While protecting client confidence is a laudable goal,the current framework does not adequately balance the needs of lawyers, clients, and third parties. A change from optional disclosure to mandatory disclosure for public safety issues will help to balance these needs. By changing the wording of Rule 2.03 (3) of . . . [more]

Lawyers (both new and old) and law students are exposed to high levels of stress on a daily basis. The results can be use, misuse or even addiction to drugs or alcohol, and challenges to physical or mental wellness. Stress is also a contributing factor in many LAWPRO claims. The Wellness section of the practicePRO site provides tools and resources to help you manage stress, and achieve a healthy and balanced lifestyle. There is also information on addictions, and if you or someone you know needs help, a list of programs that offer assistance to lawyers in crisis.

Also available . . . [more]

Law reform commission reports can be great sources for legal research. Many of the reports provide historical background and you can often find comparative information about how other jurisdictions have responded to an issue.

The past few weeks have a very busy time for law reform commissions. A sampling of reports:

• New Zealand Law Commission Report on Regulation of the Media: the review was prompted by concern about the disparities in the legal and ethical standards that apply to news as a result of the emergence of new web-based publishers and the convergence of mainstream print and broadcast media

It’s an open secret that law students emerge from law school knowing loads about law, and frighteningly little about legal practice. How students cope with this gap depends on many factors, including personality, the nature of their first job (whether it’s as a sole practitioner, or in a large firm) and their tolerance for learning on the fly. Too often, new lawyers assume that the only choice they have is to “fake it until they make it” and pray that they don’t make any serious errors on the way.

But there are strategies for improving your chances of making the . . . [more]

We’ve touched on the afterlife of digital assets here at Slaw on many occasions. Google has just announced a new service that adds an interesting direction: allowing users to pass along the data behind (rather than the password to) their various Google services.

A new group of settings under Google accounts will allow for these directions, called the Inactive Account Manager. Users will have the choice of destroying their data after a set period of time, or to pass along their data to a trusted contact or contacts. Google will also try notifying you by text or your alternate . . . [more]

In December, fellow Slaw marketing columnist Doug Jasinski wrote a great post about LinkedIn’s new makeover. His post walked you through the Skills and Endorsements feature (that LinkedIn is placing a lot of emphasis on), and the new look for LinkedIn Company Pages, with their new large image-based banner and prominent status update box.

But there have been even more changes to LinkedIn’s platform that may have gone unnoticed, particularly in the legal community. These changes are making LinkedIn more interactive, and more akin to other, more ‘social’ networks.

Sharing Options

In the past, publishing Updates to LinkedIn was largely . . . [more]

The Law Practice Program (LPP) is about to change the way lawyers are licensed in Ontario.

The LPP is the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC)’s solution to “the articling crisis.” It’s meant to provide an alternative to law graduates unable to secure the 10-month lawyer-in-training jobs they need to become licensed in Ontario.

The gist of the LPP is that instead of 10 months of mandatory paid work at a law firm, the LPP requires only four months of paid or unpaid work experience and four months of coursework.

Starting in the 2014-2015 licensing year, the LPP . . . [more]

In an effort to better understand sole and small-firm involvement in providing pro-bono legal services, the Ontario Bar Association is conducting a very short survey. Completing the survey should take no longer than two or three minutes and the information will be used in assisting the OBA’s Pro-Bono Task Force to determine what role the OB Amight play in the provision and delivery of such services.

Click here to take the survey. . . . [more]

B.C. is the home of innovation when it comes to law in this country, moving ahead with new ideas and new ways of providing its citizens with access to justice. We’ve talked about the foray into online dispute resolution and about the Ministry of Justice two-part White Paper on Justice Reform, to mention only two developments. And just yesterday Chief Justice Robert Bauman made a public statement predicting dire things for law and lawyers if significant changes aren’t made and made quickly, something rare for a sitting judge.

As significant is a quiet development we’ve not yet noticed on . . . [more]

Each Thursday we present a significant excerpt, usually from a recently published book or journal article. In every case the proper permissions have been obtained. If you are a publisher who would like to participate in this feature, please let us know via the site’s contact form.

LAWYERING IN AN AGE OF INTELLIGENT MACHINES
Marc Lauritsen
in Educating the Digital Lawyer, Marc Lauritsen & Oliver Goodenough Eds.
Cambridge, USA: Harvard Law School Program on the Legal Profession, 2010-2011

excerpt Chapter 2, pp. 7-10

§ 2.03 Implications for Legal Education

Law schools should offer courses in law practice automation and . . . [more]

Sophisticated, stylish and elegant. These qualities are highly regarded in the fashion industry and embody something or someone who is chic. However, these qualities are not exclusive to the world of fashion. Professional criticism that is sophisticated, stylish and elegant should be tolerated and even encouraged in the legal profession, paving the way for lawyers to provide their colleagues with chic critique.

Sophisticated: In the fashion industry, being sophisticated is about having worldly knowledge and experience of fashion, styles and trends. In a broader sense however, sophistication is simply about having sufficient knowledge and experience to make an informed remark . . . [more]