Canada’s legal sector appears to be on the cusp of major change.

From the towers of Bay Street to our courthouses across the nation, we may be embarking upon a bumpy, but perhaps overdue ride of reorganization, re-prioritization and rationalization.

Last week’s sudden collapse of Heenan Blaikie and the Supreme Court of Canada’s January 23, 2014 ruling in Hryniak v Maudlin could be harbingers of the revolution ahead.

While the Heenan, Blaikie debacle may have more, ultimately, to teach us about human shortcomings and hubris than the perils of the immediate legal marketplace, it does underscore the reality that defections, …

♫ Even though you’re going through hell
Just keep on going
Let the demons dwell
Just wish them well…♫

 Lyrics by Neil Peart, music by Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson, recorded by Rush.

Yesterday I taught the first class of the 2014 term on legal technology for the Internationally Trained Lawyer’s Program at the University of Toronto law school. We started the session with everyone giving a bit of background on who there are, where they went to law school, what type of law they practiced in their home country and hope to practice following their call here …

So you met with a new litigation client.

Your first take on her proposed lawsuit was that liability was a virtual slam-dunk and that her damages would be assessed in the area of $25,000, maybe $30,000 if you “hit a home run.”

Conservatively, you advised your client of your opinion that her claims appeared to have a great deal of merit and that a court’s assessment would likely be in the $20,000 to $25,000 range.

So imagine your client’s shock – and yours – when a pre-trial judge ultimately opined that this claim wasn’t very strong at all.  In fact, …

♫ more productive
comfortable
not drinking too much
regular exercise at the gym (3 days a week)
getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries
at ease
eating well (no more microwave dinners and saturated fats)
a patient better driver…♫

Lyrics and Music by: Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway, recorded by Radiohead.

I don’t know about you, but I have been largely disillusioned by the ‘traditional’ ways of trying to be more productive. They have come to feel like, well, candy-coated panaceas. And frankly, if they worked, then all of us would be …

♫ He’s got this dream about buyin’ some land
He’s gonna give up the booze and the one night stands
And then he’ll settle down, in some quiet little town
And forget about everything…♫

Lyrics, Music and recorded by Gerry Rafferty.

New Year’s Resolutions?  Phfft.  Been there, Done That, Got that T-Shirt.

We all resolve to get fit, lose weight and spend more time out of the office etc etc etc.  Speaking personally I have had my fill of resolutions that are born from the best of intentions but then die a cold …

Time to bare the soul time. There are days when all of us…and here I speak of no other than myself –  get ground down by the daily grind: days where the simple acts of life seem to be oppressive and it is difficult to see the joy in life given all that you have to do. But all of us know that you can’t let this get you down. Silly really, given that we all live in a continent that brims with wealth and opportunity. We all know that you have to get up and set your eyes …

As we sign off on our Practice Tips for 2013, here’s a thought – if you have a bit of spare time on your hands over the break, why not complete a self audit of your firm – Aussie-style.

Australia’s Legal Services Commission makes it easy (and mandatory) with its online self-assessment audit form.

Addressing firm risk-management in areas including competency, communications, timeliness and delay, cost-disclosure, billing practices and termination of retainers, conflicts of interest, records management, undertakings, supervision of staff and practice, and trust fund handling, the Australian self-audit could afford you with a new window on the …

“ This is no time for ease and comfort. It is the time to dare and endure. ”

To continue our quest to inbox zero, here are further tips to attaining Maslow’s self-actualization by reaching the seemingly stratospheric and elusive high-ground of Inbox Zero:

• Make the most of your time: OK, so you are standing in a lineup at the checkstand (typical with Christmas shopping at this time of year).  Open your Smartphone and start zapping emails…
• Get creative with Labels.  Create folders with names that are relevant to you such as “travel”  or “family” or

For lawyers interested in practice-building, there are few methods more proven than law blogging (or blawging, if you prefer) and getting social via social media online.

As I wrote in a recent paper, Social Media, A Vital Tool for the Modern Family Law Practice, delivered at an Ontario Bar Association CPD programme for family law lawyers last month:

Increasingly, the sophisticated shopper for legal services is looking online for the legal professionals he or she will hire. A strong social media footprint will help these shoppers to find you. Quality content, branded and delivered authentically and professionally, will help