Law Practice Management
Dropping the ball on a file transfer: Rule 48 dangers
When a file is transferred from one lawyer to another, one danger is when nothing happens on the file due to a clumsy transfer or missing critical information. A new file that has not been looked at can be a ticking time bomb. Deadlines like limitation periods can pass by unnoticed, and Rule 48 administrative… Read More »
Categories: Biggest Claims Risks, Civil Litigation, Communication Errors, Law Practice Management, Risk Management & Claims Prevention, Risk Management StrategiesBook Review: The Future of the Professions by Mark Susskind
For more than 30 years Richard Susskind has been a thought leader on the future of the legal profession. This is despite the Law Society of England and Wales saying he did not understand confidentiality and was bringing the legal profession into disrepute by suggesting that email would become the predominant way lawyers and their… Read More »
Categories: Legal Technology, TechnologyArtificial intelligence and the “self-driving” lawyer
We all look forward to the day when we can jump in a vehicle that will drive itself to our desired destination. And while self-driving vehicles have been in our imaginations for many decades, vehicles from Tesla and others with driving-assistance technology suggest fully autonomous self-driving cars will be a reality in the not too… Read More »
Categories: Legal Technology, TechnologyThe Future of Law: Facing the challenges and opportunities
Big changes – positive and negative – have happened to the profession in the past. We have gone through economic cycles and seen both emerging and disappearing areas of law. Court rules and procedures have changed. There was the consolidation and growth of big firms and the general movement from general practitioners to specialists. Technology… Read More »
Categories: Law Practice ManagementThe Future of Law: Should legal service providers be regulated?
By stating that they are not practising law or providing legal advice, legal service providers (see yesterday’s post on what a “legal service provider” is) shrewdly aim to take themselves out of the current legal services regulatory scheme and nicely avoid all the education, admission, ethics and insurance obligations that lawyers must fulfill. You can… Read More »
Categories: Law Practice Management, Legal TechnologyThe Future of Law: What are “legal services”?
After discussing who will provide legal services, a relevant question here is “What is the practice of law?” Coming up with a definition of the practice of law has proven to be very difficult. Many have tried, and many have failed, including an American Bar Association Commission. For the purposes of this article we won’t… Read More »
Categories: Law Practice ManagementThe Future of Law Who will provide legal services?
Our current legal system is predicated on lawyers – and more recently paralegals – delivering “legal services” (the definition of this term is discussed in the next section). Can Ontario lawyers maintain a monopoly on professional legal services? The answer is probably not. In fact, some would argue the monopoly ended when paralegals were given… Read More »
Categories: Law Practice Management, Legal TechnologyThe Future of Law: Past, present and future trends affecting the practice of law
Currently there is a lot of discussion about changes in the practice of law and the future of the legal profession. When you are in the midst of changing times, it can sometimes be hard to see the changes that are occurring, much less understand where things are going. For some perspective, it can help… Read More »
Categories: Law Practice Management