You may have seen the news that John Richards, the founder of the Apostrophe Protection Society, has decided to call it quits after 18 years of fighting for the correct use of the troublesome punctuation mark.

Part of the reason is that Richards, a retired journalist, is 96 and needs to scale back his activities.

But he also feels that ‘ignorance and laziness have won’, his efforts over the years having proved so much tilting at windmills.

He may have a point: my phone’s autocorrect feature assumes that its must always be it’s, and I routinely encounter things like …

The old, Darwinian rule for associates was ‘up or out’, meaning that if you weren’t going to be asked to join the partnership, you’d be more or less politely shown the door.

Some firms still do it that way, but not all. Terminology varies, but the most common term in my neck of the woods for someone who’ll never have a corner office is Senior Associate.

Counsel is also used for associates not on the partner track, but also for lawyers past retirement age but still profitable or prestigious enough to keep on board. Counsel is also used for …

Administrator’s note: thanks to Lexum for sharing this tip.

Do you know you can save links pointing to any site of interest with Lexbox? The bookmarking feature of Lexbox is available for this purpose. The “New Bookmark” button is located at the bottom of the page of your Lexbox account.

It couldn’t be more simple: chose your preferred folder in your Lexbox account. Click the orange button titled “New Bookmark”. A dialog box appears. Copy the URL of your choice from your browser navigation bar, and paste it in the box. No more looking for your file information from one …

The holidays are just around the corner. Everyone looks forward to the cards, lunches, gifts, parties and general good cheer this time of the year. Maybe in some small way, it makes up for the cold!

So, here’s a thought to take all that goodwill up a notch. Why not use your holiday events as a platform to celebrate success? Whether it’s with your partners, your staff or your clients.

Here are some ideas to get you thinking about this:

• Have you made new connections this year? Can you get specific about that eg how many connections, how were the

This cautionary note was included (in red, boldface type!) in one of the e-mail notices that go round at my firm, notifying lawyers of prospective clients and asking if there would be any conflicts in acting for them.

Some matters may be more sensitive or interesting or salacious or newsworthy than others, but as a matter of law and legal ethics they can’t be more (or less) confidential.

As lawyers we owe the same duty of confidentiality to each client, and the standard is as high as it gets.

As a matter of English grammar, the very confidential warning is …

Thanks to Jason Wong of McCarthy Tétrault LLP for the inspiration for this tip.

The Privy Council Office has created an online database that allows users to search for federal Orders in Council (OICs) made between 1990 and the present. 

If you cannot retrieve your OIC from the database, you can request it by emailing the Privy Council Office directly at oic-ddc@pco-bcp.gc.ca. If the OIC is available, it will be emailed directly to you (usually within one working day); if not available, you will have to check with Library and Archives Canada (LAC). 

LAC has digitized microfilm copies of …

Smartphones provide lawyers with constant availability and the convenience of responding to queries and communications from any location at any time. But our devices can also be a source of distraction and addiction that discourage productivity and negatively impact our mental health.

A recent survey by Deloitte found that the average person checks their smartphone 52 times a day, while another study found the average person spends more than 3 hours on their phone daily. My own phone tells me that I receive an average of 78 notifications each day, causing a daily average of 73 “pickups”—each one interrupting workflow …

My discovery of Richard Wydick’s Plain Language for Lawyers was serendipitous.

I had started sending out weekly writing tips by e-mail at my firm and was in constant need of new material (and I still am).

Someone on my street had left a box of books at the kerbside, for passers-by to take what appealed to them. On the top of the pile was the fifth edition of Wydick’s excellent book.

Its messages are simple and important:

• omit surplus words
• use base verbs, not nominalisations
• prefer the active voice
• use short sentences
• arrange your words with care
• choose your words

I used to work with someone who might fairly be described as curmudgeonly.

This person detests people who reply to an e-mail with a one-word Thanks.

Needless replies are a bit annoying, but it’s also hard to know when to terminate an e-mail exchange.

The advice I give to law students in my seminar on e-mail in a professional setting is to err on the side of politeness, especially in relation to more senior peeps.

Even at the risk of irritating a curmudgeon.

–Neil Guthrie (@guthrieneil) …

‘Keep it simple’ is good advice – but advice that many lawyers fail to heed.

As soon as I am able
Seen in automatic out-of-office e-mail replies or heard on voicemail.

There is nothing wrong with as soon as I can, and it certainly sounds less pretentious.

For the avoidance of doubt
This phrase is pompous, no doubt about that.

It also indicates that you needed to explain things better in the first place.

Don’t admit failure: avoid it.

Iteration
Someone recently e-mailed me the latest iteration of the presentation.

So much fancier than a good old draft…