What Danger Lurks in the Shadow of Brilliance?
Photo by Dustin Tray at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | May 11, 2023 Now that I have been retired for a few years, I sometimes wonder whether my experience as to how law firms work remains valid. Also, since I spent my days with medium-sized firms and not in Big Law, I occasionally worry that […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Celebrities abound for BLG’s Guy Pratte’s new podcast | BJ’s Will Osler chairs Calgary Stampede | SCC has opportunity to resolve test for appealing domestic arbitral awards | SCC launches new electronic filing portal | Wildeboer’s 30th anniversary
By Julius Melnitzer | March 30, 2023 BLG’s Pratte launches Art of Persuasion podcast Borden Ladner Gervais LLP’s Guy Pratte, one of Canada’s top litigators will launch The Art of Persuasion, his new podcast, on April 21. The podcast will feature conversations with notable Canadians including former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, defence counsel Marie Henein, […]
Zoom trials: benefits outweigh hiccups
By Julius Melnitzer | March 28, 2023 Alf Kwinter of Toronto’s Singer Kwinter, a 77-year-old icon of the plaintiff’s personal injury bar who is in his 51st year of practice, has become an advocate of the virtual Zoom trial. “I was very surprised by how well it worked, so much so that the recent move […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: LSO panel splits on whether Black Lives Matter criticism is professional misconduct | Firm sues ‘underbilling’ associates | Remote lawyering: longer hours: CLIO survey | LSO suspends paralegal who cost clients $500,000 | CTA: compensation for passenger applies to all others on same flight
By Julius Melnitzer | March 8, 2023 IS AGGRESSIVE CRITICISM OF BLACK LIVES MATTER PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT? A Law Society Tribunal has split on whether social media posts criticizing Black Lives Matter, Pride Day and public health mask mandates amounted to professional misconduct. Lisa Simone, who was applying for a paralegal license, admitted the posts were […]
The difficult art of handling clients
By Julius Melnitzer | February 6, 2023 The art of managing one’s clients has befuddled many a lawyer. But Sean Dillman, an enterprising, tech-savvy, ex-general practitioner and co-manager of a law firm has come up with a novel approach: a client prepared for the lawyer experience, he says, will be much easier to manage. To […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Family lawyers make these professional misconduct mistakes | Clio offers escape from restrictive legaltech contracts | Wikipedia influences judges’ decisions: MIT study | Former CJO Strathy joins Arbitration Place | Medical device mass torts proliferating
By Julius Melnitzer | January 30, 2023 PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT MISTAKES FAMILY LAWYERS SHOULD AVOID In a Six Minute Family Lawyer Program, Bill Trudell, who defends lawyers before the Law Society of Ontario, outlined five Rules of Professional Conduct “that frequently are not followed and ones that may be of particular relevance to the family law […]
Law Society of Ontario accepts license surrender from lawyer Jerry Nesker who misused trust account
Bill Trudell says his client was trying to help a client and didn’t intend wrongdoing. By Julius Melnitzer | January 3, 2023 The Law Society Tribunal has allowed veteran Toronto lawyer Jerry Nesker to surrender his license after using his trust account to permit transfers of $150 million from abroad for purposes unrelated to the practice […]
Ottawa lawyer James Bowie, accused of sexual misconduct, suspended by LSO in unrelated proceedings
Ottawa lawyer James Bowie was suspended by the Law Society of Ontario indefinitely. By Julius Melnitzer | January 2, 2023 The Law Society of Ontario has suspended embattled Ottawa lawyer James Bowie indefinitely until he responds satisfactorily to investigators’ requests to produce books and records related to his practice. When and if he does so, the […]
Lawyers may ask courts to invalidate their retainer agreements: Ontario Court of Appeal
Gavin MacKenzie says the decision will not lead to lawyers bringing a “flood of applications.” By Julius Melnitzer | December 5, 2022 In a case of first impression, the Ontario Court of Appeal has been asked to strike a written retainer agreement because it was not “fair and reasonable” to the lawyer. But the court declined to […]
Veteran litigator calls for Ontario to reinstitute KC designation
John Campion says that the late AG, Ian Scott, abolished QCs but kept his grandfathered QC when he returned to practice. By Julius Melnitzer | December 2, 2022 A veteran litigator’s call for Ontario to reinstitute the King’s Counsel designation appears to be gaining significant professional support. John Campion, currently a partner at Toronto’s Gardiner […]