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  • April 19th, 2022

    I shall be telling this with a sigh
    Somewhere ages and ages hence:
    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
    I took the one less traveled by
    And that has made all the difference…

    – Lyrics by Robert Frost, music by Randall Thompson

    Law is presently at a cross-road. On one hand, I can see a brilliant legal future that resembles Tomorrowland at Disneyland – filled with sparkling new technologies such as AI, Blockchain and innovative legal search tools that help lawyers meet and exceed client’s needs. On the other hand, the future could be a place where lawyers have been largely marginalized, the right to representation is bypassed in the name of expedience, the rule of law is undermined by politicians and the justice system ridiculed due to its cost and failure to render justice in any meaningful way to the majority of the public.

    The new technological tools, while welcome and exciting, do little to change the justice system from a structural standpoint. They are, I fear, the equivalent of a new technological way to flog a dead horse. Without redoing the justice system to make it simple, speedy and affordable, it may simply collapse due to its own burdensome complexity, delay and cost, taking lawyers and their future, with it.

    Which road shall we choose? The future is in our hands.

    Justice under attack

    The signs of a darker future are certainly apparent, and voices have been raised calling for greater attention. No less than Madam Justice Beverley McLachlin, the former Chief Justice of Canada has said: The principles and institutions underpinning the rule of law are under increasing attack, even in Western democracies. If the rule of law is undermined, then so is the future of justice and lawyers. As lawyers, we need to be seen to work with other stakeholders to find ways to strengthen the rule of law and be powerful and reasoned voices to advocate when it is under attack.

    Structural issues

    Law is complex. Along with the sheer number of laws, regulations, bylaws and such that apply to everyday life, there is the issue that each jurisdiction has its own laws, in some cases for a relatively small number of people. The BC Law Institute, for example, in its constitution, has as one of its goals to: “promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its adaptation to modern social needs.” Much more can be done to make laws consistent in application and simpler across all types of borders and within jurisdictions as well.

    Emerging Issues

    Technology, along with other factors, is causing changes in society at a rapid pace. The law has largely lagged behind in providing protections, resulting in corporations and other entities asserting greater and greater powers over individuals who largely are left without effective remedies. For example, The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada recently stated: “Commissioner Daniel Therrien warns privacy concerns are reaching crisis levels and is calling on the federal government to take immediate action by giving his office new powers to more effectively hold organizations to account.”

    “Unfortunately, progress from government has been slow to non-existent,” says Commissioner Therrien, whose annual report to Parliament was tabled. “Not only are the privacy rights of Canadians at stake, so too is our democracy and other fundamental values.”

    Law loses its value if it fails to grapple with emerging legal issues and provide protections for those in society. This challenge will only continue to grow over time.

    Regulatory issues

    The rules and operation surrounding civil procedure, criminal justice, mediation and arbitration, administrative boards and tribunals as well as the regulatory environment of lawyers is reflective of the complex legal environment within which lawyers operate. Working with judges and others to adopt processes to regularize laws and streamline and simplify the operation and regulation of justice and regulatory systems are steps in the right direction.

    Law Schools

    What kind of challenges do law schools train law students to meet? According to the Harvard Law Review in an article entitled, Law Schools, Leadership, and Change by Susan Sturm: “There is a growing sense that law school is preparing people for a set of professional roles that do not match the demands or needs of a changing society. Research has documented an overemphasis on a narrow conception of technical mastery, and an underemphasis on the imperative to connect education with professional leadership for challenging times.”

    Sturm continues later in the article: “Issues of justice, problem-solving ethics, change strategies, and inequality also tend to be marginalized within the mainstream curriculum, which encourages students to develop a radically skeptical attitude toward even the possibility of engaging in normative argument or achieving change.”

    If we are going to implement the kind of changes that Sturm is advocating, we need to start by training lawyers to meet the challenges of the future head on. We need to emphasize how lawyers can be change agents in defining the future relationship of law to society.

    Criminal Justice

    According to the Canadian Department of Justice: “The cost of the criminal justice system is high. A Justice Canada report estimated that the total cost of Criminal Code offences to the justice system and society in 2008 was about $100 billion, including tangible costs of $31 billion. Roughly half of these tangible costs were criminal justice system costs. Police account for the majority of expenditures (57%), followed by corrections (32%), courts (5%), prosecutions (4%) and legal aid (3%).” Lawyers can be meaningful players in discussions on how to implement change to reduce the delay, cost and operation of the criminal justice system so that justice can be seen to be done.

    Family Law

    There is perhaps no area of the law that needs systemic change as family law. M. Jerry McHale, QC stated it well: “Last, but not least, closing the implementation gap – the discrepancy between what we know and what we actually do in family law – is also a matter of changing the underlying adversarial culture of the family justice system to make it less contentious and more truly collaborative. Academics, practitioners and critics have been writing about this change for nearly 40 years! Admittedly, it is no simple task – adversarial attitudes are deeply woven into the history, fabric and methods of the justice system. But the exorbitant fiscal and emotional costs of the long-dominant litigation model can no longer be supported. The system is unworkable, and it is losing credibility. As such, it falls squarely and immediately to the law schools and to the judges, lawyers, legislators, administrators, and service providers who make up the family justice system to come to grips with the problem of adversarial family law culture change for once and for all.”

    (originally published in PracticeTalk in the Canadian Bar Association’s BarTalk magazine:

    https://www.cbabc.org/BarTalk/Articles/2019/August/Columns/The-Future-of-Law)

    © 2022 David J. Bilinsky

    Posted in Change Management, Issues facing Law Firms, Law Firm Strategy, Leadership and Strategic Planning, Technology, Trends | Permalink | No Comments »
    April 11th, 2022

    Lady Justice at the Supreme Courts, Vancouver, BC[the_ad_placement id=”right-side”]

    ( © 2012 Prov. of BC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/)

     

    ♫ I can have it all
    Now I’m dancing for my life…

    – Music and Lyrics by Giorgio Moroder, Lyrics by Keith Forsey and Irene Cara; performed by Cara.

    When it comes to going beyond private practice, a few law graduates have taken things perhaps just a bit further than most.

    Take Mark Ciavarella. He was a President Judge of the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. He pled guilty in 2009 to “federal charges of honest services fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion in connection with receiving $2.6 million in kickbacks from Robert Powell (himself an attorney) and Robert Mericle, the co-owner and builder respectively, of two private, for-profit juvenile facilities of PA Child Care” (per Wikipedia). How did he earn these kickbacks, you ask? By sentencing children to stays in juvenile detention for crimes such as “mocking a principal on Myspace, trespassing in a vacant building, and shoplifting DVDs from Walmart.”

    Then there is Minnesota attorney Thomas P. Lowe. Now Thomas isn’t the first lawyer to have sex with his client (and almost certainly not the last). He distinguished himself by taking things one step further and billing his client for his time having sex, characterizing these activities as “drafting memos” and “meetings” (per Business Insider). This earned him a professional misconduct citation, among other things.

    Stealing from clients is bad; stealing from orphaned children is in a class all its own. Yet that is what attorney John Milton Merritt did. He plead guilty to 12 counts of using forged court orders to defraud clients. Among those clients were four orphaned girls whose parents were killed in a 2002 car crash and a boy injured in a 2005 car accident. In total, Mr. Merritt stole just under $450,000 from the children and $1.7 million in total (per Huffpost).

    However, not many lawyers make such an impact as Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by his alias, Lenin. He played a leading role in the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks overthrew Russia and the Tsars (per Wikipedia).

    He served as head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. Under his administration, Russia and then the wider Soviet Union became a one-party communist state governed by the Russian Communist Party.

    Genocide scholar Adam Jones claims that “there is very little in the record of human experience to match the violence unleashed between 1917, when the Bolsheviks took power, and 1953, when Joseph Stalin died and the Soviet Union moved to adopt a more restrained and largely non-murderous domestic policy” (per Wikipedia). Robert Conquest, in his book, estimates the communist leaders of the Soviet Union were responsible for no fewer than 15 million deaths.

    On a different scale, take lawyer Brett Hartley of Florida who was disbarred by The Florida Supreme Court. What did he do? He used his lawyer trust account as a business operating account for an adult entertainment business in Jacksonville, Florida called Flash Dancers. He also abandoned his practice, misappropriated client funds, failed to pay back $255,000 from his father in law after two payments, and had a substance abuse problem.

    This all goes to show that if you throw the ethics book out the window, you can seemingly have it all, provided you don’t mind — dancing for your life.

    Resources to assist with personal, drug, alcohol and other issues

    Since many lawyers who get into ethical troubles do so as a result of alcohol or drug dependence, mental health issues, stress, depression, parenting and elder care issues and other challenging life situations, there are a number of resources available to assist lawyers and in many cases, their staff and families deal with these issues before they become overwhelming. Here is an overview of some of the resources available in BC.  There will be similar programs available in other provinces and states – check with your bar association, practice management advisor or ethics counsel.

    Lawyers Assistance Program (“LAP”) (lapbc.com) LAPBC is an independent organization of members of the BC legal community (lawyers, judges, families and support staff) for members of the legal community.

    LAP provides peer support, resources and referral services to help people deal with personal problems — including alcohol and drug dependence, mental health issues, stress and anxiety, relationships issues, including familial issues, professional concerns, depression and other issues. They are available 24/7. Call 604-685-2171 or 1-888-685-2171 or email info@lapbc.com.

    Mood Disorders Society of Canada (mdsc.ca)

    Mental health resources.

    Law Society of BC

    LifeWorks Canada The Law Society funds LifeWorks Canada’s personal counselling and referral services. Services are confidential and available at no cost to individual BC lawyers, articled students and their immediate families. LifeWorks can “help with life’s questions, issues and concerns — handling stress, maintaining relationships, challenges at work, parenting and childcare, managing money, caring for an older relative or health issues.”

    Contact LifeWorks 24/7:

    • Calling the toll-free number: 1-888-307-0590 for a confidential in-person call.
    • Log in to login.lifeworks.com to learn more about the services Lifeworks provides, including website materials and access to a confidential online chat or in-person call:
      • Username: lawsocietybc
      • Password: healthy
    • Download the free app on Android or IOS — simply search for “Lifeworks.” Once downloaded, open the app, click on “log in” and enter your Username and Password: lawsocietybc/healthy

    Maternity Leave Benefits Program The LSBC offers a maternity leave benefit loan program to assist self-employed women lawyers who do not have access to maternity and parental financial benefits other than government programs remain in practice. To be eligible for the loan, you have to meet all of the requirements listed here. The program provides a loan of $2,000 per month for four months to help with overhead costs during a maternity leave.

    Equity Ombudsman Claire Marchant is the Equity Ombudsman at the LSBC. She can assist with resolving concerns about discrimination and discriminatory harassment. Lawyers, articled students, law students and support staff of legal employers are all free to contact the Equity Ombudsperson. The service is voluntary, confidential and free to participants. Contact Claire: equity@lsbc.org or call 604-605-5303.

    Drug and Alcohol Resources

    Watching a spouse, child or other family member deal with drug, alcohol or mental health issues can present you with one of the most challenging life situations you can ever face. There are many resources available to assist you in this journey.

    HealthLinkBC lists many resources, including how to reach out for help for: suicide, mental health, kids help, alcohol and drug resources and other information. It also lists resources such as how to talk to teens, how to talk to adult children and what your health authority can offer by way of assistance. healthlinkbc.ca/substance-use/parenting-articles.

    Alcohol and Drug Information Referral Service It’s free, confidential, and available 24/7. Call 1-800-663-1441 or 604-660-9382 in the Lower Mainland.

    Gambling Support Line 1-888-795-6111

    Depression and Mental Health Resources (cmha.bc.ca)

    HeretoHelp.bc.ca lists a number of resources available to help deal with depression, mood disorders and more.

    There are many other resources available in the province, some of which are specific to communities. For example, call or text 211 to access free information and referral to a full range of community, social, and government services, 24/7 in the Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Squamish-Lillooet and Sunshine Coast Regional Districts.

    (originally published in PracticeTalk and TechTips in the Canadian Bar Association’s BarTalk magazine:

    https://www.cbabc.org/BarTalk/Articles/2020/April/Columns/Going-Where-Few-Have-Gone-Before

    https://www.cbabc.org/BarTalk/Articles/2020/April/Columns/There-are-many-resources-available-to-assist-lawye)

    © 2022 David J. Bilinsky

    [the_ad_placement id=”right-side”]

    Posted in Change Management, Firm Governance, Issues facing Law Firms, Leadership and Strategic Planning, personal focus and renewal, Tips, Trends | Permalink | No Comments »
    April 4th, 2022

    Time...

    ♫ But there never seems to be enough time
    To do the things you want to do,
    once you find them… ♫

    — Music, Lyrics and recorded by Jim Croce.

    What is the one thing we all own in equal measure, every day? The answer is simply enough — Time. We all take our daily allotment and spend it on work, pleasure, things we have to do, things we want to do, things we wished we didn’t have to do, things that waste time, and more. How we use it can make us happy, it can make us sad, it can bring about positive change to the world, it can bring a smile to someone’s face, or sadness to another. Two things we can’t do with it is bank it or get more of it. Accordingly, let’s spend a little time to explore how to best manage our time.

    The first step is to write down your goals. These are not just work and career goals but life goals as well. You may want to make partner or launch your own firm. You may wish to do public advocacy work or learn to play a musical instrument or write a play. You may wish to ski more often, run a marathon, or travel. The point is that goals unset are goals unmet. What does success mean to you? Rank your life’s goals, research what has to be done to achieve them and then develop a plan that will take you to your life’s goals.

    Next, write out the tasks that will take you toward your life goals and those that others have set for you. Each task should take you closer to a goal.

    Remember that tasks should be S.M.A.R.T.: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Based.

    • Specific: Goals should be tightly focused and clear so you can foresee the steps that need to be taken for goal achievement.
    • Measurable: What gets measured gets done. Have milestones set that allow you to judge your progress toward goal achievement.
    • Attainable: Do you have what you need to achieve your goal? Or do you have to gain experience, education, skills, or credentials to do this? Perhaps you need to set sub-goals to take you toward your big goal.
    • Relevant: Do your tasks bring you closer to your life’s goals?
    • Time Based: Set a deadline for each task to hold yourself accountable.

    Now, sort out your tasks into four categories:

    • Important and urgent: +I+U
    • Important but not urgent: +I~U
    • Urgent but not important: +U~I
    • Not urgent and not important: ~U~I

    Sorting your tasks starts the process of prioritization:

    • +I+U: Do these tasks right away.
    • +I~U: These are your long-term goals. Set aside time for these in your day!
    • +U~I: Delegate these tasks if possible. If not, schedule them lower in priority.
    • ~U~I: Set these aside to do later, if ever (typically time wasters).

    Create a “To Do” list from your priorities and keep it on your desk. This allows you to keep your priorities in front of you at all times. Organize your desk and remove clutter — those are usually distractions.

    Develop good time management skills and habits. Good time management skills can be learned and nurtured over time and will only increase your value to your firm, to your family, and of course, to yourself. They will allow you to find time to do the things you enjoy.

    Set a time budget and allocate a set time to each task and then block off time in your daily calendar based on your tasks. Once a task time is up — evaluate what has to be done to complete the task, create a new To-Do, sort your To-Dos again, and start the next task.

    Cut out all time-wasting activities. Reward yourself for task accomplishment with a small break and reward. Reinforce how good time management works for you and clears your To-Do list as you work through your day.

    Remember that procrastination is the enemy of goal achievement. Procrastination can be a sign of a fear of success, a fear of failure, that you don’t deserve your life’s goal or find a task overwhelming. When the urge to procrastinate comes on, counter it by immediately working a bit on your goal and a task and experience the relief in having started. Break down a big task into smaller portions and conquer each in turn and watch your progress.

    Plan to deal with obstacles and interruptions. If someone walks into your office and looks to be staying, grab your coffee cup and head off to the coffee machine. They can talk while you get a coffee and — you got them out of your office!

    Resolve to stop multitasking. It may feel like you are accomplishing a lot, but that doesn’t stand up. According to bit.ly/bt0422pt-1:

    “Studies now show that multitasking can actually damage the brain. As the brain can primarily focus on one thing at a time, keeping track of multiple things at once or accepting multiple streams of information can lead to decreased productivity and distraction from the task at hand.”

    Consistently work on your Important but not Urgent: +I~U tasks. These are the ones that will change your life’s path as you desire it to be. Plan your tasks to gradually move yourself into the area(s) of practice in which you desire to be. Measure your progress to stay motivated!

    Set a daily billable time goal and track your progress to it throughout your day. You owe it to your family, your firm, and not the least of all, to yourself to grow into being a more effective and responsible lawyer each and every day. Hold yourself accountable for your progress and reward yourself for achieving your daily billable time goal.

    Track all your time — billable and non-billable. There are many reasons for doing this. By seeing where you are spending your time, you increase accountability to yourself and to others. Tracking all your time increases your focus on your +I+U tasks. It exposes your time wasters, time sinks, and traps. It prevents project creep, by keeping tasks within their allocated time budget. You enhance your personal bottom line, which in turn benefits yourself and your practice. Most importantly, it will gradually transform you into a better lawyer.

    Prevent leaks in your time boat. There are many possible ways to leak billable time. The first is the failure to accurately capture time. Up to 40% of your billable time can be lost if not recorded contemporaneously with task completion. A second is to write off billable time at the time of billing. A third is to reduce an invoice to receive payment. A final one is to write off an entire bill as uncollectible. Plug the leaks in your financial boat by using your time to achieve effective client objectives. Remember client satisfaction ulti-mately drives collections.

    Having an accurate billable and non-billable time record allows you to perform analytics on your time and finances. A “Key Statistics” report will show you the financial health of your practice at a glance with such indicators as: Effective Hourly Rate, Work In Progress, Billings, Billing Turnover, your Billing Realization, your Collection Realization Rate, and many more.

    Accurate time records will also allow you to forecast your future cash flows and track them against your cash flow needs, providing you with feedback on your financial health and providing you with needed information for cash flow management.

    Lastly, pass on your hard-earned knowledge. Teach younger lawyers your time management skills. Act as a time mentor and help grow the next generation of associates into lawyers and partners your firm will value.

    Good time management skills can help us all make the most of this most precious of resources, and thereby find the time to do the things we want to do, once we find them.

    (c) 2022 David J. Bilinsky

    (originally published in PracticeTalk in the Canadian Bar Association’s BarTalk magazine: https://bit.ly/3qSFo04)

    Posted in Adding Value, Business Development, Change Management, Firm Governance, Issues facing Law Firms, Law Firm Strategy, Leadership and Strategic Planning, personal focus and renewal, Tips, Trends | Permalink | No Comments »
    March 28th, 2022

    Network Security

    ♫ Further on up the road baby,
    things gonna change… 

    — Music and lyrics by J.L. Hooker, C. Thompson, C. Santana; recorded by Santana.

    The State Bar of California’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct has just issued Formal Opinion No 16-0002. It looked at a lawyer’s ethical obligations with respect to unauthorized access by third persons to electronically stored client confidential information in the lawyer’s possession. In some ways it parallels what is set forth in s. 10-4 Security of Records of the Rules of the Law Society. What is illustrative is that “the Committee adopted an approach that posed questions lawyers should consider in order to comply with the duties of competency and confidentiality. In light of ever-changing technology, the Committee concludes that an on-going engagement with that evolving technology, in the form of security issues to consider and re-consider, was preferable to a “bright line” or “categorical approach.”

    The Committee looked at four scenarios: An attorney’s laptop is stolen; an attorney’s smartphone is left in a restaurant overnight; a firm is infected by Ransomware and a lawyer’s laptop was accessed while the lawyer was using an unsecured public Wi-Fi network. Hypothetically the Committee looked at the factors to consider in each scenario.

    The requirement to make reasonable efforts to protect client information from unauthorized disclosure or destruction was affirmed. California went further, however, and stated that: “Given the obligation to preserve client confidences, secrets and propriety information, it is appropriate to assume that reasonable clients would want to be notified if any of that information was acquired or reasonably suspected of being acquired by unauthorized persons.” In BC, we have an obligation to notify the Executive Director of the Law Society but the Rules and Code are silent on the duty to notify a client if the firm lost control or custody of any of the lawyer’s records [10-4 (a)] or if anyone had improperly accessed or copied any records [10-4 (b)].

    California also affirmed the American Bar Association formal opinion of 18-483 that holds: “lawyers with managerial authority within a law firm must make a reasonable effort to establish internal policies and procedures designed to protect confidential client information from the risk of inadvertent disclosure and data breaches as the result of technology use, which includes monitoring the use of technology and office resources connected to the Internet and external data sources.”  They also held that a law firm should: “consider preparing a data breach response plan so that all stakeholders know how to respond when a breach occurs.”

    This opinion, I believe, foreshadows what could be eventually adopted in other jurisdictions. Prudent firms may wish to examine the formal opinion with a view to revamping their policies and procedures to reflect this evolving thinking because further up the road, I believe, the thinking is gonna change.

    As a First Step Towards Greater Security

    Check if you have adequate insurance to protect yourself against various losses, including data breaches, cyber-losses, cyber-extortion and social engineering (phishing) fraud scams.

    The Law Society
    has a good breakdown of the coverages that are available that the Law Society insurance does not cover.

    The Sedona Conference Canada
    has prepared a commentary on privacy and information security for legal service providers — Principles and Guidelines (Aug 2020) that is well worth reviewing.

    The Sedona Conference
    has also prepared a Commentary on a Reasonable Security Test (Sept 2020). This Commentary begins with a brief summary of the importance of having a test, the reasoning behind a cost/benefit approach for the test, and what issues the test does not address. Part I sets out the proposed test and the explanation of how it is applied. Part II provides review and analysis of existing resources that offer guidance on how “reasonable security” has been defined and applied to date and explains how they bear upon the test.

    Create a data breach plan
    before you are hit with a breach that will allow you to deal quickly and decisively with any possible data breach. Lawyers Mutual of North Carolina has published a Data Breach Incident Response Plan Toolkit by Tom Widman, founder, president and CEO of Identity Fraud, Inc.

    Inside your data breach plan
    Sharon Nelson, David Ries, and John Simek have written “Be Prepared — Planning for When Your Law Firm Suffers a Data Breach.” This article is a nice compact review of the issues to consider placing inside your data breach plan.

    Protect personal information and data breaches
    The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta has published “Security Personal Information — A Self-Assessment Tool for Public Bodies and Organizations.” This comprehensive tool is an incredible resource for any organization seeking to examine their systems and procedures to protect personal information and data breaches.

    DLA Piper
    has summarized Canadian privacy statutory data breach obligations.

    The Canadian Bar Association
    has published an article in 2015 written by Jeffrey Kaufman entitled, “Law Firm Privacy Compliance in 10 Steps.

    (c) 2022 David J. Bilinsky.

    (originally published in PracticeTalk and TechTips, in the Canadian Bar Association’s BarTalk magazine:

    https://www.cbabc.org/BarTalk/Articles/2020/December/Columns/Evolving-Views-on-How-to-View-Security

    https://www.cbabc.org/BarTalk/Articles/2020/December/Columns/As-a-First-Step)

    Posted in Change Management, Firm Governance, Fraud and theft, Issues facing Law Firms, Law Firm Strategy, Leadership and Strategic Planning, Technology, Trends | Permalink | No Comments »
    March 21st, 2022

    Digital Transformation

    ♫ Oh, then won’t you embrace me?… ♫
    — Music and lyrics by Greg Laswell

    What does it mean for law to move into digital transformation? Let’s take a step back and get a bit of perspective.

    At the beginning of time, law firms and courts kept all records on paper. The first step along this transformative path was to convert to electronic records. “Paving the cowpaths” meant that all records were now kept in electronic folder systems that were the electronic version of the file folder — or in other words, “digitalized.” All files were still kept the same and searched by brute force. Similar to paper, all storage and organizational systems were analogous, albeit on a digital platform. This is only slightly transformative since the same ways of thinking were used to handle digital documents as they did with paper.

    To take the next step toward transformation, new ways of doing things must be chosen. Moving to a digital filing system allows for digital searches across the whole database; and it allows for new ways of working as all files can be shared and accessed from home or a remote office.  Practice management software can integrate with the filing and accounting systems, resulting in lawyers working from a digital desktop. In the court situation, case management software can now be used that integrates scheduling with court files, HR systems and more. It is the bringing together of multiple systems in one package that starts to open up new ways of thinking and with it, new processes.

    Salesforce.com’s publication, “State of the Connected Customer,” states that “technology has significantly changed their expectations of how companies should interact with them.” For example, portals: secure websites, allow clients to gain access to all communications and documents on their file 24/7 and avoid insecure ways of communicating such as email. Furthermore, they can respond and leave instructions without going through voicemail or email jail.

    The next step will be in applying Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and Digital Analytics (“DA”) to law. AI already has revolutionized legal research, legal contract review, as well as litigation case analysis. DA has the promise of providing insights into new services that can be offered to clients by analyzing firm wide data based on client profiles.

    Lastly, we have the transformation of the law via technology. Smart contracts on the Blockchain are an entirely different beast from a traditional contract. “A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code. The code and the agreements contained therein exist across a distributed, decentralized Blockchain network. The code controls the execution, and transactions are trackable and irreversible.

    Smart contracts permit trusted transactions and agreements to be carried out among disparate, anonymous parties without the need for a central authority, legal system, or external enforcement mechanism.” (per Investopedia)

    Disputes over smart contracts can take place via Online Dispute Resolution (“ODR”) built into the Blockchain using virtual juries. The next step with ODR is to allow the software to help resolve disputes as the deciding party.

    The Blockchain can be used to replace traditional ways of doing things. 20 Real-Life Uses for the Blockchain lists such uses as enforcing copyright; replacing land, automobile and other title transfer systems, medical record keeping, wills, equity trading, tracking prescriptions and many others.  With increased use of the Blockchain will come increased use of ODR and less reliance on traditional court systems. This is the transformative power of technology.

    What is the future use of technology in law? Pega.com states: “Leaders are less concerned about using technology to increase profits, with 46% citing cost savings and 43% citing revenue generation as changes they are trying to achieve. Instead, 65% of leaders see it as an avenue to achieving higher quality work. Fifty percent of the leaders surveyed also believe technology will create more reliable work.”

    In order for law firms and justice systems to move forward, I believe it will be essential for organizations to view technology as a way to change not just the way things are done but HOW you can do things differently and WHY. Digital transformation is about new ways of thinking, changing things and moving to the future. I can just hear technology saying to lawyers and judges: “Oh won’t you embrace me?”

    Now – how do you further your firm down the digital transformation path?

    Cybersecurity

    COVID has only increased our working from home with distributed data sets on multiple devices and entry points into the office network. One way to harden your system is to put all your data in a secure cloud service that stores your data in a fully encrypted manner, where only you have the decryption key (a “Zero Knowledge” service). Cloudwards.net has rated the five best zero-knowledge cloud storage services — with Canada’s sync.com coming up on top.

    Advantages of Sync

    Sync is the strongest encryption possible, it demonstrates to your clients that security is important to you. Sync keeps track of all document versions and changes, you can share and collaborate just like you would with Dropbox, but securely, they state that sync.com meets global data privacy compliance (USA-HIPAA, EU, UK, CAN-PIPEDA) and your data remains in Canada.

    Automating and Integrating Systems

    Technology can automate the business side of the practice. By integrating billing, time keeping, general and trust accounting, calendaring, conflict checking, document automation, email and file integration, case management, and file management, you will set the stage for the next round of automation such as data analytics, AI, and process redesign for effectiveness and efficiency.

    People

    You can install the latest, first-rate tech systems but ultimately it may all be for naught unless you can implement change strategies that lead people to adopt the new systems. Part of the magic of digital transformation is the change in thinking that occurs when people use and think about how the new systems rework business processes. Leadership is the magic elixir. Explain why your firm is adopting these new systems. Outline the expected benefits, for not only the organization but also for staff. Be an early adopter and recruit other early adopters. Communicate wins. Acknowledge setbacks and handle criticism positively and early. Keep your eye on the long-term goal(s) and help others do the same.

    (originally published in PracticeTalk and TechTips, in the Canadian Bar Association’s BarTalk magazine:

    https://www.cbabc.org/BarTalk/Articles/2021/February/Columns/Digital-Transformation

    https://www.cbabc.org/BarTalk/Articles/2021/February/Columns/How-can-you-further-your-firm-down-the-digital-tra)

    Posted in Adding Value, Change Management, Firm Governance, Issues facing Law Firms, Law Firm Strategy, Leadership and Strategic Planning, Technology, Trends | Permalink | No Comments »
    March 17th, 2022
    Bald Eagle Haidi Gwaii (c) 2017 David J. Bilinsky

    Bald Eagle Haida Gawaii

    “I’ll spread my wings and learn how to fly. I’ll do what it takes ’til I touch the sky. And I’ll make a wish, take a chance, make a change and breakaway.” 

    Lyrics and Music by Matthew Gerrard, Bridget Benenate and Avril Lavigne, recorded by Kelly Clarkson.

    I am proud to announce that Thoughtful Legal Management is now open for business.

    David J. Bilinsky, Barrister & Solicitor, is pleased to provide strategic legal practice management services and innovative technology and law firm finance advisory services for my clients. Building on 17 years in private practice, 20 years of experience at a Practice Management Advisor and ethics lawyer for the Law Society of BC, on top on an MBA focused on the application of legal technology to the practice of law, I have opened the doors to providing legal business, technology and ethics advisory services to lawyers.

    Decades of  writing and presenting papers and articles, organizing and speaking at legal technology conferences, advising and assisting lawyers who have been wrestling with the complex areas of legal technology and practice management has provided unique and practical insights into how law firms must innovate in today’s changing environment.

    My mission in life is to empower lawyers to anticipate the changes, realize the opportunities, face the challenges and embrace the expanding possibilities of the application of practice management concepts to the practice of law in innovative ways that provide service excellence.

    And…I am here to assist those lawyers who wish to break away and learn how to fly.

    Posted in Adding Value, Budgeting, Change Management, Firm Governance, Issues facing Law Firms, Law Firm Strategy, Leadership and Strategic Planning, Technology, Tips, Trends | Permalink | No Comments »
    March 14th, 2022

    ♫ Sex crime, sex crime
    Nineteen eighty four
    Nineteen eighty four… ♫

    — Music & Lyrics by A. Lennox, D. A. Stewart, recorded by The Eurythmics.

    What will criminal law look like in 2041? There is a host of technologies being developed that are reshaping the entire criminal law playing field. From artificial intelligence (“AI”) to developments in surveillance, biometrics, DNA analysis, cellular triangulation, evidence analysis, voice recognition systems, advanced camera and image analysis and enhancement, Internet search technologies, the growth of the “dark web,” facial and voice recognition software, robotics, “shot spotter” technology, licence plate recognition, and many others that seem to walk out from CSI TV episodes and into our lives.

    Other emerging projects seek to use real time computer and pattern analysis to predict and prevent crime. Using a network of cameras and technologies, these projects seek to analyze and assess suspicious activity and predict emergent criminal behaviour, alerting authorities far faster than traditional methods.

    Still other projects seek to use AI to predict elder victims of financial and physical abuse, allowing authorities to intervene to prevent or stop such exploitation.

    Robots and drones can be utilized to inform police regarding potentially dangerous situations and assist with public safety without putting the public and/or police in harm’s way.

    DNA analysis is growing increasingly sophisticated; enhanced by the growth in forensic sciences.

    On the court side, there is the increased growth and development of court management computer systems worldwide and the increased realization of the benefits that such systems bring to the administration of criminal justice. There is the work of such academic and non-profit organizations worldwide such as HiiL (The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law) that combine a data and research-based approach and best practices to promote people-based access to justice solutions.

    Increasingly, courts world-wide are slowly gaining access to technology in order to present the range of high-tech evidence being collected by police and prosecutors working together. The Air India case in BC was a good example of a high-tech court designed around the needs of the Crown to present the volumes of video and documentary evidence that were amassed during the case efficiently and effectively.

    Then there is the growth of trial preparation and trial presentation software along with case management systems available to defence lawyers to assist in the handling and presentation of their cases. From simple PowerPoint files to sophisticated trial presentation software on iPads, tablets, laptops, and other devices, to transcript, audio and video analysis tools, and others, criminal defence lawyers can present, highlight, call-out, compare, present, and emphasize evidence in ways never before possible that serve their client’s needs.

    Technology is a tool. In the context of criminal law, it also raises ethical issues such as the due protection of privacy and the protection of constitutional rights. It raises issues of inherent bias built into algorithms and data analysis. There is the issue of transparency of such systems, as many will be proprietary and not open to analysis. Neural networks, quantum computing and other such emerging computing technologies are not well understood and, as such, explaining how they arrive at their conclusions may not even be possible. There is the danger of profiling and unfairly targeting individuals and/or groups. There is the danger of using systems to determine recidivism, particularly if someone is assessed at low risk and then goes on to commit violent acts.

    Nineteen Eighty-Four gave us one insight into how technology, applied for the wrong purposes, could be used to control a whole world. Criminal lawyers stand at the cross-roads, guarding against such excesses and protecting liberties. But to do so, they must understand the emerging high-tech landscape in order to exercise their persuasive powers against
    such misuses.

    So what technologies are out there for a criminal lawyer to run their practices?

    Trial Director is one of the leading trial presentation software packages available for trial lawyers.

    It allows you to load in all transcripts and video evidence and organize your evidence into trial notebooks.

    You can attach, view, and link exhibits and create a witness binder and exhibit lists.
    Evidence can be presented by video clip and documents sections can be called out, zoomed and highlighted. Document sections can be placed side by side for comparisons, overlaid, and section redacted if necessary.

    You can share document subsets securely with expert witnesses and consultants.
    Trial teams can share the same case notebook with team members who work from a central trial notebooks.

    TrialPad, TranscriptPad, DocReviewPad, ExhibitPad is a suite of litigation tools designed for use on an iPad. This suite of applications takes a litigator through the whole process of preparing for trial, including: document review, organizing documents for trial, loading exhibits with notes, reviewing transcripts, and then organizing it all into a trial notebook for presentation in court with dynamic exhibits, call-outs, and more.

    CosmoLex is a fully-integrated general and trust accounting system with practice management. This one-stop solution provides you with all the systems to be compliant with both general accounting (balance sheet, income statement, accounts payable and receivable, and all other required accounting reports) as well as trust accounting (compliant with all Law Society trust accounting requirements) plus practice management (client lists, file lists, conflict checks, limitation date reminders, calendaring and bring-forward reminders, document management, email management, etc.) that a criminal lawyer needs to run both the business as well as the practice sides of their practices.

    Microsoft Home and Business or Microsoft Office 365 provides you with desktop or cloud-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more to perform all the email, communication, word processing, and other functions you will need as a practising lawyer. Alternatively, you can use the Apple suite that comes installed on a Mac (Pages, Numbers, Presentations, Mail) to accomplish the same functions in a Mac environment.

    sync.com provides you with secure file backup, storage, and sharing based in Canada. This is a secure alternative to Dropbox that protects your practice against Ransomwear.

    ScanSnap iX1500 is the scanning workhorse of the legal field. With full duplex scanning via its sheet feeder, the ScanSnap assists in taking paper documents and converting them into fully text-searchable documents that can take your practice paperless.

    Smartphone There are many excellent smartphones like the iPhone 13, Google Pixel 6, or Samsung Galaxy A32, depending on whether you prefer the iOS or Android environment. More important that the phone, I believe, is your choice of carrier and data plan. A litigator is on the road a lot: choose a carrier with great service in the area(s) where you will be operating most often to avoid dropped calls and poor reception.

    (originally published in PracticeTalk and TechTips, in the Canadian Bar Association’s BarTalk magazine: https://www.cbabc.org/BarTalk/Articles/2021/December/Columns/Criminal-Law-and-Technology and https://www.cbabc.org/BarTalk/Articles/2021/December/Columns/So-what-technologies-are-out-there-for-a-criminal)

    Posted in Change Management, Fraud and theft, Issues facing Law Firms, Law Firm Strategy, Leadership and Strategic Planning, Technology, Trends | Permalink | No Comments »
    August 10th, 2020

    ♫ All the little birdies on Jaybird Street
    Love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet…♫

    Music and Lyrics by Thomas Jimmie, recorded by Michael Jackson.

    Would you pay attention to an emerging marketing platform that has seen a 663% increase in people over the last two years looking for recommendations around professional services? I would imagine you would. Twitter is that platform. Now: how many of you have a thoughtful, continual and strategic presence on Twitter that engages the community from which you draw your clients? While we are at it, how many of you have a digital media marketing plan that includes Twitter and other social media platforms? If not, according to research carried out in the UK by Orange Business, you may be overlooking a big opportunity: “[S]econd on the list are solicitors, who may not be aware of the fees they could be missing out on by not engaging with the public and other businesses via Twitter,” (https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/twitter-becoming-key-referral-source-for-solicitors-says-research).

    Orange notes that lawyers need to do more than just be ‘on’ Twitter. You need to demonstrate your expertise, show that you know what you are talking about and share information far and wide. In other words, your Twitter presence should be part of a comprehensive and strategic social media marketing plan (a “SMMP”).

    How do you build your SMMP? 

    First, you need to learn about how SM is being used by lawyers in your area(s) or practice.  Look inwards and determine which services you provide that you wish to market and learn how other lawyers (perhaps in other jurisdictions) are using SM in relation to these services. Are they engaging on Twitter and if so, what hashtags are they using? Did they create YouTube videos that speak to their knowledge of an area of law? Are they on Facebook and if so, have they posted videos, articles or interviews? How about Instagram? Reddit? Quora? Snapchat? The idea is to think beyond LinkedIn, which frankly, every lawyer should already be on.

    Now, determine what people are saying about you and your firm on SM. Research using Google, Facebook, Twitter and other SM platforms and see what is being said about you and your firm, if anything. This gives you a starting point together with an assessment of the SM landscape.

    Determine how your target clients are holding conversations in SM that are relevant to you and your firm.  What topics are they discussing? This gives you a target of where you need to be in terms of platforms and topics.

    Now set your strategy. How are you going to go about SM posts? Videos?  Photos? Articles? Will you engage in Twitter conversations on select topics? Comment on recent cases (hint: don’t use your recent cases – too easy to breach client confidentiality). Establish SM goals for your marketing focus.

    Schedule your time and updates for SM. You will need regular, consistent and timely updates. How much time and money will you expend?  Set a budget.

    Set up the metrics that you will use in determining if you are meeting your goals. You need to see if you efforts are bearing fruit.

    Reach out and experiment and start to build your SM networks. Follow people. Comment. Experiment. Learn how people use the different platforms and become part of the community. Don’t hesitate to consult with SM experts to save time and speed up the process.

    Your SM presence should aim to refer people back to your blog where your more detailed content is located and where people can learn about you (after all this is social media). Your blog is where you demonstrate your in-depth knowledge via the posts that you have written and people can find your contact information.

    Unlike an advertisement, SM is a dialogue with your potential clients. Your skillful tweet tweet tweet can take you from being just another birdie in the tree to a rocking robin.

    Who are the knowledgeable legal marketing personalities and organizations that are available to assist you in your marketing journey?

    LMA:  The Legal Marketing Association is an international organization composed of consultants, vendors, lawyers, marketers from other professions, and marketing students. It has a Western Canadian Regional Governing Board, with Vancouver’s own Susan Van Dyke of Van Dyke Marketing & Communications as the 2019 President.  They are a tremendous resource for all areas of legal marketing. Follow their blog to stay current on news, trends and more. blog.legalmarketing.org 

    In terms of on-line presence, you should be able to learn a great deal about legal marketing by seeing what advice experts in the field place on their blogs and web pages – for free. Examples of their work allows you to gauge the impact of their work; awards allow you to determine what their peers are saying about them. Here is a sampling of those people and organizations that I and others, consider strongly influential.

    Skunkworks: The team at Skunkworks have become a local tour de force for lawyers and law firms here in BC. Doug Jasinski, Marnie MacLeod and Jeremy Hessing-Lewis have all done their time in the legal trenches and speak the language of lawyers and marketing. Their blog and examples of their work are a good place to start to see what local firms have achieved in thinking about their marketing message. https://skunkworks.ca/blog/ 

    Stemlegal: Steve Matthews and his group form a web development, publishing and strategy juggernaut for the legal profession. They are a local company with a national presence and influence. Steve is tireless – not only does he look after his legal marketing company, he manages slaw.ca – Canada’s online legal magazine, he runs lawblogs.ca – Canada’s comprehensive listing of Canadian Legal Blogs, legalpubs.ca – which tracks the latest in Canadian legal publications and runs  ClawBies.ca  – Canada’s annual legal blogging awards.

    Eva Chan: After practising advertising, marketing, and IT law at a national Canadian law firm for over 10 years, Eva is now a social media strategist, consultant and trainer.  More to the point she provides social media-related services to lawyers and law firms.  A ClawBie award winner, her blog https://www.evachanweb.ca/blog/ has articles such as Social Media Opportunities and Risks, How To Write an Engaging Social Media Post and Twitter tricks and treats (aka tips). She asks (and answers) such questions as: What One Thing to Advance Women in Law Will You Do?

    Fishman Marketing: Ross Fishman, although located in Chicago, has a strong presence here in Vancouver. His web site is loaded with great advice and insights into the world of legal marketing.  Review his numerous case studies to gain insights into his thinking and work. Subscribe to his blog to stay current on his innovative ideas. https://www.fishmanmarketing.com/blog-2/

    The Rainmakers Blog:  Stephen Fairley consistently receives accolades for perhaps the best legal marketing blog on the Internet.  A recent post was one of my favourites: 5 Ways to Attract your Ideal Client. Another was: How to Determine Which Social Media Networks Work Best for Your Firm. https://www.therainmakerblog.com 

    (Published by the Canadian Bar Association in their publication Bartalk in the columns: PracticeTalk and Dave’s Tech Tips in December 2019. The post has been updated slightly.)

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    July 13th, 2020

    “Some changes are so slow, you don’t notice them, others are so fast, they don’t notice you.” —Ashleigh Brilliant

    BC’s Innovative online system resolves thousands of legal disputes—usually without lawyers.

    On July 13, 2016, the legal world changed in a small but significant way when an Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Tribunal started taking its first cases in British Columbia, Canada. BC’s Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) drew on prior private law examples such as eBay and PayPal’s ODR resolution platform. EBay was the proof of concept of ODR: By 2010, it was handling over 60 million disputes each year, most of which were fully resolved by the parties without any additional human intervention.

    This development came after academics, scholars, the United Nations, universities, governments, private industry, lawyers and nonlawyers long debated the potential of using the power, reach and resources of the internet to settle legal disputes. This was the first time government provided a mechanism for parties to settle a dispute in a totally online forum.

    THE ORIGINS OF ODR

    Colin Rule, who played a leading role in the creation of PayPal’s ODR platform, is one of two recipients of the 2020 inaugural Frank E.A. Sander Innovation in ADR Award from the ABA Center for Innovation and the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution. Rule has led the development and expansion of ODR since 1999, but over the past five years he has been a key driver behind international efforts to expand access to justice by integrating court ODR into the legal system.

    Much of the work in the field of ODR is based, directly or indirectly, on Rule’s innovative thinking and work in this area while first at eBay, then Modria, an ODR provider, and latterly as vice president for ODR at Tyler Technologies, together with his colleagues’ work from the National Center for Technology & Dispute Resolution (http://odr.info) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. 

    There are two general types of ODR. One type focuses on using the algorithmic power of computers to help people resolve their issues. This branch uses computing power to help parties reach an optimized solution that both sides can accept, or it can help parties overcome obstacles and reach agreement. 

    And per a 2013 Canadian Arbitration and Mediation Journal column, “Online Dispute Resolution: The Future of ADR,” written in conjunction with Rule and Dr. Frank Fowlie:

    The second [type of ODR] focuses on using computers to facilitate human communication. Instead of having the computer processor analyze data and make recommendations, this branch uses information and communications technologies to assist the interaction between the parties, helping them to reach mutually acceptable solutions. … The computer is used to create a virtual meeting space, one specifically tailored to best meet the needs of the disputants.

    This second type of ODR is what the CRT is patterned on.

    IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CRT

    Since its launch, the CRT’s jurisdiction has steadily expanded. On July 13, 2016, the system began accepting disputes involving owners and tenants of condominium properties and corporations. On June 1, 2017, its jurisdiction expanded to small claims (all disputes $5,000 and under, such as debt or damages, recovery of personal property, personal injury and specific performance of agreements involving personal property or services). On April 1, 2019, its jurisdiction was expanded again to include certain motor vehicle accident disputes. For instance, if the CRT determines that a person’s injury is minor, damages for pain and suffering are limited to $5,500.

    Importantly, the CRT’s jurisdiction is not concurrent with the courts; it is exclusive—and the vast majority of CRT decisions are final and binding on the parties. Within its legal jurisdiction, a claimant has a very limited ability to move a dispute out of the CRT to the courts. Furthermore, there is limited ability to challenge the decision of the CRT; a party unhappy with the outcome can, in most cases, only apply for judicial review of the decision on a standard of patent unreasonableness. In small claims matters, a party may file a notice of objection, which results in a new process being started in the Provincial Court. However, a financial deposit may need to be made, and the Provincial Court may assess a penalty if the person objecting doesn’t receive a better outcome than the CRT decision.

    THE CRT PROCESS

    As a starting place, the CRT platform contains a Solution Explorer that includes legal information and self-help tools in such areas as buying and selling, housing, loans and debts, construction, employment, insurance and property, as well as general disputes. The platform then guides potential parties through a question-and-answer protocol to lead them to relevant legal information.

    For example, assume someone had a prepaid purchase card (a gift card preloaded with a certain amount of money) and was charged a fee by a merchant for using the card. The Solution Explorer would guide the party to information that would inform them that, under British Columbia law, such a fee may not be charged, and explains to the party how to claim a refund by writing to Consumer Protection BC and filing a complaint.

    If the nature of the complaint is such that a legal claim needs to be initiated, then the Solution Explorer provides online guides on how to file a claim. A case is initiated by completing the appropriate form from the “Make a Claim with the CRT” webpage. The CRT is designed to try to assist the parties to craft their own solution. If a solution cannot be reached by negotiation between the parties or facilitated by a CRT case manager, then a hearing can be held by the CRT. This hearing can take place by email, by electronic submissions, paper submissions or, in rare occasions, via an oral hearing by telephone, videoconference or in person. Evidence can be submitted, including expert evidence.

    The CRT is certainly applying a different mindset to the process of civil dispute resolution––largely without lawyers. In proceedings before the CRT, the ability to be represented by a lawyer is curtailed.

    THE ROLE OF ATTORNEYS

    As of June 2020 [ED: the original article has earlier stats, this version has been updated], the CRT has handled 17,238 disputes—14,362 small claims and 2,701 strata property disputes. The system has closed 15,644 disputes, including 13,187 small claims disputes, and 2,333 strata disputes were closed and of those, 907 strata property disputes were determined by adjudication. There were much smaller numbers of motor vehicle disputes and society and cooperative association disputes, and 78 percent of participants would recommend the CRT to others, according to the Civil Resolution Tribunal’s April 2020 Participant Satisfaction Survey.

    Albert Einstein once said: “A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move to higher levels.” The CRT is certainly applying a different mindset to the process of civil dispute resolution—largely without lawyers. In proceedings before the CRT, the ability to be represented by a lawyer is curtailed.

    In motor vehicle injury disputes, litigants can automatically be represented by a lawyer. However, in most other cases, parties need to ask the CRT for permission if they want to be represented by a lawyer. And, in all cases, if a party wants someone other than a lawyer to represent them, they must receive permission. There are exceptions for minors and persons with impaired mental capacity. At any time during the tribunal process, a case manager or tribunal member can restrict the participation of a person providing representation or assistance in the tribunal process.

    Traditionally, lawyers have opposed changes to the adversarial method of dispute resolution. Lawyers can continue to oppose meaningful changes to the legal and justice system that would result in greater access to justice; however, they do so at their peril. They may just wake up one day and find that change happened, and that change did not include them. The example of the CRT is just one of those changes that is likely to expand and fundamentally change the process of dispute resolution. LP

    (This article appeared originally in the Big Ideas Issue, Law Practice Magazine, July 1, 2020 (https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_practice/publications/law_practice_magazine/2020/ja2020/ja20bilinsky/).

     

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    February 10th, 2020

    ♫ And if it’s bad
    Don’t let it get you down, you can take it..
    Hold your head up, oh hold your head high… ♫

    Music and Lyrics by Junod Etienne and Sean Price, recorded by Steppenwolf.

     

    Image result for burnout

    (Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay).

    When one thinks of toxic environments, one doesn’t tend to think of law offices as falling into that category. Yet I get calls from partners, associates and staff alike who are having to cope with working in such situations.  In some offices matters are dire; the stress of working in these environments are taking their toll on the person’s health and well-being, on their careers and certainly on their home life as well as they can’t help but carry the effects home.  After a time some of these people reach the breaking point and leave. Others are not so fortunate and are looking for tips on how to cope with being in such a situation.

    The first thing to remember if you are caught in such an office is that you cannot control other people’s behaviour; you can only control how you respond.  Passive-aggressiveness, destructive and negative comments, conniving politics, terrible leadership, partners that are insensitive to personal boundaries or worse are not things that are a reflection of who you are; you are simply caught in the toxic vortex.  So here is a collection of tips for coping in a toxic environment:

    • You need to stay positive and upbeat. The person you are most able to influence is yourself so don’t allow the toxicity to drag you down.
    • Learn from the experience. Every bad situation allows you to grow as an individual and take home lessons – even if those are about things that you would never repeat. Learn how to apply The Golden Rule – ie how to treat others as you yourself would wish to be treated – as it is a powerful guide to help you grow when you are in such a situation.
    • Do the best that you can do. You want to preserve your integrity and your good name. It is no surprise that word gets around in the legal community and being able to cope in a bad environment only enhances your reputation, your work ethic and your character.
    • Create a ‘thank you’ file. While it may perhaps be the thinnest file in the office, a collection of letters and cards that endorse the value of your work could be the most valuable file in the office. It will grow over time and leafing through the physical embodiment of good wishes and thanks is a personal validation of your own self-worth and assistance to others.
    • Get a supportive network outside of the office. Having someone to talk to about the situation certainly helps and their advice and support can get you through some dark days.

    Continue to search for a better workplace while keeping your shoulders squared and your spirit up. Keep looking for a more positive situation.  Remember that no matter what, continue to hold your head high.

    What online resources are available if you find yourself in a toxic environment?  Here are a selection:

    Workplace Bullying Institute “WBI is the first and only U.S. organization dedicated to the eradication of workplace bullying that combines help for individuals, research, books, public education, training for professionals-unions-employers, legislative advocacy, and consulting solutions for organizations.”  It was founded by Drs. Gary & Ruth Namie.  They state:

    “Workplace Bullying is repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that takes one or more of the following forms:

    • Verbal abuse
    • Offensive conduct/behaviors (including nonverbal) which are threatening, humiliating, or intimidating…”

    This site has wonderful resources for people caught in these situations including an ‘action plan’ which includes the great piece of advice: “Have your escape route planned…

    The World of Psychology Web site in the article “When Your Workplace is Toxic” has this bit of advice regarding having a personal renewal program in place.  They state:

    “We must have a self-care protocol in place that we can employ as a daily guide, while being alert to rationalizations and excuses for not doing it. Not to have such a personal renewal program may court disaster for both our personal and professional lives. It is also, at its core, an act of profound disrespect for the gift of life we have been give.”

    The Future of CIO website: in an article entitled “Five Characteristics of a Toxic Workplace” states:

    “One of the most toxic characteristics of workplace, is that of management making decisions without the consideration of the people.”

    It goes on and states:

    “A lack of real support for employees can be an issue: Who do you go to if there’s a problem with your boss or someone in a senior role? Often, there’s an ‘elephant in the room’ that no-one wants to address until the problem begins to spiral. Unhelpful behavior that leads to general gossip, can very quickly create a toxic environment.” 

    If you are a leader in a firm that is starting to show signs of toxicity, this website has another  good article that speaks about a 4 step methodology for analyzing, assessing, and redesigning the culture of an organization in a consistent manner: Corporate Culture Re-inventing: Is Hybrid Model the Best?

    Lastly, when it comes time to craft your exit strategy from the toxic workplace, Forbes Magazine has an article online entitled “Five Critical Steps to Finding a Job Fast!” It lists such things to consider as fine tuning your LinkedIn profile as well as checking any publicly available information about yourself that may turn up on a Google search.

    (Originally published by the Canadian Bar Association in their publication Bartalk in the columns: PracticeTalk and Dave’s Tech Tips in February 2014.)

    Posted in Change Management, Firm Governance, Issues facing Law Firms, Law Firm Strategy, Leadership and Strategic Planning, personal focus and renewal, Tips, Trends | Permalink | No Comments »