Law Times

Page 4 June 5, 2017 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com NEWS NEWS NEWS LSUC discipline division looks to go paperless BY ALEX ROBINSON Law Times T he Law Society of Up- per Canada is develop- ing new digital tools to use in investigations as part of a goal to move its disci- pline procedures to an entirely paperless system. The LSUC is establishing a digital forensics lab in order to enhance its capacity to use e-discovery and technology in its investigations of lawyers accused of misconduct. "Historically, most of our investigation and discipline processes were paper-based . . . but we are now in the 21 st cen- tury and a lot of data and a lot of documents that are critical to investigations and discipline are now appearing really only in electronic or digital formats," says Robert Lapper, the law soci- ety's CEO. The law society is now in the early stages of employing a num- ber of new digital tools in inves- tigations, including capturing website pages and doing mirror images of hard drives, and it has the capability to look at a docu- ment's metadata to see when it was created. This could be particularly useful in instances where the credibility of an accused lawyer is in question and investigators need to confirm when they cre- ated a particular document, of- ficials say. Chantelle Spagnola, a lawyer with Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, says these initia- tives could reinforce the need for lawyers to have a greater under- standing of technology used in their practice. "Hopefully, it would encour- age people to be competent and understand the technology that they're using, knowing the im- plications that somebody could potentially get access to the metadata," she says. The law society is also looking to create an electronic evidence management system, which will contain a digital record of every document that goes through the disciplinary process. The law society has hired a manager to lead a new tech unit, which will have eight to 10 specialized employees and will work out of a new physical space, opening in the fall to accommo- date the changes. LT © 2017 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited 00243TQ-87627-CE What makes small firms profitable? Marketing, document automation, and research. These are the top three areas in which investing for growth is helping small firms thrive, according to a recent study commissioned by Thomson Reuters.* Among the highlights – small firm practitioners who consider themselves successful cite three key priorities: • Driving efficiencies • Generating growth through business development in more non-traditional ways • Faster and better quality servicing of clients through the use of technology Among those surveyed, 88% of small firms also agree that investing in technology is now a necessity for a law firm in Canada. With products like FindLaw, Practical Law Canada and WestlawNext Canada, Thomson Reuters has the proven tools to support the emerging needs of today's small firms in attracting clients, practising law and managing firm business. * Research conducted by FTI Consulting on behalf of Thomson Reuters Don't miss out on other valuable insights into what makes small firms profitable. Download our white paper today at westlawnextcanada.com/firm-profitability. Untitled-1 1 2017-05-30 2:02 PM Chantelle Spagnola says digital tools may promote better understanding of technology.

• Cover