Law Times

Law Times • march 21, 2016 Page 9 www.lawtimesnews.com Tools help boost productivity, mobility Insolvency lawyers lead technology race BY JIM MIDDLEMISS For Law Times W hen Patrick Shea was retained to advise the Jamaican govern- ment on new insolvency laws, the Gowling WLG lawyer found that his iPad mini tablet quickly became indispensable to his task. "It's probably the best tool I have," says Shea, a certified special- ist in bankruptcy and insolvency law at the firm's Toronto office. Rather than lug around vol- umes of statutes and precedents, before each trip, Shea would sim- ply download whatever resourc- es he needed, turning his device into a portable library. "I would have had to carry a suitcase of documents." Instead, he simply made sure that he had a lot of memory in his device. As well, he could access his of- fice computer systems from his tablet through a secure connec- tion using soware from Citrix Systems. In fact, Shea says his iPad has become an everyday part of his practice, and an extension of his office. "I haven't got to the point where I could do an entire hear- ing," Shea says, "but I always bring my iPad to court." If the court- room doesn't have Wi-Fi, he con- nects using a hotspot through his "old BlackBerry." Shea isn't alone in his use of tablets to help make him a more productive lawyer. Tevia Jeffries, an associate in the insolvency group at Dentons Can- ada LLP, says she uses "a tablet in court pretty regularly now, both to take notes and access documents." She says it allows her to "show up to court with fewer giant binders of documents." at's because the insolvency bar has an edge over much of the litigation that is taking place in Canadian courts. e monitors appointed to oversee matters under the Com- panies' Creditors Arrangement Act maintain web sites contain- ing all the relevant filings. at's been driven in part by demand and by the Commercial List court in Toronto, which has been particularly active in driv- ing online access to documents with its Guide Concerning Com- mercial List E-Service. e guide sets out the require- ments for maintaining a case web site and instructions on electron- ic service protocols. It also stress- es the point that its proceedings "involve 'real time litigation,' which, by its natures requires ef- ficient, effective and cost efficient methods of providing service and notice to stakeholders." Combine monitor web sites with access to past judgments through CanlII.org, and subscrip- tion to online legal resources and a tablet makes for a powerful liti- gation library in a small package. Jeffries says her tablet is also handy in negotiating terms of or- ders, because she can simply call up precedents and "make changes on the fly to orders in real time." However, the use of technology among insolvency practitioners is somewhat a function of age. Many of the senior lawyers Law Times spoke to scoffed when asked about their favourite piece of technology, suggesting they don't really use computers, or they referred to a dated cell- phone or some type of dictation application running on their smartphone — which is still a gi- ant leap forward from where the legal business stood 20 years ago. So there is a generation di- vide when it comes to technol- ogy adoption. Take Jeffries, who was called to the New York Bar in 2009 where she worked at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP before returning to Canada in 2012. She says her generation of lawyers is comfortable "using a broad ar- ray of various online tools and document management systems. I don't even think about them. I use them all the time." ose graduating from law school today are even more astute. However, accessing docu- ments online is only part of the equation. Being able to add value to a document by marking it up and breaking it down is key. at's where the world of apps is making its mark. For example, Jeffries uses iAn- notate, which allows lawyers to mark up and share PDFs. ere are numerous other apps that can be added to help make the life of a mobile insolvency lawyer more productive, such as Evernote, a note-taking and organizer app. Microso also has its popular suite of products including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint accessible through apps. When it comes to insolvency- specific apps, the pickings are slim. However, Canadian business consulting firm Farber Financial Group has built RESOLV, an app that covers Canada's insolvency and restructuring world. Allan Nackan, a trustee in bankruptcy in the insolvency group, says the app is now in its second version and has been up- graded. It includes a section involving CCAA filings. As well, the app has a number of model orders, from CCAA ini- tial orders to receivership orders and Mareva or Anton Pillar orders. ere is also a section cover- ing relevant statutes and regula- tions, including major U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. One of the more prominent features is the "Door Sheet" — a daily posting of the cases being heard in the Toronto Commer- cial Court. Nackan says, "I know a lot of people use it. Some judges I speak to love it." It's particularly helpful since the court stopped sending out an e- mail blast to users bout the docket. ey must now go to the court's web site to find the information. "It's not easy to find the info," Nackan says. "We actually pro- cess that info and present it in a friendly, readable fashion." LT FOCUS ON Restructuring & Insolvency FOCUS Patrick Shea says his iPad has become an everyday part of his practice, and an extension of his office. it's back 2016 CANADIAN LAWYER'S LEGAL FEES SURVEY Complete the survey online at canadianlawyermag.com/surveys then check out the results in the June issue to see how your fees compare across multiple practice areas. Survey closes March 28 Watch for the results in the June issue! Untitled-1 1 2016-02-24 9:15 AM

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