Retirement For Young and Old Lawyers: Part One
By Murray Gottheil | December 3, 2024 I look in the mirror and wonder who the little old lady staring back at me is. – Doris Gottheil, age 95 What a strange title. Everyone knows that it is only old lawyers who have to worry about retirement, not young ones. Right? I think not. Life is […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Albert the Dog joins Gowling | Lawyer earning $400,000+ claims he’s “underpaid” | Blakes study: Cyberattacks target M&A | BLG beefs up Calgary real estate group | Blakes adds IP litigator to Toronto roster
By Julius Melnitzer | November 27, 2024 Gowling pioneers service dog assistance for employees When Jemima Banks, who suffers from illnesses that cause chronic pain, diziness, migraines, stomach problems, fatigue and joint dislocations, applied to Gowling WLG’s office in Birmingham, UK’s for a paralegal position, her health declaration stated that she would need to bring […]
Changing Law Firms for the Worse (Yet Again)
Photo by Rdne at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | November 12, 2024 I was speaking to a recent retiree from a Canadian Big Law firm the other day, and she introduced a new law firm concept to me, that of the “practice assistant”. Apparently, her firm did away with the concept of legal assistants (formerly, a […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: ECJ: Accountants’ communications not privileged | Alexi AI cuts routine litigation task time by 80% | Legal Risk Assessments: tackling risk proactively | OCA: No appeals of court-ordered arbitrator appointments | Singapore to establish international appeals body for commercial cases
By Julius Melnitzer | October 30, 2024 ECJ RULES THAT PRIVILEGE DOES NOT EXTEND TO TAX ADVISORS WHO ARE NOT LAWYERS The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that privilege in tax matters extends only to lawyers and not to other professionals, even if they perform similar advisory tasks. The court concluded […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: LSO licenses parolee serving 27-year sentence| Caseway AI legal research tool eliminates “hallucinations” | Cecilia Hoover joins BLG | Marcel Strigberger’s hilarious new book | Should Canada adopt UK public inquiry recommendations?
By Julius Melnitzer | October 27, 2024 LST: PAROLED APPLICANT STILL SERVING 27-YEAR SENTENCE CAN PRACTISE LAW The Law Society Tribunal Hearing Division has granted a license to practise law in Ontario to Dr. Serdar Kalaycioglu, a parolee convicted of a multi-million wire fraud in the US who still has about 3 years left in […]
Monkhouse Law v. Belyavsky: Could this be among the worst attempts ever to justify lawyers’ fees?
By Julius Melnitzer | September 18, 2024 It’s not just that Justice Robert Centa of the Ontario Superior Court cut Monkhouse Law’s bill to Yefim Belyavsky by over 90 percent, from $25,163 to $2,000: what’s really astounding is the Toronto employment law boutique’s misplaced presentation of the case it made to support its fees. Centa […]
Vacation Frustration
By Murray Gottheil | September 10, 2024 A junior associate at a law firm called me the other day to complain. There is nothing unusual about that. Associates complain a lot, often with good reason. Her complaint this time was that she had told H.R. that she needed to take a day off for personal reasonS and […]
What Does Loyalty Have To Do With It?
Photo by Roman Odintsov at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | September 4, 2024 Leadership is a two-way street, loyalty up and loyalty down – Grace Murray Hopper I thought it might be fun to test my skills as a writer by writing about two things that have virtually nothing to do with each other. I considered writing […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Talent-starved law firms offer staff $50,000 for hiring referrals | IPH pays $82.5 million for Bereskin & Parr | More lawyers coughing up as cyberattacks rise 77% | Report: regulating working hours will promote EDI in profession | IP firm sets new standards for parental leave
By Julius Melnitzer | September 3, 2024 EARN $50,000: BRING US A LAWYER A&O Shearman, Kirkland & Ellis, Goodwin, and Paul Weiss are among the law firms offering their junior lawyers US$50,000 to refer acquaintances as possible hires. According to Financial Times, referral bonuses as part of recruitment strategy have been around for awhile, but […]
Mental Health in Law Firms
Rose Avarino By Rose Avarino | August 21, 2024 This is a condensed version of an article that first appeared on Walker Law’s website. Mental health is at the forefront of many social media platforms: from psychotherapists offering advice on self-care to individual influencers posting about their mental health journeys. But are we really prioritizing […]