Silent Stupidity
Fools believe silence is a void needing to be filled; the wise understand there’s no such thing as silence – Michael J. Sullivan, Age of Myth By Murray Gottheil | May 30, 2023 Client: Why do I want to pay for two lawyers to be in this meeting? Acceptable answers: Unacceptable answers: You might think that […]
Too Nice For This World
Photo by Francesco Ungaro at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | May 22, 2003 Before you read this story, I should let you know that this is a sad story which does not end well. Long ago I had a great professional relationship and friendship with Laurence. I liked Laurence a lot. He was honest and […]
Bah, Humble
Photo by Amirr Zolfaqari at Pexels By Murray Gottheil | May 15, 2023 I spoke to a young lawyer the other day who hails from another country. I will call her Natalie. Natalie explained to me that where she comes from, the culture is such that self-promotion is frowned upon. In her country, people do not […]
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 […]
Women’s General Counsel University creates sense of community for senior in-house female lawyers
Sandra Montanino is the program’s new executive director By Julius Melnitzer | May 10, 2023 A record 16 candidates will comprise the Women General Counsel Canada’s General Counsel University fourth cohort class, with Sandra Montanino as the program’s new executive director. Nine candidates from the third cohort graduated on April 21, while the first and second […]
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 […]
Canada’s legal tuition fees among highest in the world
Chris Bentley says tuition fees are hardly the only costs law students face in getting their training By Julius Melnitzer | December 12, 2022 Canada is the third costliest country in the world to train as a lawyer, according to an analysis of university tuition and administrative fees in 50 countries conducted by The Mobile Bank […]
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 […]
Courthouse law libraries get funding boost at Law Society of Ontario Convocation vote
Douglas Judson says courthouse libraries are “mission critical” to lawyers in remote areas. By Julius Melnitzer | November 17, 2022 The Federation of Ontario Law Associations, which penned an open letter to benchers seeking support for courthouse law libraries in the current budget, has achieved its goal. In early November, Convocation passed the 2023 budget, which included […]