♬ What’s happenin brothers and sisters?
Welcome to our time…♬
Lyrics, music and recorded by NAS.
Happy New Year 2012
Last year on Dec. 31, 2010 I posted a Top 10 Legal Tech Predictions for 2011. This year I asked my very good friends and colleagues to contribute their top Tips and Predictions for 2012 thinking that this would be a great way to get some perspective on the New Year. The response has been overwhelming! Accordingly, here is Part 1 of a three-part blog post containing their top advice and predictions for the coming year. But this isn’t the end – I will add in my own tips and predictions for 2012 at the end of Part 3 (can’t help but go out on a limb as well) and ask that you, good readers, add in your own tips and predictions by way of comments on the three blog posts.
Accordingly, here are Part 1 of the Tips and Predictions for 2012!
Karen MacKay: Change is Neigh…
There will be more change in Canadian law firms in 2012 than we have seen in the last 3 years. In Canada, we will see more mergers and spinoffs. Lots of change happened in the USA in 2011 that was forced on them by the economy. The difference between what happened in the USA and Canada will be: The change in Canada will be created by strategic decisions within firms seeking opportunities rather than the financial change that was forced on the American firms.
Karen MacKay MBA CHRP, Phoenix Legal Inc., direct 416.657.2997, mobile 416.904.4848, e-mail kmackay@phoenix-legal.com, www.phoenix-legal.com.
Mitch Kowalski: 2012 – A Turning Point for the Canadian Legal Profession?
When I ran for Bencher in Ontario earlier this year (and was utterly thrashed at the polls!) I did so because I believed that the next ten years are critical to the future of the legal profession. Six months later, my view has not changed.
All over Canada, the legal profession faces challenges it has never faced in the past – and the challenges will only become more numerous. Richard Susskind was right on point when he wrote, “Law does not exist to provide a livelihood for lawyers any more than illness exists to provide a livelihood for doctors. Successful legal business may be a by-product of law . . . but it is not the purpose.”
As lawyers we must constantly earn our right to retain a monopoly over the practice of law. It should never be assumed that we will always have the exclusive right to give legal advice, prepare legal documents, close transactions or even appear in court. One just has to look to the U.K.’s Legal Services Act which is dramatically transforming that jurisdiction’s legal profession. Or, take a look to Australia with Slater & Gordon being the only publically-traded law firm in the world – a firm that was once based on a strong litigation practice but is now aggressively moving into commercial practice areas.
Canada cannot remain an island of lawyer-exclusivity for long – particularly if the legal profession shows itself to be incapable of coming up with creative and efficient ways to make legal services better, faster and cheaper. The commercial pressures of the global economy are too great to ignore and lawyers who stick their heads in the sand will become the dodo birds of the 21st century.
I hope that 2012 will be a watershed year in which meaningful change will finally commence to surface throughout Canada’s legal profession. The following are eight predictions of what can (and should) occur over the next 12 months. (more…)
♬ Don’t dream it – be it…♬
Music and lyrics by Richard O’Brien, from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I am pleased to announce that my blog post “Rocky Horror as a Management Lesson” has now been reprinted in the American Bar Association’s ezine “Law Practice Today”.
I would like to say “Thank You” to LAW PRACTICE TODAY’s Editor-In-Chief, John D. Bowers, Saul Ewing, LLP
their Issue Editor Allison C. Shields, LegalEase Consulting, Inc., and member of the Board of Editors, J. Benjamin Stevens, The Stevens Firm, P.A. – Family Law Center.
This all goes to show – don’t dream it – be it!
♫ O how I wish I could sing like an Angel
I’d sing carols so high and sweet
O if I had the voice of an Angel
I’d be singing that sweet Child asleep…. ♫
“Christmas Angel”: Music and Lyrics by Corlynn Hanney, performed by the Argyle Alumni Choir.
2010 Christmas Slide Show from David Bilinsky on Vimeo.
At this time of year I would like to take a moment and wish each and everyone the Best of the Holiday Season and a Wonderful and Happy New Year.
To all I hope for Peace, Hope and Happiness. I hope your dreams become goals for the New Year and find good ground and take root.
As has become my tradition at this time of year, and as my gift to you, I offer a few minutes of solitude and reflection. This slide show combines two of my loves – music and photography.
I hope this slide show and music (please turn your speakers on full as the recording is a bit faint) brings to you a time of calm, joy and peace. The music is “Christmas Angel’ by Corlynn Hanney and is performed by the Argyle Alumni Choir, Argyle Senior Secondary School, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, copyright Frances Roberts, Director. Used with permission. I hope you enjoy the combination of the music and the photos.
Best wishes for a safe holiday filled with warmth, comfort, friendship and good cheer!
♬ Take a look, take a look
Take control of yourself
For a moment realise
We are thinking today
Today, Today–
Take a look…♬
Lyrics and Music by Andy Sears, recorded by Twelfth Night.
{cross-post from www.slaw.ca}
On Nov. 30, 2010, psychologists at the University of Toronto and Tufts University released a study that makes a link between profitability of law firms and college yearbook photos of managing partners.
They reported that:
[L]aw firms are more profitable when led by managing partners with powerful looking faces. Further, an individual’s career success can be predicted as much as 30 to 40 years earlier simply by looking at their face.
It seems that:
“Appearance matters a great deal when it comes to judging people,” says Professor Nicholas Rule of the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto, lead author of a new study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science. “This includes clothing, posture, and hairstyles, but the real window to judging people is the face. We developed a method to measure facial power and found that it is a strong predictor of law firm profitability.”
♬ Don’t dream it – be it…♬
Music and lyrics by Richard O’Brien, from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
In watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show this Halloween with a fully-engaged set of friends, it occurred to me that the movie is actually a management lesson in cinematic form. Work with me here!
The movie starts with Brad and Janet approaching a dark and foreboding castle after their car has a flat. They are, in effect, the new set of eyes having an unexpected first glimpse inside an existing organization. On gaining entry to the castle and seeing its bizarre occupants, they get the distinct impression that they have just done a ‘time warp’ into a new dimension. This is not unlike someone’s first impression on joining a dysfunctional organization. (more…)
♬ Your a mean one, Mr. Grinch
You really are a heel
Your as cuddly as a cactus
Your as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch…♬
Lyrics by Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, music by Albert Hague, performed by Thurl Ravenscroft.
Mr. Grinch by Dr. Seuss
Anyone who runs a business knows that it is profitable only if you have funds left over after paying all the bills. This enforces a common-sense mentality in ensuring that your costs don’t get out of control. However, in some offices the principle of saving money is taken to such an extreme that their frugality is actually costing them money. Here are some examples (drawn from the collective experiences of my fellow Practice Management Advisors and myself): (more…)
♫ Thy magic reunites those
Whom stern custom has parted;
All men will become brothers
Under thy gentle wing…♫
Lyrics by Friedrich von Schiller; music by L. van Beethoven; Ode to Joy”.
When my trusty but basic cell phone died, it was time to look for a replacement. I knew that it was time to stop my resistance as one of the last holdouts against the western phenomenon that has blown thru the business world, namely the Blackberry. It was a difficult decision but ultimately driven by the need to carry my calendar around with me without carrying a paper printout. I thought that these tiny black megaliths would soon start to have an influence over my life much as the black megalith slowly but surely changes the primitive ancestors of man in: “2001 A Space Odyssey“. What I should have realized much sooner is that this influence could be both positive as well as possibly negative. I also realized that as a self-confessed tecchy, I was failing to drink my own Kool-aid.
♫ Tell me something good
Tell me that you like it …
What I got to give will sho nuff do you good.. ♫
Lyrics and Music by Stevie Wonder, recorded by Rufus and Chaka Khan, “Tell me Something Good“.
While Simon Chester may be leading the discussion on the application of Twitter for lawyers, there is no question that Twitter has proven its value for legal technology conferences.
There were many new and exciting aspects about ABA TECHSHOW 2009 including Richard Susskind’s keynote address on the end of lawyers. But to me, in looking back at ABA TECHSHOW, it was the influence and power of Twitter that is leaving the biggest impression.
You can read the rest of this post on www.slaw.ca “Something to Twitter About“.
♫ You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one…♫
Music and lyrics by John Lennon.
In the Supreme Court of the United States decision in Pleasant Grove City, Utah v. Summum, decided Feb 25, 2008, Justice Samuel Alito Jr. quoted John Lennon’s lyrics from Imagine (in full in a footnote) and referred to them in the text of his opinion. He asked:
” What, for example, is “the message” of the Greco-Romanmosaic of the word “Imagine” that was donated to New York City’s Central Park in memory of John Lennon? See NYC Brief 18; App. to id., at A5. Some observers may “imagine” the musical contributions that John Lennon would have made if he had not been killed. Others may think of the lyrics of the Lennon song that obviously inspired the mosaic and may “imagine” a world without religion, countries, possessions, greed, or hunger.”
Litigators and those seeking to persuade juridical bodies or indeed, people in general, have come to realize the strong message and imagery that song lyrics create in our minds and in our imaginations. They evoke not only an intellectual component, they also reach into the emotional and the sensory sides of a person’s mind. If a picture is worth a thousand words, is a song worth a thousand pictures? We are moving up the scale in terms of being able to connect with as many different components of a person’s personality and thinking processes as we can when we bring in musical, lyrical and emotional components to our work.
In a world filled with digital information at our fingertips, just imagine where all this can take us! You may say I am a dreamer, but it looks like, courtesy of Judge Alito, I am not the only one…
♬ My kind of town, chicago is
My kind of town, chicago is
My kind of razzmatazz
And it has, all that jazz…♬
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn, Music by Jimmy Van Heusen, recorded by Frank Sinatra.
On April 2-4 in Chicago a once-in-a-year, not-to-be-missed event will take place. This year – of all years – should be the year lawyers, administrators, legal technologists, researchers and anyone involved in the delivery of legal services makes a bee-line to TECHSHOW in Chicago. Why? Simply because this recession is the best opportunity to upgrade your systems and technology to be able to take advantage of the upswing (that is coming, notwithstanding the financial news). It is difficult to either introduce new technology or get people to change when they are going gangbusters…hence the Stephen Covey 7th habit: “Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw: Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal”.
This economic downswing is the perfect opportunity to take a step back, examine not only what you are doing from a business perspective but also how you are doing it. What principles of workflow and efficiency can you apply to your practice? How do you determine what are the best strategies for you and your firm? What have other firms done and how well is it working for them? Lastly but certainly not least, what can you do for yourself to improve your own personal productivity and effectiveness?
I have found TECHSHOW to simply be the best resource in this regard. The collection of minds that assemble and speak, discuss, go out for dinner and mingle are the ones that will stimulate you, raise issues and ask questions at a depth equalled nowhere else.
The keynote speaker is non other than: Richard Susskind, OBE, who has 25 years of legal technology experience, and serves as Chair of the Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information and has been IT Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England. In an interview in The Times Online, Richard states:
Sir Richard will no doubt be addressing similar themes in his keynote, based on his latest book: The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services. But Richard is but one voice to be heard at TECHSHOW. There are 60 other notable presenters (including many Canadians: Nils Jensen, Steve Matthews, Joel Alleyne, Jean-François DeRico, Dominic Jaar, Peg Duncan, Donna Neff, Dan Pinnington and yours truly).
Tracks range from “A Day in the (techno) Life” to Solo and Small Firm, Trial Skills, e-Discovery Update, Tech for Financial Management and others. Sessions range from Records Management Policies and Systems: Back to the Drawing Board? to Getting to Paperless: A Lawyer’s Step by Step Guide, Got Apple Envy? Macs in a PC World and my two personal perennial favourites: 60 Sites in 60 Minutes and 60 Tips in 60 Minutes. There is also the full exhibit hall to visit with its incredible array of legal technology offerings.
By registering as an early-bird by Feb. 28th, combined with a program promoter discount, you can save $150 off the full registration cost. The Law Society of British Columbia’s program promoter code is: # EP929 and the Canadian Bar Associations’ is: EP927. A full list of program promoters may be found here.
Chicago has all that jazz (and blues!) and it also has my kind of Conference…TECHSHOW is…I hope to see you there.