I am adopting a very expansive view of “practice tips” this week given some things that have been on my mind as I recently took on two new staff.

As far as starting businesses go, starting a law practice or professional services firm is remarkably easy and safe relative to many other kinds of businesses. Doing it well is a much different matter. The skills required – project management, human resource management, leadership, and financial judgment, among others – are not taught in law school. Typically, legal education programs only touch upon them briefly and many lawyers hang up their …

Next: confusing pairs, part 1

–Neil Guthrie (@guthrieneil)…

Time is money. Three words which pretty much sum it up for us all.  Especially when your staff consists of your dog – then you quickly realize that passing the buck isn’t an option.  Instead, you must learn to sort through the multitude of tasks facing you each day and narrow down your focus to only the key revenue-generating activities, while letting the majority of the “noise” fade away and most of us accomplish this with a to-do list.

However, not all activities are of equal value. There is an economic principle called the 80/20 Rule, or Pareto Principle, that …

Here’s a tip I always mention when I’m introducing students to the legal research process: you will save time if you start by consulting the leading secondary sources on your topic, rather than going straight to the legislation or case law.

Ludmila B. Herbst, Q.C., wrote the following about the importance of starting with secondary sources in her 2006 CLE BC course paper “Effective Legal Research”:

A vast array of material is available in which authors (both learned and not so learned) have assembled and synthesized the case law and statutory materials applicable to particular issues. Make use

There’s a lot of teamwork that goes on in a law office. Sometimes it runs like a well oiled machine. Sometimes it just fizzes and pops!

So, for today’s tip, ask yourself what’s one thing you can do to take your team to the next level? Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Communicate – Great teams know how to communicate. They make space for each individual to express their ideas, not just the ones that are naturally expressive. They don’t shy away from differences of opinion, but rather use them as an opportunity for open discussion about continuous

You’ve drafted a client piece – now what?

Heed the words of Samuel Johnson:  ‘What is written without effort is generally read without pleasure.’

In other words, go back and edit; your text could always use some polishing.

Here are some specific tips.

• sleep on it – you will spot things the next morning that were not apparent the night before, especially if the midnight oil was burning (typos, spelling and grammar errors, stylistic things)
• get a second opinion – this will help with correctness, readability, errors you just aren’t seeing because you’re too familiar with your text (even after

♫ I can see a new horizon underneath the blazin’ sky
I’ll be where the eagle’s flying higher and higher
Gonna be your man in motion, all I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where my future’s lyin’, St. Elmo’s Fire…♫

Lyrics and Music by by David Foster and John Parr, recorded by John Parr.

……

The time has come for us, David Bilinsky and Garry Wise,  to pass the baton to a new generation of leaders and writers to carry on the work of SlawTips.

This, therefore, will be our final, and farewell post.

Garry …

Although most acts have a definitions section, usually at the beginning of the act, it is logistically impossible for an act to define all the words and terms it uses. If you are trying to find the meaning of a term that isn’t defined in an act, check that jurisdiction’s Interpretation Act. Definitions of terms that are used by multiple acts are quite often found in this act. For example, terms defined in the federal Interpretation Act include “herein”, “holiday” and “oath”. You will find Interpretation Acts in federal and all provincial legislation.

Interpretation acts are also useful when …

 Since you asked…

Baffled on Bay Street wonders: What’s with ‘Esquire’? Does it have some special meaning in law?

In mediaeval England, an esquire was one rank above a gentleman and one below a knight; hence the variant ‘squire’ for a trainee knight.

While the precise class of chaps eligible to be an esquire is a matter of intense historical controversy, it seems that you had to be the younger son of a nobleman, the son or grandson of a knight, or an office-holder (possibly including a barrister-at-law). By the 18th century, ‘Esquire’ came to be used as a polite …

I’ve noticed lawyers pop into LinkedIn or Twitter once in a blue moon and then completely disappear.

If that’s you and you’d like to figure out how to enjoy some of the benefit others have found on social media, here are a few tips to get you started:

1. You need a strategy. Define your target audience, point of different and purpose for your engagement, so you’re not scratching your head wondering what to do everytime you log in at LinkedIn.
2. Don’t waste your time on sites that aren’t aligned with your goals. The fastest way to get turned off social