I am still recovering from our U.S. election which seemed to last forever and is not completely finished yet. As a retired federal employee, I worry about the safety and security of my colleagues back in DC. We were required to be nonpartisan and were unable to contribute to candidates or do any electioneering. The...Read More

In November, I’m presenting to law students about plain language and the importance of good communication. As always when preparing for a presentation, my first consideration is ‘who is my audience’ and ‘how best can I deliver my message to this audience’. In this circumstance, who my audience is and the impact on their communications...Read More

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. [This is Part One of a two-part series on Strategic Growth in the Legal Services Market and the foundation for the first half of my September 2024 keynote address...Read More

I’ve previously talked about the CanLII Manual to British Columbia Civil Litigation, a free resource that includes an annotated version of the B.C. Rules of Court. However, B.C. is not the only jurisdiction for which you can find an annotated Rules of Court on CanLII. The Civil Procedure and Practice in Ontario, published in 2022 and...Read More

Contracts are integral to how institutions operate – from government, to banks, to non-profits, to commercial markets, and beyond. However, the past few years have rocked our understanding of how we work with contracts. The continuing effects of pandemic disruptions, rising prices, and the proliferation of artificial intelligence and blockchain are just some of the...Read More

In professional services organizations, launching a new practice group can be a game-changer for firms looking to expand their offerings, enter new markets, or capitalize on emerging trends. Whether you are in law, accounting, recruitment, planning, engineering, or any other sector, the process of establishing a successful practice group requires careful planning, strategic execution, and...Read More

Unless you are one of those legendary litigators who focuses on court and leaves all of their writing to someone else, lawyers spend a lot of time writing. It would be wonderful if legal and professional writing escaped the demons of creative writing, but in my experience, the demons of procrastination and self-doubt and the...Read More

In July of last year, Canada’s three research-funding agencies set out to improve public and academic access to the studies they sponsor. Open access to research and scholarship is proving to be the digital era’s great gift to science, and all the more so, following open access’ contributions to Covid vaccine development during the pandemic....Read More

“All people want and need to be Heard, Seen and Loved” (HSL). — In That Order — The Dalai Lama (Note 1) The Youth Voices Initiative (sponsored by the BC Family Justice Innovation Lab Society) is a youth-led group that has been working for over 7 years to advocate for children’s right to have their...Read More

Quit the AI theatrics and get on with the business of legal service. I’ve had it. Had it with the legal industry’s incessant blither blather, adjective-laden hyperbole, and histrionic pearl-clutching – hello, law firms – pertaining to the perils and rarely the pluses of artificial intelligence. The continuous and roiling notions around AI, its impact...Read More