BARE BONES BRIEFS: 60-year-old lawyer seeks Miss Universe crown | OCA to trial judges: don’t call parties’ testimony ‘self-serving’ | No correlation between ‘attack dog’ counsel and success | AI legal robot sued: lacks license to practice
By Julius Melnitzer | May 2, 2024 SEXAGENARIAN IN-HOUSE COUNSEL CROWNED MISS BUENOS AIRES Alejandra Rodriguez, a 60-year old Argentinian hospital lawyer, pictured above, has won the Miss Buenos Aires contest. If she wins the next round in the Miss Universe competition by becoming Miss Argentina, she will enter the final, international round as the […]
Ordering Off Menu
By Murray Gottheil | April 30, 2024 I like eating out, but I don’t always like what is on the menu. I have been known to explain to the server that I consider a menu to be merely an indication of which ingredients the chef has in the kitchen, together with samples of some of the […]
Feminists – Honesty Is Not Always The Best Policy
Photo by Markus Spiske at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | April 28, 2024 I was speaking to a newbie lawyer the other day. I am going to call her Sue, which is definitely not her real name. Sue is an intelligent young woman, but like many of us when we are starting out, is perhaps just a […]
Figures Don’t Lie…
Photo by Markus Winkler at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | April 24, 2024 The following recent headline in Law360 caught my attention: “Law360 Canada Pulse survey shows strong satisfaction among lawyers with their jobs.” Although I love Law360 and think very highly of its writers, the headline took me aback because it does not ring true […]
Chasing Unicorns: Changing Law Firm Culture
Photo by Cottonbro Studio at Pexels Culture eats strategy for breakfast – Peter Drucker Back when I was a managing partner in a law firm, I did not think nearly enough about law firm culture. I really should have, but not only because it is the secret to business success. Looking back, I realize I […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: “Jobs bloodbath”sparks DLA Piper cuts to paternity leave | Good looking lawyers win more frequently in courtroom: study | Crown: directors, officers face increased OHSA prosecution risks | Federal Court OKs RCMP’s lengthy delays in harrassment cases | Receivables crisis coming for law firms?
By Julius Melnitzer | April 16, 2024 DLA REDUCES PATERNITY LEAVE IN WAKE OF ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY The Daily Mail reports that global firm DLA Piper has reduced non-partners’ (other than birth mothers) paternity leave by six months, leaving them with 12 months’ eligibility, four less than the 16-week average of most major law firms. “It […]
Reap What You Sow
Photo by Rattasat at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | April 11, 2024 Hey law firms! Have you given much thought to partners approaching retirement, and calculated what their retirement may cost you? I reckon that there are at least five different attitudes that a retiring partner (“RP”) may have. Here they are: Each of these types of […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Blakes absent, but Gowling shines on YouTube | Investment fund liable for “greenwashing” | Lawyer forgives client who stabbed him in court | Ukraine wants to trademark “go fuck yourself” war slogan | Adultery now legal
By Julius Melnitzer | April 4, 2024 BIGLAW MISSES THE YOUTUBE BOAT According to Eric Troutman, a prominent class action defence lawyer with California-based Troutman Amin LLP, writing in Practice Source, YouTube is “the world’s second most visited website and an absolutely critical communication channel for businesses (including law firms) seeking to engage with new […]
How Strong Are Your Roots?
By Murray Gottheil | March 26, 2024 The image that accompanies this post is of a massive tree in the forest behind my house which came down in a storm, bringing down another tree, which brought down a third. As you can see, the root system was wide, but shallow. These trees might have looked majestic, […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Maple Leafs’ captain fighting CRA demand for $6.8 million | LST: Child abuser can practise law | Alberta CA justice joins BLG | Remote work, wellbeing slow law firm productivity | Bullying of law students ‘relatively high’
By Julius Melnitzer | March 25, 2024 TAVARES TAKES ON CRA Maple Leafs’ captain John Tavares is fighting the CRA’s claim that he owes $6.8 million in taxes for 2018, when he signed a seven-year US$77 million contract with the team and moved from New York to Toronto. The agreement included a $70.8 million bonus, […]