Law Times

PAGE 6 COMMENT Law Times Group Publisher . . . . . . . Karen Lorimer Editorial Director . . . . . . . Gail J. Cohen Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glenn Kauth Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Todd Staff Writer . . . . . . . Michael McKiernan Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . Heather Gardiner CaseLaw Editor . . . . . Adela Rodriguez Art Director . . . . . . . . . . Alicia Adamson Account Co-ordinator . . . . Catherine Giles Electronic Production Specialist . . . . . . . . . . . . . Derek Welford Advertising Sales . . . . Kimberlee Pascoe Sales Co-ordinator . . . . . . . . . Sandy Shutt ©2011 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Law Times disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. Editorial Obiter A good campaign so far I f you can say anything about the Law Society of Upper Canada bencher election campaign so far, it has at least been more vibrant than in the past. Already, a group of candidates got together to host a series of virtual town halls. At the same time, the Ontario Bar Association held three receptions for bencher candidates, the last of which took place in London, Ont., last Tuesday. It has also surveyed bencher hopefuls for their positions on a num- ber of issues facing the law society and posted the responses online. Law Times, too, has gotten in the game. Since February, we've been running a web site, lawtimesnews. com/2011bencherelection, featuring stories, poll questions, and candidates' responses to the issues. Th is week in print, we're running an 11-page spread dedicated to the elections. It includes stories and profi les as well as a map of the province showing where all of the candidates are running. Besides being more active, the cam- paign has also featured interesting dis- cussions on the issues. At last week's virtual town hall, for example, the is- sue of the dearth of articling positions was a hot topic. Already, an online Law Times poll had shown 96 per cent of respondents felt the law society isn't doing enough on the articling issue. And while Treasurer Laurie Pawlitza said there had been extensive eff orts last year to call 8,000 fi rms outside of Toronto to canvass them on articling and that just two jobs had resulted, people clearly aren't happy with the current situation. In fact, during the town hall, one participant in the audience asked can- didates whether they supported the idea of a new law school at Lakehead University in Th under Bay, Ont. But while current Bencher Susan Hare said she "wholeheartedly supports" the idea, others were cautious about increasing the pool of new graduates without some action on articling. So- lutions include abolishing or revising the articling requirement altogether. "I cannot support a new law school unless we get articling sorted out," said Toronto candidate Mitch Kowal- ski. "We have to revisit the articling program." Other ideas raised included having older lawyers pay higher LSUC mem- ber fees in order to lower the burden for new practitioners who may be struggling. For his part, Kowalski said that rather than base the levy on age, it may be "more palatable that lawyers making tons of money will pay a high- er fee because they can aff ord it." Of course, there have been a few hiccups in the campaign so far. Some lawyers, for example, have reported that e-mails from Compushare con- taining voting information have been going to their spam folders. But overall, the law society and candidates have been doing a good job of ensuring the 2011 campaign goes well. At the same time, the issues discussed so far show that the next Convocation will have lots on its plate to deal with. As a result, let's hope we see higher turnout than during the last election. — Glenn Kauth T Achieving balance: two out of three ain't bad A Criminal he Law Society of Up- per Canada recently off ered an interesting webcast program called "Work/ Life Balance: Myth or Reality." All Ontario lawyers, of course, must complete 12 hours of continuing profes- sional development annually, including three hours of profes- sionalism content. Th is free but highly valuable course, chaired by John Starzynski, off ers two hours of professionalism and will be available again on May 30. Doron Gold prepared the written materials. What tips did I pick up? My favourite was a suggestion to build a better clientele with the two-out-of-three rule. All clients or matters should do at least two of the following: be interesting and challenging; involve people you enjoy; and pay you. Money alone is not reason enough to take a fi le or decline it. My associate and I were able to put the rule into practice immediately when a diffi cult potential new client under investigation wanted pro bono pre-charge diversion. Th e work itself wasn't interesting. I told my associate that as it was a situation of zero out of three, we should decline it. What distinguishes a suc- cessful day from a wasted one? Effi ciency and produc- tivity are key. A paradigm in the materials divides tasks into four quadrants. Quadrant 1 is urgent and important work. Quadrant 2 is urgent but not important work. Quadrant 3 is work that is important but not urgent. Quadrant 4 contains tasks that are neither urgent nor important. We know we should be working on import- ant matters but we are readily lured into Quadrant 2. When we are preparing a fac- tum to fi le tomorrow, we are in Quadrant 1. In the meantime, we are interrupted by Quad- rant 2 tasks, such as phone calls and e-mails, as other people impose on our time. We fail to Mind By Rosalind Conway pay attention to the Quadrant 3 matters in our practices that are not yet urgent. Examples of ignored matters in our practi- ces include employee issues, collecting accounts, market- ing, and even taking time off . Quadrant 4 is a catch-all that includes entertainment, Fa- cebook, and keeping current. Have one daily to-do list. I move uncompleted tasks to to- morrow or the next day. Combine similar tasks. I know one family lawyer who takes all of his calls during one time slot every afternoon. Here's a tip that will upset every editor: the program rec- ommends throwing out profes- sional reading after one month. Stacks of unread materials in www.lawtimesnews.com your offi ce or your home are a major stressor, as is any mouldering work. Work at a clean desk by clearing it every night. Th e course materials in- clude a wonderful article, "Stress Busters: Sanity Savers, Practical Tips," by Ron Profi t of Cox & Palmer in Charlotte- town. Profi t has tips for run- ning your practice and life. He recommends purging your practice of your three worst clients every four months and spending time practising say- ing no. Go with that gut feel- ing you had during your initial contact with the client. Omin- ously, he also says, "Stay away from boards." Th e program has some sali- ent advice about getting paid. Off er an automatic discount of something like fi ve per cent if the client pays within a short specifi ed period. Bill at a mile- stone and don't send large ac- counts without warning. Don't sue to collect an account. Suing April 11, 2011 • lAw Times Law Times Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. 240 Edward Street, Aurora, ON • L4G 3S9 Tel: 905-841-6481 • Fax: 905-727-0017 www.lawtimesnews.com Publications Mail Agreement Number 40762529 • ISSN 0847-5083 Law Times is published 40 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 • 905-841-6481. clb.lteditor@thomsonreuters.com CIRCULATIONS & SUBSCRIPTIONS $165.00 + HST per year in Canada (HST Reg. #R121351134) and US$259.00 for foreign address- es. Single copies are $4.00 Circulation inquiries, post- al returns and address changes should include a copy of the mailing label(s) and should be sent to Law Times 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9. Return postage guaranteed. Contact Jacquie Clancy at: jacquie.clancy@ thomsonreuters.com or Tel: 905-713-4392 • Toll free: 1-888-743-3551 or Fax: 905-841-4357. ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries and materials should be directed to Sales, Law Times, 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 or call Karen Lorimer at 905-713-4339 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com, Kimberlee Pascoe at 905-713-4342 kimberlee.pascoe@thomson- reuters.com, or Sandy Shutt at 905-713-4337 sandra. shutt@thomsonreuters.com Law Times is printed on newsprint containing 25-30 per cent post-consumer recycled materials. Please recycle this newspaper. can trigger a complaint. Do your worst task fi rst every day. Th is is a great tip but a diffi cult one for criminal law- yers who are usually in court in the morning. Two speakers at the program were early risers who would work while com- muting or before their children got up. What probably is key is having some uninterrupted quality time. In the meantime, here is a clever writer's tip from an en- tirely diff erent source, my late professor George Johnston of Carleton University. When working on a project, start writing immediately. Com- plete your research later, then go back and make changes. How do you think I wrote this? Anyway, don't forget about that two-out-of-three rule. It's sage advice. Rosalind Conway is a certifi ed specialist in criminal litigation. She can be reached at rosalind. conway@gmail.com.

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