RSS Feed100 Tips and Resources to be a Happy, Successful Lawyer
Is it possible to be both happy and successful in law?
Laura Milligan of Job Profiles thinks so. They wrote in last night and brought an article to our attention that provides tips and other resources that can help lawyers in their careers.
They suggest that lawyers join associations. For us it would be the Canadian Bar Association, as well as the provincial organization where you live. There are also practice focused groups like the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association and the Canadian Defence Lawyers.
To keep abreast of changes in the field, they list a bunch of lawyer blogs. Of course the best way to do that is to write a blog yourself, which keeps you in the loop and adds your voice to the discussion.
Social media is also something they mention, citing Kevin O’Keefe’s article from earlier this year that says that Law Firms Should Learn to Love Social Media Sites.
Love is a strong word. I’ve got my hand it dozens of social media sites, but I only use a handful because the rest are too time consuming, redundant, and have limited scope. FriendFeed has become a very useful tool because it aggregates several social media sites for you.
The newest site I’m trying out is Martindale by Lexis-Nexis. Given it’s specific legal focus it might prove useful, but has limited functions to students, who can’t create public profiles or be listed in the search functions. Law students marketing themselves is still something new to the industry. Firms might be interested in getting listed on Lawyers.com’s new site, Canadian-Lawyers.
Continuing education is hardly a concern for law students. But I still attend a number of CE events to broaden my horizons, gain perspectives from practitioners rather than academics, and network with members of the bar.
Avoiding burnout and creating a work/life balance should start now, while we are in school. Unfortunately the most successful students are too often the ones with the least balance. And although it might be a calculated sacrifice at this point in their career, it’s not sustainable in the long-term.
Jobs, and the fear of not getting one, is probably the reason why law students burn themselves out. The number of positions out there should provide some assurances that there are positions for everyone. Last month we were contacted by Stephen Fine, who provides other options at www.AlternativeLawJob.com. We plan on doing an interview with him in the future to explore this further.
References, referrals, humour are also important to add to the mix, and Milligan provides a smattering of them. But they also provide resources for new lawyers and students, how to get out of debt, and how to fight discrimination.
Jordan Furlong has also written to us in the past, and pointed out resources for Canadian law students and lawyers in creating work/life balance.
But will all of this help make lawyers, as Hon. Patrick J. Schiltz said, “happy, healthy and ethical?”
You tell us.
Osgoode Francophone Society
Osgoode Hall Law School has had its own Francophone Society since January. We started with a tiny weekly conversation club last year even before officially registering with Legal and Lit. About ten or fifteen French language enthusiasts regularly pulled tables together in the inescapable Osgoode cafeteria and practiced French. We didn’t have a single native speaker among us but some of us spoke pretty good Français. That was our first year.
Come September, we would like to continue our conversation club. If you are in Osgoode in any capacity and speak French, why not bavarder avec nous? If you are a native speaker this is really your Society, and one of its goals is to raise the profile of the Francophone community in Osgoode.
We would also like to build relationships with the Francophone legal community in Toronto. There is a significant interest in the French language among law students as my experience with running the Francophone Society shows. Let’s network.
Drop me a line if you want to join the Society or would like more information: my first name @ my last name . org.
In Defense of Free Speech…
On June 28 2008, the Canadian Human Rights commission dismissed the complaint against Maclean’s magazine (Rogers Media) concerning an article by Mark Steyn, and rightly so. (The complainants held that the article, among others, established a pattern of discrimination, and following repeatedly rebuffed attempts to respond in Maclean’s magazine, felt compelled to bring further action).
As many of you are aware, one article, “The Future Belongs to Islam”, is an opinion piece in which Steyn employs demographic information to support his opinion that the future of the Western world is in peril/doubt because of the spread of Islam.
While I am not a fan of Mark Steyn’s “neoconservative” ideology, as a self-described left-of-center civil libertarian I am certainly a fan of freedom of expression. Even if you do not agree with his arguments, he should have the right to express them without remaining worryingly susceptible to the retributive power of the state.
In fact, if it is held necessary that a body is to rule on the acceptability of certain speech, in order to protect vulnerable groups, the bar should be set exceedingly high. And according to previous rulings, the Supreme Court agrees. From the recent Maclean’s decision:
“The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Canada (Human Rights Commission) v. Taylor, [1990] 3 S.C.R. 892 that this legally prescribed limitation of fundamental Charter rights [Section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act] was reasonable and justifiable, but warned that caution and restraint would be required in the application of the section so that the limitation on free speech would be minimized to the greatest possible extent.”
From Taylor:
“The guarantee of freedom of expression is not unduly impaired by s. 13(1). The section is not overbroad or excessively vague. Its terms, in particular the phrase “hatred or contempt”, are sufficiently precise and narrow to limit its impact to those expressive activities which are repugnant to Parliament’s objective. The phrase “hatred or contempt” in the context of s. 13(1) refers only to unusually strong and deep‑felt emotions of detestation, calumny and vilification…”
The test was whether Steyn’s writings were so extreme and malicious in nature as to elicit hatred or contempt against the subjects:
“The court interpreted ‘hatred’ to mean a feeling of extreme ill-will that allows for no redeeming qualities in the person towards whom it is directed while ‘contempt’ “encompassed looking down upon or treating as inferior the object of one’s feelings.”
In an earlier related case referred to in the decision, Warman v. Kouba, it is made clear as to what type of material is considered to warrant intervention and censorship. Steyn’s writings certainly do not meet this benchmark. Hence, the commission concluded that the views expressed in the article:
“when considered as a whole and in context, are not of an extreme nature, as defined by the Supreme Court.”
A decision is pending from the BC commission.
Dimitris Lambrou, the Proud Lesbian Man
There are up to 350,00 Lesbians that are not gay.
Some of them are not seeking same-sex rights, but the protection of the word “lesbian” as a unique identifier of the inhabitants of Lesbos.
“My wife is a Lesbian, my daughter is a Lesbian and I am a Lesbian,” said the Greek man who started this amusing case in an Athens court last month.
Some History
Ken Blanchard provides some background,
According to Thucydides, it went down like this. The island of Lesbos rebelled against the Athenian Empire. The Athenians quickly subdued it, and then it was up to the popular assembly in Athens… to decide what to do with the rebellious islanders. The assembly voted to kill all the adult males, and sell the women and children into slavery. Frees up a lot of real estate. A boat was sent out (powered by rowers) to inform the marines on Lesbos as to their duty. But the next day a shrewd speaker convinced the assembly to reverse its vote. So they sent out a second boat, with a reward promised to the rowers if they got there in time. They did. And so the Lesbians were saved. The male Lesbians that is.
The name Lesbos apparently comes from the patron god of the island, who was the son of the Thessalonian hero Lapithos, or alternatively comes from the word for lush vegetation.
But its association with gay females is traced back to a poet that inhabited it named Sappho, who lived around 530-670 B.C.E. Sappho wrote on a number of subjects that included passionate prose that included targets of the same sex.
Rename the Island instead of Lesbians
Dimitris Lambrou, a contemporary inhabitant of the island, is petitioning the courts against the Greek Gay and Lesbian Union (Olke) from using the name “lesbian” in their name. He claims that the human rights of the islanders have been violated because it disgraces them around the world. Presumably, he would continue his case to the national and international level as well if he was successful.
Granted, Labrou does use some very strong language, claiming islanders have suffered “psychological and moral rape” from the “seizure” of the use of the word “lesbian.” Although women raping men is far more rare, it does happen.
One 36 year old woman in Spokane County in the U.S. was convicted in 1997 of torturing and raping a 42 year old man. South African papers reported last year that men in that country are being raped without the use of a condom, a scary proposition considering HIV/AIDS rates there. Then of course there are the stories of pedophilia, usually involving a female in a position of authority such as a teacher.
But rape of the psychological and moral kind, and corresponding damages, are unlikely even under Greek law.
Lambrou also claims the Greek government is so embarrassed that they are renaming the country’s third largest island as Mytilene.
There are several other reasons for viewing Labrou’s concerns with skepticism.
Not an Aggressive Act Against Women
Lambrou has explained his motivations,
I’m a fan of old values and traditions.
He publishes a magazine promoting ancient Greek culture and religion, and frequently criticizes the Catholic Church.
Jane Czyzselska says in Beware of Greeks bearing prejudices,
While lesbians in more than 80 countries are still denied their basic equal rights and more than 50 per cent of Britain’s lesbian youth are bullied, poor old Lambrou and his sister are upset that use of the word violates the human rights of the islanders and disgraces them around the world. Clearly, Hellenics hath no fury like a lesbian scorned.
However Labrou has said,
This is not an aggressive act against gay women. Let them visit Lesbos and get married and whatever they like. We just want [the group] to remove the word lesbian from their title.
A Genericized Global Trademark
The other issue with the claim is that the word “lesbian” is similar to a proprietary eponym, when a supposed brand name under intellectual property rights enters the colloqial landscape and synonmous with the general term.
Examples of genericized trademarks include Band-Aid, Kleenex, Jell-O and even Google. If your brand is too successful, you actually lose your intellectual property rights towards it.
He bases his claim on the first in time, first in right principle, which can still applicable for domain registration,
Lambrou said the word lesbian has only been linked with gay women in the past few decades. “But we have been Lesbians for thousands of years.”
The word “lesbian” has been used all over the world in this manner, and has been for some time.
Rictor Norton traces the use of the term in A Critique of Social Constructionism and Postmodern Queer Theory, “The ‘Sodomite’ and the ‘Lesbian,’ to at least 1732 in William King’s The Toast. By 1890, it had entered the Oxford University Dictionary, indicating a genericide for some time now.
Blanchard also adds the numerous sporting teams that use as their mascots or team names indigenous peoples and tribes that would seek similar intellectual property protection.
Absurd Consequences
Hauke Goos describes the scene in the court,
Lambrou sat in the gallery, surrounded by Greek gays and lesbians. He seemed convinced that the case was progressing in his favor. But then the opposing party’s attorney cross-examined the witness. What about twins whose bodies are joined at birth? he asked. Wouldn’t he, the witness, refer to them as Siamese twins? “Yes,” the witness replied. “Don’t you think the Siamese might object to that?” He hadn’t come to Athens to discuss the problems of the Siamese, the witness said curtly.
We can think of similarly absurd consequences, such as the residents of Dildo, Newfoundland issuing a suit against the sex toy industry. Steve Pitt commented in Legion Magazine in 1994,
No one can say with any firmness when and why Dildo acquired its name, but there are plenty of theories to choose from. Some say Dildo was named after a Spanish sailor of the same name who sailed the waters of the area. Others claim Dildo Bay was named after a ship’s part, a long metal cylinder. Still, others assert that Dildo, Nfld., is named for a certain species of cactus, the Dildo-Pear Tree, found only in the Caribbean. Still others hold to the theory that Dildo was named after an archaic term for a song’s chorus. The word is used that way by Shakespeare in A Winter’s Tale, Act 4, Scene 4: “…with such delicate burdens of dildos and fadings.”
And then there is the Amish town of Intercourse, Pennsylvania.
You can see where we are going with this…
Updates
The decision for the case was released July 18, and published today. The court rejected the plaintiff’s claim and said that the term could be used by gays, and said that Lambrou was free to appeal.
Michelangelo Signorile claims that Lambrou has been living in Canada for the past 30 years, which adds yet another interesting twist.
Back in Canada, legal lesbians are losing their jobs.
h/t Ainsley Brown of University of Westminster law and UWO law
Supporting Lawyer Mothers is a Bad Thing?
We’ve all heard it from some of those more sharp-tongued friends of ours - all those single mothers are eroding our economy and stealing our taxes.
The Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) is getting heat now for supporting single mothers of another type - sole practitioners - and also those in smaller firms.
In a unanimous vote, LSUC will increase it’s fees by a measly $5-15 per lawyer to assist mothers and fathers seeking parental leave by providing grants of $3,000 a month.
But Karen Selick of the National Post slams the program, calling it “creeping socialism” (that’s a bad thing, by the way).
She forgets that Canada is often classified as a socialist democracy, especially the structure of our health care system, which to most Canadians is our proudest symbol of nationalism.
Selick also neglects to mention that the initiative was the result of a province-wide consultation by LSUC’s Working Group on the Retention of Women in Private Practice, which included many different social and ethnic groups and firms of all sizes. LSUC heard from 900 lawyers and students and received over 55 written submissions.
But consulting, of course, is so very undemocratic.
The Working Group states,
Women have been entering the private practice of law in record numbers for over two decades. However, they have also been leaving in great numbers, largely because private practice has not adapted to their realities, such as childbirth and taking on a significant portion of family responsibilities.
Also overlooked is that the move is part of a major plan to address the issue of equity in the workplace. Other recommendations adopted include:
- a think tank to promote retention and advancement of women in law
- direct support for women
- practice locums, for more leave and flex-time
- career development resources
- creating an advisory group
- networking strategies for minority (Francophone, Aboriginal) women
- a review program
But they also clearly express that this initiative begins in the law schools by preparing female law students for the realities of law.
The entire comprehensive 174-page report can be found here.
If valuable legal talent is being lost to inflexible and inadvertently discriminatory work practices, you would think this would be perceived as a progressive move.
Selick says,
What I have never understood is why anyone gives a damn whether women are leaving private practice and clustering in government or corporate jobs, or quitting entirely.
[emphasis added]
Beyond ethical and humanitarian concerns, the legal industry loses millions of dollars a year due to skilled practitioners leaving the law.
Sean Weir of Borden, Ladner, Gervais stated in May 2006 edition of Canadian Lawyer,
We invest a lot in education and programs and do a lot of intensive training from new associates and junior partners.
So when you have a well thought out plan that will save the legal industry mega bucks, and it’s also the right thing to do, why would someone think that it’s a bad thing?
Maybe it’s because they also think that human rights laws are phony too.
h/t Sharon Kour of UWO Law
Updates
Selick justifies her stance using legal economic theory. This type of analysis is frequently used by libertarians and the far right, as they create arbitrary cost-benefit analysis that attempt to prove their position.
More recently, legal economics has become popularized by books such as More Sex is Safer Sex. The author comes to some absurd conclusions, such as it’s better for a sexually inactive person to have a fling with a more promiscuous partner and contract a STD before returning to their inactive lifestyle, because they removed the opportunity of another more active person from getting the disease and passing it on to others.
But they also come up with some quite scary policy stances, such as justifying racial profiling. The problem with legal economics is that their supporters selectively choose the facts and statistics they include in their calculations. In the case of racial profiling, for example, many other studies have demonstrating that it actually increases cost and decreases effectiveness. Legal economists rarely have scientific or statistical backgrounds.
Canada invests hundreds of millions of dollars into our publicly subsidized education system. Despite rising tuition costs, they are still relatively low compared to other nations. But this means that your tax dollars are going into funding the education of women, who are now comprising 50-60% of law school classes. By not creating a more favorable career environment, we lose the incredible investment we put into these individuals. It’s these types of figures that are conveniently overlooked by strictly utilitarian legal economists, who falsely present their arguments as as logical and well-thought out.
A Wise Man Once Said…
Last week I met with Toronto lawyer Garry Wise.
Garry is one of the few Canadian practitioners that has made a prominent impression in the legal blawgosphere. Garry’s blawg was one of the other recipients of the 2007 CLawBie Awards, for Best Practitioner Support Blog:
Garry Wise - Year-in and year-out, Garry is one committed law blogger. He offers his opinions on almost everything, and if you do a Google search for Toronto lawyer youll see how blogging benefits the online exposure of his practice. If you didnt read his Starting a law firm post back in February, please do. Garry Wise consistently offers great vision to a lot of solos across the country.
He related how he created his first firm site back in 1999, and has seen enormous returns from his online interaction. His client intakes have skyrocketed, and he is well-known and respected in the legal community.
We had a wonderful discussion on various subjects, and found many areas of mutual interest and common ground. Garry was generous enough to state that I would be an asset to any firm, and that progressive firms interested in expanding their client base should be trying to recruit me. Garry, I will be using your name as a reference as promised.
But he also suggested that I consider going solo directly out of law school, because I already have background knowledge and an existing client base in my area of legal interest (health), and greater prominence and contacts than many practitioners in the field for several years.
I’m not sure that’s the route I want to take, but it’s no surprise that his post on Starting a Law Firm is one of his most widely read articles. Garry outlines the basic requirements and strategic planning to set up your own firm.
But the “cons” he states - longer hours and more stress than even Bay St., and cost consideration during the initial start up - are likely to dissuade some of the most charismatic and entrepreneurial young lawyers, who opt to lend their credibility to a larger firm instead. Burn-out and stress are other often cited complaints of sole practitioners.
Gary Lloyd Gottlieb, a sole practitioner in Toronto, says in To be or no to be a prisoner of Bay St.,
The best advice I can give to a new lawyer who wants to practice solo is not to do it right away. You will spend too much time reinventing the wheel and then needlessly spinning it. Specialize and learn the ropes from the best lawyer or firm you can get a job with. Develop the knowledge and the competence for private practice for which law school has not equipped you, and for which the newly revamped bar admission process will not adequately equip you either. Develop your sea legs before you set sail alone.
That being said, all is not grim for those who choose to become sole practitioners. There are resources now available that did not exist when I sallied forth on my own 35 years ago
This could explain why the average age of sole practitioners in Ontario is 51, with only 12% under 35, according to a Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) survey in 2005.
Yet as we’ve pointed out before, nearly half of Canadian lawyers are self-employed. Jordan Furlong recently provided further break-down of the types of legal practice in Canada, indicating that less that 10% of Canadian lawyers can be found in large firms.
Gottlieb provides tips for those who comprise the vast majority if Canadian lawyers,
You need an independent temperament, the ability to constantly adapt, and eternal optimism to survive as a sole practitioner. You should also not expect a pot of gold.
Above all, you must take to heart the wisdom expressed in the Ethics of the Fathers; in order to be happy, you must be satisfied with your lot.
Access to Justice and Diversity
Smaller firms play an essential role in providing greater access to justice to smaller communities, and often more reasonable billing to clients.
But a recent story in the Star related how rising student debt compells many new graduates to flock to large law firms to pay off student loans. As a result, many smaller communities are increasingly finding themselves without legal services. Some have responded by considering loan-forgiveness programs for new lawyers who move to small towns.
Other lawyers go solo as a result of the failings of big firms that fail create inclusive environments. A 2000 LSUC Equity and Aboriginal Issues Committee report stated,
A number of lawyers feel alienated by the size and types of practice of large firms, and choose to practice in small firms or as sole practitioners.
But the report continues, and indicates that small firms might actually be worse for diversity issues.
However, small firms and sole practitioners often do not have the resources and time to deal with equity and diversity issues, or to develop the appropriate expertise to do so effectively. There are also those who may believe that equity does not add value for law firms which already have strong reputations and clients. Further, members of communities may not be aware of the availability of legal services or may feel that their lawyer either does not understand them, treats them differently, harasses or discriminates against them or otherwise violates their rights.
It’s probably a misconception then that lawyers elect for small practice because they cannot find an inclusive environment in any large law firm.
But there are other reasons for going solo, including women who want greater flexibility in their practice to accommodate a family.
Availability of Mentoring
Gottlieb has elsewhere criticized other LSUC initiatives of a practice management review program as a “A War on Sole Practitioners.” But these accusations have been rebuffed by Gavin MacKenzie of Heenan Blaike, who says that such procedures would apply to number of years of practice, and not type of practice ,
Both law society discipline and LawPRO statistics show that the early years of private practice pose a risk for the development of practice difficulties. Beginning the practice management review program with a focus on members who have been called to the bar for the formative one to eight years and who are in private practice is a risk-based approach that is justified both by data and common sense.
MacKenzie claims that LSUC instead provides support to the independant practitioner,
One of the most important initiatives of this Convocation has been to help sole practitioners and small firm lawyers to survive and thrive. We struck a task force to recommend ways in which as a profession we can preserve and strengthen the practices of the 94 per cent of Ontario law firms that consist of five lawyers or fewer. These sole practitioners and small firms provide the vast majority of legal services to individuals in search of access to justice.
The LSUC report on sole practitioners highlights mentoring as one of the major areas of need. And this probably remains the best asset that large law firms have for young lawyers, beyond issues of compensation or diversity. Many of the more progressive firms increasingly have formalized mentoring programs.
Size versus Presence
Valerie Mutton covered the LSUC report in the Lawyers Weekly, and interviewed Diana Miles, the LSUC’s director of professional development and competence. She suggests that planning is the essential key to a small practice.
But Jordan Furlong says,
Really, in 20 years time, the whole notion of law firm sizes may very well seem quaint. It wont be all that relevant how big your law firm is with the exception of the global giants, size really wont matter, because the heavily niched, increasingly mobile and wired lawyers of the future wont find enough advantages to a common office space and letterhead. It may not even take that long, if the changes we can already see rippling through the profession start multiplying faster than expected.
According to Mutton,
Getting your name known in the community and within the profession is essential to the development of a successful practice…
Miles also suggests that new lawyers should take a course in personal marketing, since new lawyers often feel awkward about basic self-promotion such as handing out business cards or introducing themselves to potential clients.
The basic denominator to all these practices, whether small or the 10% in large firms, is presence.
And arguably, it is early adopters such as Garry Wise that have led the way for Canadian lawyers.
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