Message from the Chair
By Lucille R. Birkett, Q.C., The Law House, Sherwood Park, Alta.
I am pleased to report on the activities of the Small, Solo and General Practice Forum and to highlight the articles generously provided by some of our members.
Thoughts on attracting counsel to smaller firms and rural areas
By Mark Baker, Ferguson Barristers, Midland, Ont.
On November 19, 2010, the Law Society of Upper Canada held a career day and expo at Old Osgoode Hall in Toronto. My law firm was one of the participants.
Cultivating balance
By David A. Paul, Q.C., Paul & Company, Kamloops, B.C.
Much has been written about the importance of work/life balance. For those of us in the legal profession, it’s no wonder. As lawyers, we are notorious for working long hours, often at the sacrifice of our family.
The status of paralegals in Manitoba
By Gloria Mendelson, Chair of Manitoba General Practitioners Section, Gloria Mendelson Law Corporation, Winnipeg, Man.
The Law Society of Manitoba has conducted a major study on how to improve access to legal services and, in so doing, looked into whether licensing and regulating independent paralegals could improve access to legal services.
Useful BlackBerry applications for lawyers
By David A. Paul, Q.C., Paul & Company, Kamloops, B.C.
Over the past 20 years, the PDA has evolved into what we now refer to as the smartphone, an all-in-one communication tool that fits in the palm of your hand. Here is a list of useful applications for lawyers that can be obtained online.
A learning experience
By Rajiv Bhalla, Member-at-Large, Bhalla Law Offices, Edmonton, Alta.
The first time that I attended a CBA conference was August 15, 2010, in Niagara Falls, Ont. It was by chance that I ran into a fellow lawyer (from St. Albert, Alta.) Stacy Maurier...
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Forum News:
2011 Canadian Legal Conference in Halifax
The Small, Solo and General Practice Forum invites you to the following events:
Forum Meeting
Monday, August 15, from 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. (Prince George Hotel, Boardroom 317)
Joint Small, Solo and General Practice Forum and LPAC Reception -
Monday, August 15, from 5:15 - 6:30 p.m. (Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel, Acadia B Room) - Sponsored by Sims Law Corporation
PD - Creating and Managing an Individualized Legal Practice jointly presented with the CBA Law Practice Management & Technology Section, the Legal Profession Assistance Conference (LPAC), and the Women Lawyers Forum -
Tuesday, August 16, from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. (World Trade and Convention Centre, Room 200D)
 Click here for more information about the 2011 Canadian Legal Conference
Small, Solo and General Practice Forum in-person conference in Toronto
Mark your calendars for the first CBA Small, Solo and General Practice Forum in-person conference, which is being held Friday, November 18, at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.
Save the date for the 2011 Law Firm Leadership Conference
Now in its seventh year, the CBA’s Law Firm Leadership Conference has become the essential professional development event for managing partners and up-and-coming law firm leaders in Canada.
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Message from the Chair
By Lucille R. Birkett, Q.C.
I am pleased to report on the activities of the Small, Solo and General Practice Forum (SSGPF) and to highlight the articles generously provided by some of our members.
A timely article written by Mark Baker from Midland, Ont., one of our Members-at-Large, may be of interest to new lawyers seeking opportunities for practice as they leave law school or complete their articles. Any one of the members of SSGPF can attest to the benefits of a small firm or solo practice, whether in the urban or the rural areas of our great country.
I met Rajiv Bhalla at our business meeting in Niagara Falls last August, in conjunction with the CBA Annual Canadian Legal Conference. As the incoming Chair of the Forum, I invited Rajiv to put his name forward for one of the four open Member-at-Large positions on the Executive. Rajiv stepped up to the plate – his reasons are set out in his article. Rajiv’s enthusiasm for the Forum was shared with other small, solo and general practitioners at a conference in Edmonton in the fall, and I am pleased to announce that Ed Gallagher from Onoway and Frank C. DeAngelis from Spruce Grove are willing to assist in establishing an Alberta Branch of the SSGPF.
Creating new groups was one of the goals identified when the Executive met on October 17, 2011, in Ottawa for our annual planning meeting. We started a dialogue to monitor the impact of paralegals on small, solo and general practices, including the effect of Ontario’s paralegal regulation. Gloria Mendelson, Chair of the Manitoba General Practitioners' Section, reports on the expanding scope of services provided by Manitoba’s paralegals.
Other goals included developing a toolkit for setting up, buying and selling a solo practice or small firm and implementing a roster of contact lawyers or locums to allow the small firm or solo practitioner to be away for a sabbatical, illness or family commitments – or perhaps to pursue a passion, such as the winemaking hobby David A. Paul, Q.C., has described in his article on achieving work/life balance.
David is our Past Chair and is always a source of technical knowledge, such as the “Useful BlackBerry applications for lawyers” article which follows. I, too, have a useful application – not restricted to BlackBerrys or to lawyers, which I learned from my daughter Holly’s friend, Josh. It seems that when you are checking your email and drop your smartphone in your pedicure bath (or other body of water) a full recovery is possible by immediately shutting the phone off – or in my case, watching helplessly as the screen flashes weakly a few times and goes dark – disassembling the phone and submersing all its parts in rice (my Taiwanese son-in-law Jason’s jasmine rice was handy) for two or three days.
I waited patiently, in “Berry” withdrawal, certain that my pedicure was going to end up costing me several hundred dollars to replace my phone. With skepticism, I reassembled my BlackBerry, pushed the “on” button and – tah dah! – good as new. Whew! Next time I go for a pedicure I will heed the sign at the spa which encourages tranquility and suggests you leave the outside world behind and your smartphone in the locker!
We continue to focus our efforts on professional development. SSGPF presented an online webinar titled “Effective Document Management for the Small Firm” in February 2011.
We will team up with the Women Lawyers Forum, the Law Practice Management and Technology Section and LPAC to present a three-hour accredited program in Halifax on August 16, 2011, titled “Creating and Managing an Individualized Legal Practice." SSGPF will also hold a business meeting and reception at this annual CBA Canadian Legal Conference – a must-attend event.
For the first time SSGPF is organizing a one-day conference, titled “Business Basics in Changing Times.” It will be held in Toronto in November 2011 on a Friday, in conjunction with our annual planning meeting on the Saturday, to encourage local small firm, solo and general practitioners to attend, and thereby adding a professional development component to the business of the Forum.
We encourage you to join the Small, Solo and General Practice Forum through your branch CBA registration and become involved. All are welcome!
Lucille R. Birkett, Q.C. is a lawyer at The Law House in Sherwood Park, Alta. and Chair of SSGPF.
Thoughts on attracting counsel to smaller firms and rural areas
By Mark Baker
On November 19, 2010, the Law Society of Upper Canada held a career day and expo at Old Osgoode Hall in Toronto. My law firm was one of the participants. The day was well attended by firms from both inside and outside of the city, with a strong attendance from many smaller firms from urban and rural locations outside of the Toronto area.
The number of solo and smaller firm lawyers attending speaks clearly to a perceived need for young counsel in these areas. At the other end, there were certainly many students in second and third-year law that were indeed looking for positions.
However, questions remained much the same as I’ve heard at similar events in the past. Many beginning lawyers are not comfortable with moving to a smaller centre. The issues of debt load, change of lifestyle, income and isolation remain significant concerns.
There still seems to be a lack of information with respect to the income issue, and there were a lot of questions being asked for which we don’t have clear answers supported by statistics or research. For instance, how much does the cost of living play into the equation – balancing out the cost of urban housing and commuting against the perceived lower income in a small firm or rural firm?
Lifestyle: are we reaching out to the appropriate age group when we speak to students? Those who are looking to raise a family may be more willing to move to the perceived quieter life of a smaller centre. How do we reach them?
Debt load: this is a multi-pronged issue. Many rural communities and provincial authorities trying to attract doctors offer incentives to bring them to their communities. How do the local law associations (or provincial bodies) draw the attention of these communities to the fact that legal professionals are also vital to the operation of the community, and work with them to see if incentives can be given?
Similarly, succession planning on the part of retiring counsel (or counsel simply looking for a younger partner to buy in) should be a vital part of education at both ends of the spectrum. Key considerations are what further debt load or arrangement with senior counsel is reasonable to allow both sides of the bargain to plan and proceed with a succession plan, and what needs to be provided to beginning counsel as part of a career planning exercise to allow them to at least start thinking about this, even when still in law school.
There’s not enough room to discuss any of these questions at length here, but one thing did occur to me as I was considering the career fair and what seemed to work that day.
Several local law associations took the initiative by setting up a collective area for their association, allowing counsel from small firms attending to identify themselves as part of a geographic area. This struck me as an excellent idea, as it immediately showed anyone considering the move that they were potentially part of a larger community of lawyers in the area.
Watching the activity at the career fair, it struck me that the most successful presentations were those put forward by the county and local associations, and many of the answers to that list of questions may be found at the local level, in describing the community being considered and available peer support.
The most recent Bencher election for the Law Society of Upper Canada showed that many of the candidates are very alert to the issue of the vanishing local counsel. The CBA (and OBA for my province) have also been very involved on this point.
I confess that my experience is entirely centred on Ontario, but the next stage, perhaps, is to involve and engage the local associations in the process, as these are the groups with direct community contact, and the ability to “sell” their area to counsel considering a move. Benchers representing these areas are the natural liaison between the local and governing bodies and need to be assisted in their efforts on this front.
There needs to be a shift in thinking for the governing and educating bodies, as well, where support and CLE are concerned. Several Bencher candidates in Ontario have mentioned the difficulties in obtaining continuing legal education away from the larger urban centres.
Perhaps we should ask ourselves how we could attract younger counsel to a rural area when for them to meet with their peers requires travel and significant time away from their practice. Online courses certainly ensure compliance with CLE, but are not a substitute for peer support.
County law associations need the support and encouragement of the larger governing bodies in holding and carrying out their own CLE and peer meeting sessions. The Carleton Law Association with their annual gathering is an excellent example of how these efforts can help promote and create an active local community. How much easier would it be to attract new people if they knew that they could count on such events to be held, and that there was a body actively providing contact and peer support?
It seems to me that the local associations are key middlemen in the process of attracting counsel to areas outside of urban centres. Those of us already practising in smaller areas should make every effort to support them, and encourage the larger organizations, whether CBA or law society, to provide the resources to help the local associations grow and connect with their communities, both legal and local.
These organizations already exist, so we are not talking about forging a missing link, but rather strengthening one. As the next step in the process of attracting counsel to non-urban areas, this may be the one to take.
Read Mark Baker’s article “If we build it, they will come,” published in the February 2010 edition of General Knowledge.
Mark Baker is a lawyer at Ferguson Barristers in Midland, Ont. and a Member-at-Large of the SSGPF.
Cultivating balance
By David A. Paul, Q.C.
Much has been written about the importance of work/life balance. For those of us in the legal profession, it’s no wonder. As lawyers, we are notorious for working long hours, often at the sacrifice of our family. Not surprisingly, this lack of balance between our work and personal lives often leads to physical and mental illness. This imbalance has also resulted in many of our colleagues leaving the profession early because of burnout or job dissatisfaction. Yet for others, this imbalance means never retiring because of the fear of not knowing how to do anything besides “being a lawyer,” and dying of boredom.
Fortunately, there are things that we can do to help us achieve a healthy balance between our work and personal life. Among the more popular ways of achieving this balance are spending quality time with family and friends, exercising, reading, vacationing and volunteering. Yet another way of finding this balance is through a hobby.
Hobbies can help us to achieve a work/life balance by giving us an opportunity for “me time” and relaxation, while at the same time providing a challenge that helps keep our minds sharp and our bodies active. For those of us with “Type A” personalities who are worried about giving up those valuable billable hours, participation in a hobby can, in fact, improve the bottom line by serving as an effective networking tool.
My hobby of choice is viticulture (grape growing) and winemaking. I started growing grapes more than a decade ago. Initially I had three vines. Over the years, as my passion for the hobby increased, that number grew to just over 200 grapevines, limited only by the confines of my property lines. Because of the nature of my hobby, I am able to keep active at something I love doing throughout the year.
During the spring and summer I enjoy the fresh air while working the dirt, weeding, fertilizing, pruning, propagating new vines, tightening the trellis wires, and maintaining the irrigation system. In the fall, immediately after a hard day’s work/fun of harvesting, my family and I take on the task of crushing and pressing the grapes. The job is physically demanding and a great way to burn off those extra calories.
The work is also an excellent diversion. Whether I am out in the vineyard or working the crusher/destemmer or the press, I am constantly thinking about things like how to achieve the right balance between the Brix, pH, and TA; the best yeast to use for my primary fermentation; whether to perform a malolactic fermentation; and how long to keep the juice on the skins before pressing. During the winter, after the wine is pressed and placed in the barrels, I am busy reading and thinking about matters like whether or not to oak, and if so, for how long, and when to rack and finally bottle.
Those who know me, including my mother, often ask me why I go through all this effort. They also ask “why not just buy your wine and do something more relaxing with your time?” For me the answer is simple. While my hobby is time consuming and sometimes physically demanding, spending time out among the vines gives me a chance to clear my mind and, if I choose, the opportunity to reflect on a particular file or office matter without the constant interruptions of telephone calls, emails, or staff.
The hobby also allows me the opportunity for quality time with my family. Some of our best communications have occurred while working the vines or crushing and pressing the grapes. Of course, the other benefit of my hobby is the end product and the fun I have sharing it over a meal with my family, friends and colleagues.
The hobby has also opened the door to many new contacts and friends. By meeting other grape growers and winemakers in my community and by joining the local winemaker’s association, I have not only had the opportunity to learn more about growing and winemaking techniques, I have also been able to establish new lifelong friendships with others in the community who share the same passion.
A few years ago, I befriended a retired mechanic, Silvano, who himself had a passion for grape growing and winemaking. Upon learning of our mutual passion, Silvano invited my family and me to his home where he and his wife prepared a lovely Italian lunch which they complemented with a delicious bottle of Silvano’s merlot (which he pronounced “merlotte”). When Silvano told me that the wine was produced from his own backyard grapes, I was immediately inspired and he soon became my best friend. Over the next six years, he mentored me and taught me countless techniques that he had learned himself while growing up on a vineyard in Northern Italy. Sadly, Silvano passed in November of 2008.
Grape growing and winemaking have also served as an effective networking tool and means of getting my name out into the community. My vines are located on a hillside just above a local park. They are visible from certain sections of the city, including the Trans-Canada Highway which passes through Kamloops, B.C. Articles about my backyard vines have been published in local papers and magazines, and on Thanksgiving Day in 2008, I was featured in an interview on CBC radio.
Finding the right hobby is certainly important. The key, of course, is to find one that excites and interests you to do something outside of your work. You will know fairly quickly if the hobby is right for you. If you’re at work on a Friday afternoon thinking about what work you might want to do while at the office on the following Saturday morning, your hobby might not be the best choice.
If, on the other hand, you are thinking about when you will be able to take some time off and spend some fun time at your hobby, or if you are thinking about how you might like to pursue your hobby even further once you retire, you might have found the right one, and you may be on your way to achieving the work/life balance you and your family have desperately been hoping for.
David A. Paul, Q.C., practises law at Paul & Company in Kamloops, B.C. and is the Past Chair of the SSGPF.
The status of paralegals in Manitoba
By Gloria Mendelson
The Law Society of Manitoba, whose mandate is to protect the public interest, has been very concerned about the lack of equal access to legal services. The problem is either no access, because there are no lawyers available in the community where the party lives, or the party cannot afford the lawyers who are available. To address this problem the Law Society conducted a major study on how to improve access and, in so doing, looked into whether licensing and regulating independent paralegals could improve access to legal services.
Then-president of the Law Society Jeff Hirsch stated in the February 2010 issue of the Communiqué, “We will not have an independent legal profession if we do not address the issue of people’s access to legal services. It is, in my view, the single greatest threat to self-governance and independence of the legal profession.”
A committee was established specifically to study this question. The access problem was occurring primarily in the area of family law, where many self-represented parties were appearing in court and doing themselves and others involved a disservice. The Law Society was aware that Ontario had already licensed paralegals to provide legal services independent of any supervision or oversight, other than by the Law Society of Upper Canada. However, their scope was restricted to administrative law, such as landlord/ tenant, labour/employment and worker’s compensation disputes.
After some study, the committee concluded that “paralegals could improve things if properly trained and supervised by lawyers,” said Allan Fineblit, Q.C., chief executive officer of the Law Society. (He formerly served as the executive director of Legal Aid Manitoba from 1986-1996, after which time he was the deputy attorney general of Manitoba until 1998, when he became the CEO of the Law Society.) The committee was not convinced that licensed regulated independent paralegals could make a significant difference to improving access.
The recommendations of the committee have been approved by the Law Society of Manitoba and are presently in the stages of implementation. This includes discussions with the judiciary about levels of court appearances that might be appropriate for paralegals, and with the community colleges about accrediting new programs for paralegals that will give them the necessary training to expand the scope of what they do.
At present, “paralegals” is an all-encompassing term. In the context of the private sector assisting lawyers, it refers to legal assistants or secretaries who have had on-the-job training and/or some formal training, usually one year at a college. The formal training generally consists of familiarization with processes and preparation of documents. The range and complexity of the work paralegals now do and the extent of supervision by the lawyer varies. Legal assistants who do real estate deals, estate administration and corporate annual returns etc., work fairly independently, but still under the supervision of a lawyer.
In these areas there is no access problem. The Law Society hopes, in conjunction with the community colleges, to establish training that will expand the use of paralegals in the areas of family law and civil litigation, where there are serious access issues. The expectation is that specialized training with accreditation in these areas will allow lawyers to provide the services at a lower cost and to communities now underserviced.
The nature of the work done by paralegals and the extent of supervision by the lawyer will depend on the nature of the matter and the skills and experience of the paralegal. The scope will definitely be expanded and there will be some level of court appearances.
Since paralegals will continue to be supervised by lawyers, errors the paralegals make will be covered by the lawyers’ liability insurance, as they are now. No separate or additional insurance is required. Further, the fees charged for the services of a paralegal will depend on the marketplace.
Allan Fineblit believes that it will take about another year, i.e, until the fall of 2012, to get these programs up and running.
Gloria Mendelson practises law at Gloria Mendelson Law Corporation, Winnipeg, Man. and is the Chair of the Manitoba General Practitioners' Section.
Useful BlackBerry applications for lawyers
By David A. Paul, Q.C.
I bought my first PDA in the early ’90s. It was the Palm Pilot, and while its features were somewhat limited, I found it to be invaluable to my practice. It offered me an on-the-spot means of finding a contact, checking my calendar, taking a note, or performing a quick conflict check.
Over the past 20 years, the PDA has evolved into what we now refer to as the smartphone, an all-in-one communication tool that fits in the palm of your hand. My most recent upgrade was to the BlackBerry Torch, which capitalized on BlackBerry’s historical strength by including a keyboard, a proper touch screen, a GPS and an upgraded 5 megapixel camera (still and video). The Torch came preloaded with a number of standard applications (“apps”); however, the device isn’t limited to these apps only. There are a number of other useful applications that can be obtained online, often for free or a very nominal cost.
Some of the apps that I have found which might be particularly useful to those in the profession include the following:
- BEIKS Bouvier’s Law Dictionary. This legal dictionary sells for about US$19.95.
- BigHand. This app allows you to record, edit and (with the premium edition) send voice files or tasks to office-based support. The basic version of this app is free.
- BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express. This program allows you to wirelessly stay in sync with your email, calendar and more. It works with Microsoft Exchange, Windows Small Business Server, and IBM Lotus Domino. And it’s free.
- Black’s for BlackBerry. This puts the power of Black’s Law Dictionary at your fingertips. It costs approximately US$50.00.
- BuddyGuard. This app allows you to access and control your BlackBerry remotely using commands sent by SMS or email messages. With BuddyGuard Free you can lock your BlackBerry or play a tone to help you find a misplaced device.
- Business Card Reader. This app allows you to import contact information from business cards directly into your BlackBerry contacts simply by taking a photo of the card. It sells for US$9.99.
- The Canadian Press Mobile. This app gives you the convenience of viewing, saving, sharing and rating stories, photos and soon video, based on your choice of postal codes and topics. It sells for US$2.99.
- Canadian Business Search. This app allows you to “speak” your search for nearby businesses. It’s free.
- Canadian Mortgage Calculator. This app helps you estimate the biweekly or monthly payments for a mortgage. It sells for US99¢.
- Canadian Yellow Pages Business Finder and Canada 411People Finder. Now you can have Yellow Pages and the 411 People finder at your fingertips. It’s free.
- DataBackup Free Beta. This allows you to back-up your device data to the device SD Card. As the name suggests, it’s free.
- Documents to Go. Some of the latest versions of BlackBerry come with a free version of this program which allows you to view and edit Microsoft Office formats. The premium version of this program costs US$14.99 and includes a PDF viewer.
- Dragon for E-mail. This free program is an easy-to-use email dictation application powered by Dragon NaturallySpeaking that allows you to easily speak and instantly see your emails by simply dictating directly within the BlackBerry email.
- Email. This app comes standard with the Torch. It allows you to retrieve emails from your various accounts directly to your BlackBerry.
- Facebook. Allows you to sync your device with your Facebook account. It’s free.
- Google Talk for BlackBerry smartphones. Allows virtual chatting in real time with your instant messaging contacts when and where you want to, not just when you're in front of your computer. It has many of the same features you already use with Google Talk on your desktop. It’s free.
- Garmin Mobile. This app works with your device’s GPS and provides spoken turn-by-turn directions to millions of destinations. It also provides you with up-to-date weather information. There is a one-time purchase cost of US$99 for the lifetime of your BlackBerry device.
- Globe & Mail. Allows you to have access to the Globe. It’s free.
- Google Maps. This free program offers much of what you get with the desktop version, including satellite views, turn-by-turn directions, and local business searching. It also adds a GPS-enabled, location-based search component for use with your BlackBerry.
- MyFax. This free app lets you send and receive faxes with your BlackBerry.
- QuickPull. This free app offers the same functionality as pulling your battery to reset your device. It can also be scheduled to do so at pre-determined times.
- QR Code Scanner Pro. Turns your phone into a QR Code Scanner. It’s free.
- Remote Print. This app allows you to wirelessly print from your device. It also lets you send files from your device wirelessly to your PC. It sells for US$4.99.
- RDM+: Remote Desktop for Mobiles. This app allows you to remotely access your desktop via your BlackBerry. With this program, you can do many of the things you would normally do sitting in front of your computer. It sells for US$39.99.
- SpeechExec for BlackBerry. This app allows you to use your BlackBerry as a dictation device. Once your recording is finished, you transmit the dictation to your company’s dictation server via email, FTP/S or HTTP/S. After transcription, the transcribed document can be sent back to your BlackBerry by email. The last time I checked, this product wasn’t yet available for the Torch. As for pricing, that wasn’t readily available either. There is also a free version of this program, however it does not allow you to transmit your dictation over the web but instead saves the dictation to the BlackBerry’s memory card for synchronization back at the office.
- Trafficnet –Traffic Canada. Get traffic updates, including collisions, construction, road closures, events, traffic flow and volume information, border delays and highway traffic cameras. It’s free.
- Twitter. Allows you to tweet right from your BlackBerry. It’s free.
- Vlingo. Allows you to use voice recognition to control your device. It’s free.
- WeatherBug. This app lets you stay informed with live local weather and severe weather alerts, including in-depth forecasts, camera views, detailed radar maps and international weather. A one-year subscription is US$29.99.
- Wifi File Transfer. Transfer files directly between your BlackBerry and your PC or Mac on the same WiFi Network. It sells for US$4.99.
Many of these applications can be downloaded from either BlackBerry’s official app store, BlackBerry App World or CrackBerry.com. If you are looking for a particular app and it’s not there, keep checking. New apps are being added all the time.
David A. Paul, Q.C., practises law at Paul & Company in Kamloops, B.C. and is the Past Chair of the SSGPF.
A learning experience
By Rajiv Bhalla
The first time that I attended a CBA conference was August 15, 2010, in Niagara Falls, Ont. It was by chance that I ran into a fellow lawyer (from St. Albert, Alta.) Stacy Maurier. During discussions with her about the CBA, I became aware of the different Sections within this organization. I was most interested in the Small, Solo and General Practice Forum, both its work and its purpose. Stacy suggested that I come to a meeting and invited me to attend the next one.
I cannot describe how overwhelmed I felt at meeting all the lawyers who were present from across Canada. This was a unique experience, and I wanted to hear all of their suggestions, thoughts and experiences, but, alas, it was a case of too many people and not enough time. This was a great forum in which to share the challenges and experience of being a lawyer from a small and solo practice. I came away with new ideas and techniques for how to improve and manage a law office. I’m grateful to Pascale Daigneault from Ontario who supported my nomination for Member-at-Large on the Forum Executive.
In October 2010, all the members of the Forum attended our annual meeting in Ottawa. We shared our views and ideas about how to get more people involved, as well as sharing our personal experiences. Our learned friend from British Columbia, David Paul, Q.C., gave us more information from a technical perspective that would help all of us to enhance our productivity, and techniques for working smarter.
I want to thank all the members of Small, Solo and General Practice Forum for being a part of these groups. In the future, I hope to meet more members and exchange more experiences and expertise.
Rajiv Bhalla practises at Bhalla Law Offices in Edmonton, Alta. and is a Member-at-Large of the SSGPF.
Small, Solo and General Practice Forum first in-person conference in Toronto
Mark your calendars for the first CBA Small, Solo and General Practice Forum in-person conference, which is being held Friday, November 18, at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto. This year’s conference, Business Basics in Changing Times, will address basic business considerations for solo, small firm and general practitioners. It will also provide practical information to take away and apply to improve your practice. More details will be available on the CBA PD website shortly.
Save the date for the 2011 Law Firm Leadership Conference
Now in its seventh year, the CBA’s Law Firm Leadership Conference has become the essential professional development event for managing partners and up-and-coming law firm leaders in Canada. This year’s conference, People, Positioning, and Performance, is specifically geared to the smaller firm with a focus on developing highly successful lawyers and the next generation of leaders.
Be sure to join us this year on October 24 and 25 at the beautiful Four Seasons hotel in Vancouver for this must-attend annual event for Canadian law firm leaders. More information will be available shortly on the CBA PD website.
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JULY 2011
Editor:
Lucille R. Birkett, Q.C.
E-Publications Editor:
Conrad McCallum
Production:
Rose Steele
Staff Liaison:
Edith S. Pérusse
Contributors:
Mark Baker
Rajiv Bhalla
Lucille R. Birkett, Q.C.
Gloria Mendelson
David A. Paul, Q.C.
Published by the Canadian Bar Association's Small, Solo and General Practice Forum.
Don't miss a single update from the Forum – add general.practice@cba.org to your address book.
The views expressed in the articles contained herein are solely the views of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Canadian Bar Association.
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