Today’s Tip: Take advantage of training opportunities.

Since we are in back to school mode, I thought a training tip would be appropriate. Legal research, like many other skills, is enhanced by practice. We don’t always have a chance to practice everything we need.

When was the last time you did research for a point in time historical regulation? When did you last need to find a United Nations document? Are you confident that if you needed ALL the commentary about a point of law you would be able to find it?

There are plenty of offerings to help you …

If you routinely print two or more kinds of documents, each requiring its own printer settings, you’ve probably found it frustrating to have to re-enter all the printer properties every time you change documents.

There is actually a very simple trick to avoid having to do this. Simply install the same printer two or more times, but with different names and settings.

This way, you simply select the “printer” that has the group of print settings you want each time you print.

To install a printer with new print settings in Windows, go to Start, Settings, Printers, and click the …

Accordingly we believe that to truly give direction to your life as well as make the most of your time, you must address both of these two components: namely how to sort out the truly important goals for your life and then how to find the time to pursue them. Only in this way do we believe you can find both satisfaction and meaning in your life.

Today’s Tip FWIW: Understand the Acronym.

Robert Fulford, from the National Post, wrote about acronyms in his article When Words Die yesterday when he had to use acronymfinder.com to decipher FWIW.

Thanks for the link Robert. For what it’s worth, I was happy that you spelled out FWIW for me in your post.

Acronym Finder has the search benefit of a search for either and acronym or a phrase translated into an acronym with their ‘word in meaning’ search. Since, as Robert’s article points out, acronyms are making their way to common media, rather than just texts and twitter, it …

PIPEDA and Your Practice: A Privacy Handbook for Lawyers was launched by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at the Canadian Bar Association Canadian Legal Conference and Expo 2011. This handbook explains how the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) relates to the everyday practice of Canadian lawyers in the private sector.

PIPEDA covers the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in the course of commercial activities. Like other organizations in Canada, lawyers and law firms must comply with the requirements of applicable privacy legislation in their jurisdictions. This resource describes best practices in managing …

Tips on all the ways that you can keep the staff turnover rate at your firm low:

Ah proclamations. I am sure it isn’t just Alberta where a coming into force section of an act can look like this:

Coming into force
98(1) Sections 77, 78, 79 and 85(a) and (b) come into force on January 1, 2011.
(2) Sections 31, 34, 35, 39, 41, 43 and 49 apply with respect to the next election that is held at least 6 months after the coming into force of this section, and subsequent elections.
(3) Sections 21, 54, 76, 83, 84, 86(b), 87, 88 and 94(b) come into force on the day that a writ is issued under

…

Lynda.com is one of the best online technology training sites you will find. For just $25 a month, you have access to more than 1,100 online courses on just about every program you would ever want to use. Stop, rewind and replay videos as many times as you want. This is an ideal way to brush up on basic or advanced skills, or to provide help to an eager staff member who just wants to learn more. What a bargain!…

Take time today to put in place a system for regularly closing, storing and purging files and materials that you and your clients no longer need, and you'll never want for storage space or an organized filing system.

Thanks to David Paul of Paul & Co in Kamloops who wrote a great article for Canadian Lawyer recently called Useful Google tips and tricks for lawyers for today’s tip.

As Mr. Paul put it:

daterange provides documents that have been modified in the given interval. Unfortunately, Google requires that dates be entered in Julian format, e.g. charter scc daterange:2451193-2455757. Click here for a Julian date converter.

How is this useful for legal research? When you have a inexact facts that you need to verify. Perhaps you want to find information about a motor vehicle accident in Edmonton in January …