"Avoid A Claim" Blog

I was pleased and honoured to see a profile of practicePRO and its claim prevention resources, including the AvoidAClaim blog, in the Summer issue of MAsses of Info, the e-newsletter of the Massachusetts LOMAP program.

The text of the article appears here:

LOMAPs Around the World!

We have, it appears, been very neglectful of giving our Canadian brothers and sisters their propers in this space. And, we proclaim this a “worldly” section . . . Well, it is time to right that injustice.

LOMAP-style services are available across North America, in the United States as well as Canada. (For a full listing, see here.) practicePRO, in Toronto, Ontario, provides risk management, claims prevention and law practice management information. The practicePRO website has a tremendous amount of information available. The inimitable Dan Pinnington is the director of practicePRO. Dan’s knowledge of legal risk management and legal technology both appear bottomless, and his skill-set flourishes well beyond those two categories. Dan’s “Avoid A Claim” blog is an excellent, and frequently updated, resource. In addition to Dan’s blog, you can also access the current and archived issues of LawPRO magazine. The practicePRO website should be one of your main stopping points for law practice management answers; but, if you do visit the website, set aside some time: there’s a lot see, eh. Oh, Canada, indeed.

Thanks for your kind words Jared.

While it is perhaps not so obvious to those that use practicePRO resources, I must return the compliments to my fellow practice advisors at the provincial law societies and state bar associations. As my peers they are a great source of information, ideas and inspiration. A full list of them is here.

Its halfway through 2010, and we’ve compiled the top 40 most downloaded practicePRO articles and resources. Many of the perenial favourites at still there, including many of our retainer precedents, budget spreadsheet, the ILA checklist, Peg Duncan’s ediscovery reading list and avoiding the dangers of metadata article).

There are some interesting new entries at the top though:

• We’re glad to see the our fraud information is being read, including the collaborative family law scam alert and the article on sophisticated new cheque frauds.
• There seems to be a craving for articles on smartphones! Essential Smartphone Apps has joined Blackberry 101 in the top 40.
• New in the top 40 are the Sitting on a Non-Profit Board and employee departure checklists
• Our webzine is generating a lot of traffic now too, as indicated by the popularity of Debra Rolph’s article on ironing out the wrinkles in the Limitations Act.

The full list, as well as the top downloads from previous years, can be found here.

Cross posted at Slaw.ca

Prudent lawyers should be considering what impact the G20 Summit may have on their ability to access banks, the courts and other downtown Toronto services in the week leading up to and during the Summit – June 21-27.

I have heard from a few sources that several of the banks will be closing their downtown Toronto core branches during part of the week of the G20 Summit. This is unfortunate timing as this is one of the busiest times of the year for real estate transactions. If you are handling real estate transactions or other matters involving banks in the downtown core, you would be well advised to call the bank now to determine if you need to make alternate arrangements, particularly for Thursday and Friday, June 24 and 25. It is our understanding that the Toronto Land Registry Office will be open during regular business hours.

While there has been no official communications from the courts, litigators would be well advised to consider what alternative arrangements can be made with respect to matters that are scheduled to be before the courts during the week leading up to the G20 summit. They should also consider whether pleadings and other court documents that must be filed during the same week can be filed early.

From an eblast sent by the Law Society this morning, the Law Society offices and the Great Library will be closed on Friday June 25. Online services from the Great Library will continue to be available.

Like other businesses located in downtown Toronto, LawPRO expects to be affected by traffic restrictions and other preparations for the G20 Summit from June 21 to 27. We are planning to be fully operational from Monday, June 21 to Thursday, June 24, but suggest that you avoid any visits to our offices that week. If you have cheques or forms to drop off, or need to meet with a member of our staff, please do so by June 18 or after June 28.

Note that on June 25 our reception service will be limited. We will have only skeleton staff at 250 Yonge. However, the TitlePLUS department will be operational on June 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

We expect all electronic resources, such as our websites, to be fully operational.

Updates on LAWPRO operations during the Summit will be posted on our website www.lawpro.ca

Now that spring is in the air, its time again for the LSUC/OBA Solo & Small Firm Conference & Expo.

This conference brings together the best presenters on technology and practice management issues and it is a great chance for small firm lawyers to get together, network, and get practical advice from other lawyers who face the same issues and challenges. Presentations this year touch on topics such as disaster & succession planning, HR and staffing issues; running a virtual law office, social media and networking; running a paperless office and technologies you should be using in your office. And that’s just to list a few. The full Conference schedule and list of presentations can be found in the program flyer. Lawyers can also visit the Exhibitors Hall, which will feature products and services from a wide variety of companies.

I am pleased to be co-chairing the conference for the fifth time, along with Donna Neff. I will also be a presenter. My sessions include the always popular 60 tips in 60 minutes opening plenary; one on time and email management, and one on Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint tips and tricks.

This is a conference organized by and for solo and small firm lawyers and it gets better every year. If you haven’t been before, make a point of attending this year. You’ll come away with new ideas and new contacts and you’ll have a great time as well! You can also attend via the web as several of the sessions will be webcast and others will be available for viewing across the web afterwards. I hope to see you there.

The OBA Law Practice Management Section is presenting a lunchtime CLE/webinar program on legal technology on Monday March 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm. Come to this session to find out how you can imbed technology into every aspect of practicing law and how to use it to increase productivity, efficiency, and flexibility while reducing costs, stress and wasted effort. The presenters are Donna Neff of the Neff Law Office and Amer Mushtaq of Mushtaq Law. Both are doing great things with legal technology. Get the inside story and practical tips from them on the best way to use technology for everything from marketing and intake to preparing documents and managing conflicts. You will learn creative and cost-effective ways to use technology to enhance every aspect of their practices to achieve both success and work-life balance.

Go here for more details and a registration form.

Please check the mailing address you have for LAWPRO in your contacts and database systems. We are still getting mail addressed to our old address, even though we moved two years ago! Please send LAWPRO mail to our current address: 250 Yonge Street, Suite 3101, P.O. Box 3, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2L7.

I am pleased and honoured to have AvoidAClaim recognized with a Canadian Law Blog Award (AKA “CLawBie”) in the Practice Management category. There was actually a tie in this category and I am pleased to share the podium with my fellow practice management advisor and friend David Bilinsky and his Thoughtful Legal Management blog.

The Canadian law blogging community continues to grow and evolve and I am pleased to be part of it with AvoidAClaim and to participate on SLAW which won the Best Canadian Law Blog CLawBie. The CLawBies are in their fourth year now. See a full list winners and nominations at www.clawbies.ca.

Due to a minor configuration glitch, we had to make some changes to the AvoidAClaim RSS Feed on the weekend. Please check your RSS feed if you subscribed in the first few days after we went live. The correct feed is <http://feeds.feedburner.com/avoidaclaim>

You can also subscribe to receive AvoidAClaim updates by email at
<http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=avoidaclaim>

Sorry for any confusion this might have caused.

practicePRO is pleased to be venturing into the blogosphere with the AvoidAClaim blog – www.avoidaclaim.com. AvoidAClaim has a narrow and specific focus: helping lawyers avoid legal malpractice claims.

In conjunction with practicePRO’s website, www.practicepro.ca, AvoidAClaim will provide risk management, claims prevention and law practice management information to help lawyers proactively take steps to avoid legal malpractice claims, and to help them grow successful and thriving law practices.

Dan Pinnington will write the majority of the posts on the AvoidAClaim blog, but from time to time there will be content from other LAWPRO staff, and other leaders in the fields of claims prevention and law practice management.