♫ The time is right to do it now
The greatest rock’n'roll swindle
The time is right to do it now…♫

Music and Lyrics by Steve Jones, paul Cook, Julien Temple, recorded by the Sex Pistols.

The ABA Journal reported on Feb. 22, 2010 that an email scam was targeted at 6 law firms in Honolulu and two of them fell for the scam, losing a total of $500,000.00.

In this case the clients, who only contacted the firm via electronic communications, “overpaid” the retainer by way of a cashier’s cheque. When informed about the ‘overpayment’, the clients requested a wire-transfer refund.

By the time the law firm realized the cashier’s cheque was counterfeit, the wire transfers were long gone…

The ABA Journal states:

“Law firms and other professional service providers are cautioned to be on high alert when dealing with clients who come forth via the Internet,” the FBI warns. Also, when dealing with wire transfers, firms should be sure the initial payment has fully cleared before issuing refunds.

Law firms should be instituting policies regarding ‘know your client’ as well as policies regarding ensuring that funds deposited to their trust accounts have fully cleared before forwarding these funds along. The swindlers are counting on the fact that there are lawyers out there who have not yet taken steps to follow these precautions; in which case the swindlers are saying….the time is right to do it now…

♫ What are you doing the rest of your life?
North and south
and east and west of your life? ♫

Lyrics and music by: Alan Bergman, Michel Legrand, Marilyn Bergman, recorded by Barbara Streisand.

Robert (Bob) Denney of Robert Denney Associates, Inc. has just released the February 2010 Communique on What Firm Leaders Should Focus on Now.

With Bob’s permission, here is his communique, which I think is excellent in terms of strategic planning and vision for the year to come:

The economy is recovering although not as rapidly or steadily as we would all like. It is already apparent that this recession will have a far greater impact on the legal profession than any previous recession. Now it is time for firm leaders to shift from survival management to recovery and strategic management. Firms face challenges they have never faced before and for which there are few, if any, precedents. These are some of the areas where these challenges will occur and where firm leaders should now focus their attention.

Leadership and Management: Managers have a short-range perspective. Leaders, on the other hand, need to have a long-range perspective and a vision. They also need to build consensus throughout the firm for achieving that vision. Leadership is different from management. Right now both are critical.

Firm and Practice Management structure: The Managing Partner/President/CEO should focus on strategic issues and external factors – especially clients. But, in BigLaw firms and in many MidLaw firms, this top level manager should focus solely on running the firm and should not have any personal client responsibilities. There should be a senior management team including an Executive Committee, a Chief Operating Officer (or co-Managing Partner) and Practice Group Leaders. All positions should have job descriptions and the partners in these positions need to be given sufficient non-billable time to fulfill their management responsibilities. (more…)

♫ Well, who are you?
Who are you? Who, who, who, who?
I really wanna know…♫

Music and Lyrics by Pete Townshend, recorded by The Who.

A new service has sprung up. It is entitled “Career Excuse.com” Its purpose is to allow you to create false career references for your resume. They state:

Lets say you are applying for a Retail position and have a 3 year gap in your resume you want to fill. CareerExcuse.com has a retail company already established with a 800 number, a real address, a real website, and a real contact person.

Not only do they allow you to ‘fill’ that 3 year gap, they can act as new former job references, complete with: ‘company name, address, “800″ number, company website/Email address , contact name, contact phone number, contact email address’.

You can create your own virtual company answered by a live receptionist, or direct any inquiries into voice mail limbo.

What if someone should happen to call the listed job reference?

When we receive a call inquiring about your references, they will be directed to our human resources dept. where they are instructed to fax, or e-mail, a Authorized Release Form and their Employment Verification Form to a contact person that we provided to you as your new job reference.

It seems their creativity knows no bottom:

Bankrupt companies make a great previous employer
We have created a management company with dozens of bankrupt companies that are ready to provide any inquirer your desired reference information.

Advising on ethics is just another part of their services:

Is misinformation on a resume illegal?
No, Since a resume is not a legal document, it is not illegal to misrepresent on a resume.

Course if the employer should happen to find out about this, ah, deception:

Can I get caught and fired?
We can’t guarantee that you wont and not liable if you do. If you get the job in the first place..we did our part. It’s up to you to act responsible after you get the job

After you get the job?

It would seem that an employer must do their own due diligence by checking #800’s and email addresses against valid sources to ensure that they are receiving valid reference checks.

It does seem that they are careful about privacy:

What about my privacy?
For your protection we do not collect or share any personal information about you, such as your name, mailing address or credit card number. All of your financial transactions are conducted through Paypal, our secure payment processor.

When it comes to hiring people these days, it seems that one needs to carefully ask: “Who are You…who who????” because we would like to know…

Hat tip to Pete Roberts for passing this site along!

♫ You see more than I
Daniel you’re a star in the face of the sky…♫

Lyrics by: Bernie Taupin, music and recorded by Elton John.

Subsequent to the early glimpse into WestlawNext that Thompson Reuters provided to a group of us in Eagan, Minnesota, many of that august group have now posted their views on WestlawNext on the web. So without any further ado, here is a look at what they, and others, have seen:

I hope I haven’t omitted anyone who has posted their early views and thoughts on the new WestlawNext. In the interests of fair disclosure, Thomson Reuters did pay expenses to travel to Eagan to see the preview (brrrr…it is cold there compared to warm Vancouver!).

By visiting these other sites hopefully you will gain perspective by reading the thoughts of other legal bloggers, writers and videographers who are stars in the face of the sky.

♫ Go on take the money and run
Go on take the money and run..♫

Lyrics and music by: Steve Miller, recorded by the Steve Miller Band.

A lawyer in BC has reported that the fraudsters have a new tactic in their attempts against lawyers and their trust accounts.

Past fraud attempts have aimed at trying to have a lawyer immediately forward funds to a client resulting from a ‘collection’ against a debtor that is paid by a forged certified financial instrument that is deposited into the lawyer’s trust account. Now the fraudsters have changed tactics.

Rather than try to convince the lawyer that he or she has just collected a large debt and he or she should send over large amounts of money forthwith, the fraudsters are now simply forging cheques that appear to be trust cheques drawn on the lawyer’s trust account. This way they bypass the lawyer and their firm controls entirely.

This is a straight cheque forgery. In one case that I am aware, a bank cashed one of these forged cheques, only to reverse the withdrawal shortly afterwards and restore the funds back into the lawyer’s trust account.

This behooves lawyers to go online and check their trust account activity on a daily basis…just to ensure that someone hasn’t taken the money and run….

♫ A moment of despair
That forces you to say that life’s unfair
It makes you scared of what tomorrow may bring
But don’t go giving into fear ..♫

Lyrics and music by: Stone, Greenberg, Daniel Pierre, recorded by Joss Stone.

This is a post on Slaw.ca today:

You may wonder what human rights has to do with Internet Explorer. Prior to the earthquake in Haiti, the news was filled with the cyber-attacks on Google. The latest attacks on Google’s network appear to have originated in China, reported ComputerWorld in a post dated Jan 12, 2010 and were directed at the Google accounts of human rights activists in China. ComputerWorld stated:

In a blog post Tuesday, David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, said that attacks have forced the company to “review the feasibility of our business operations in China.” Google, continued Drummond, is “no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all.”

Read more here: http://www.slaw.ca/2010/01/19/human-rights-google-and-internet-explorer/

♫ Baby, baby, I’m out on a limb
I’m giving in to you again…♫

Lyrics, music and recorded by Teena Marie.

I wanted to say a most gracious thanks to Steve Matthews and his crew at Stem Legal (Jordan Furlong, Emma Durand-Wood, and Laurel Fulford) for my 2009 Clawbie in the area of Practice Management (tied with Avoid A Claim Blog – Dan Pinnington the Director of PracticePro’s new risk management blog). I also wanted to say a hearty “Congratulations” to all those who won and who were nominated (a complete list of winners can be found here). Well Done!

I didn’t want this to be a typical acceptance speech (which can be rather boring) so I am giving into the urge to go out on a limb (which usually means someone comes after me with a chainsaw….but I digress…) and make some predictions for what will be seen in the 2010 ClawBies and legal blogs in general.

First of all, I think 2010 will be the year of the collective blog. www.slaw.ca is one shining example of what can be achieved by a powerful group of bloggers who have multiple eyes and ears and who are watching the world. Slaw has been recognized internationally for the quality of its work. Frankly I don’t know how a Canadian lawyer can practice today without following it – it is a great way to stay on top of current developments not only across Canada but in the international legal world as well. Hats off to Simon Fodden for herding this particular group of legal cats!

Another great group blog is Lawrence Gridin and Omar Ha-Redeye’s Law is Cool.

Second, individual bloggers will make more extensive use of guest bloggers on their sites. This adds variety and new voices to the mix (and also helps create cross-links). It also builds on the social aspect of blogging.

Third, 2010 will also be the year that legal organizations recognize the value of a blog. The Stream, a collective blog hosted by the BC Courthouse Library Society, illustrates what happens when an organization recognizes the informational value in hosting a blog and looks at how it can provide information differently. Johanne Blenkin and Mandy Ostick are leading the way here. Lang Michener LLP, Davis LLP, Clark Wilson LLP and other law firms fall into this emerging category.

Fourth, I would like to mention a few people to watch in the Canadian legal blogging community:

Doug Jasinki’s new blog: http://legalmarketing.ca/ is one to keep an eye on (disclaimer: Doug and his team designed my blog for which I am eternally grateful). Doug is a very bright light when it comes to online legal marketing and he and his company Skunkworks Creative Group Inc. are doing some truly innovative things in the legal marketplace (see his list of clients here).

Individual bloggers that I find particularly inspiring: Erik Mcgraken, Donna Seale and Jordan Furlong are three to watch, in my humble opinion.

Lastly, there is Steve Matthews. He is a true Canadian visionary when it comes to understanding the entire online social matrix in which lawyers and law firms are working. His work is international in scope and light-years ahead of the competition. He senses oncoming transformation from the briefest puff in the winds of change.

So there they are…baby, baby I am out on a limb again…

♫ Everyone of them knew that as time went by
They’d get a little bit older and a litter slower but
It’s all the same thing, in this case manufactured by someone who’s always
Umpteen your father’s giving it diddly-i-dee
District was leaving, intended to pay for

Who’s to know?
Who was to know?…♫

Lyrics and music by Lennon & McCartney, recorded by The Beatles.

A bookkeeper of a San Francisco Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury firm Bostwick, Peterson & Mitchell was sentenced just before Christmas to 10 years in State Prison for stealing $9 million US from the firm since 2005 reported Legal Pad in a post on Jan. 6, 2010.

He will go to prison for 10 years; his thefts took place over about 9 years. He stole $9 million; he was ordered to pay $8.7 million in restitution.

Legal Pad stated:

‘While it’s mostly “water under the bridge,” said partner James Bostwick, it does offer some relief. “It took way too long, but of course it’s good to see him transferred from county jail to state prison.”

Bostwick said the firm uncovered Thomas’ transgressions in 2005, when he started acting suspiciously during an audit of the firm’s finances. “He caused a lot of harm along the way,” Bostwick said. “He was a person we trusted for 10 years.” ‘

Such stories make a rather convincing case for good law firm audits on law firm’s trust and general accounts. After all, in every year its all the same thing – a trusted person at the center – who’s to know without an audit?

♫ What makes you think that you are invincible
I can see it in your eyes that you’re so sure
please don’t tell me that I am the only one that’s vulnerable
impossible…♫

Lyrics, music and recorded by John Vesely, under the pseudonym Secondhand Serenade.

The State Bar of Arizona has issued one of the first Ethics Opinions on preserving client confidentiality when placing client documents for access over the Internet. Arizona stated:

“Lawyers providing an online file storage and retrieval system for client access of documents must take reasonable precautions to protect the security and confidentiality of client documents and information.”

What is interesting in the Opinion is not the fact that the electronic storage of client files was permitted as long as lawyers and law firms “take competent and reasonable steps to assure that the client’s confidences are not disclosed to third parties through theft or inadvertence” or that ‘reasonable precautions’ was the standard that was set forth; but rather that the ethics opinion specifically approved the manner in which the remote access could occur:

The rest of this post can be found on slaw.ca.

♫ And gazing down from yonder,
On a world of blue and green,
He’ll say with eyes of wonder,
I have seen, i have seen,
My eyes have seen…♫

Lyrics, music and recorded by Chris de Burgh.

I have recently posted on www.slaw.ca on Barclay Johnson’s use of a Sony Reader in Court. Here is the start of the article:

A lawyer friend of mine told me about his recent use of his new Sony Reader in Court. No, this wasn’t to read books while waiting to speak in Chambers! He is using it in direct and cross-examination in court and I thought it would be of interest to the readers on Slaw. So with no further ado, here it is in his own words:

I thought I would contact you to let you know that I have recently purchased a Sony Reader Model PRS 600 (touch screen with dictionary) at a cost of $399 plus tax. I also purchased the leather book jacket for $40 (which comes with a night light) as well as an AC adapter for $40. I had looked at previous models and decided to wait until some of the issues had been resolved regarding the transfer of text and PDF files. I’ve used this amazing new device in a recent five day trial here in Victoria.

To read the rest of the article, go here.

Thanks to Barclay Johnson [bwjohnson at shaw.ca] of Victoria BC for allowing me to post his experiences here in order that all of us can gaze with eyes of wonder and say I have seen ..I have seen…