All Our Tips
An Evernote to Remember
“I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.
An elephant’s faithful one hundred percent.
That’s my code, my motto…”
Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss.
All of us have forgotten something at one time or another. It seems the *ahem* older we get the more ah, shall we say, frequent, these episodes become. It is important then to have a tool that helps us remember things.
Fortunately there is Evernote. This handy (and completely free) app for mobile devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, hpWeb OS) and desktops (Mac OS X, Windows Desktop, Windows 8) makes it easy to remember virtually anything.
What does it do? It allows you to capture information and organize it into Notebooks. Now this isn’t just a text copy-and-paste system. You can copy webpages and past them into an Evernote note (and keep all the formatting and images and hypertext links by just a simple copy and paste). Forget bookmarks – Evernote is Way better than that!
Photos? a Snap. Recipes? I love building my own set of go-to favourite recipes that I find on the web – complete with images. I use to to organize favourite music songs or playlists that I find on YouTube (I love it for this actually). Shopping lists? Instead of plain text you can organize lists of what you need on your Smartphone that have actual photos of what you are looking for.
Conferences? Evernote is a great way to organize your notes taken while attending a conference – not to mention help organize the conference itself.
A legal file? How about uploading all the documents, images, notes etc into an Evernote notebook and working from there?
Receipts? A bane of my existence is having to track all the receipts and such that are income-tax relevant. Scan and store in an Evernote notebook!
Because it is cloud-based, your notes are available wherever you can get a web connection (if you don’t already have a device with you that carries the notes such as a laptop).
Collaboration? You can share the a note with anyone and the person with whom you share gets a PDF of the note (they need to know the correct URL for that particular note).
Security? Upgrade from the free version and obtain SSL encryption for your notes.
This is one great tool to help bring organization to chaos since the Evernote elephant is faithful one hundred percent.
-David J. Bilinsky
CanLII Forums
I get by with a little help from my friends – so say the Beatles, and I agree.
I was happy to see that help from my friends on New CanLII has been facilitated with CanLII Forums. Check out Feedback on the new CanLII and Évaluations du nouveau CanLII.
The folks at CanLII know:
I want somebody to love
iPad Obliterate: A Tech Tale of Disaster (And How a Backup Can Avoid Heartache)
Lance Ulanoff did an op-ed post titled “iPad Obliterate: A Tech Tale of Disaster” on Mashable last week. In the post he relates his personal story of how he lost all the data on his iPad.
His post should be required reading for anyone with a mobile device as there are some very important lessons in it. First and foremost – you must backup the data on all your devices. Second, the point that on an iPad or other iOS device, a “Restore” is really a “factory reset” which deletes all data (as it does on most electronic devices).
Do you have a recent backup of the data on your iPad, Pod or any other device you own? If you answered no, please take steps to backup your data now. If you need a little push and persuasion to make the effort, read Lance’s post. A backup is especially important if you are going to update the operating system on your device or make other configuration changes on your device. Most of the time you won’t need a backup – but if you do – it can be a life saver.
So, It’s Your First Day as a Lawyer
Toronto Call to the Bar Ceremony, September 18, 2013
Photo Credit: Lorne Sossin via @DeanSossin
So, you’re a lawyer now.
After a memorable day of Call to the Bar ceremonies and celebrations, you’ve finally crossed the finish line. Goal achieved, marathon endured. Mission accomplished
The future is as bright as it is now undefined. Perhaps you have a position secured. Perhaps you are still looking, or are considering hanging your own shingle. Or maybe you will opt for a travel break, a bit of R and R, or a non-traditional career, outside the mainstream of legal practice. These are all good options.
May you all have good luck, rewarding careers, and much professional success in the years ahead.
Legal practice, the administration of justice and jurisprudence itself are all highly rooted in tradition, precedent and the deep roots of the past. It is probably not unfair to say that the legal profession has historically been far more receptive to overdue innovation than instant revolutions, but in the era ahead, we are likely to see a bit of both.
For new calls, this is an exciting time. You will be at the vanguard of the many advances that lie ahead. Some changes we can now foresee, like technological modernization of our courts and the emergence of new business models that will compete with traditional private firms to deliver legal services. Some changes, however, will likely be dramatic and would look as foreign and unimaginable today as the iPhone would have seemed back in 1986, when I was called to the Bar and the fax machine was the newest thing around.
But while much has changed, much remains the same.
What hasn’t changed since my call to the bar – and what will not likely change in the careers of yesterday’s Calls – is the culture of lawyering, a culture deeply rooted in adherence to our codes of ethics, our commitment to maintaining the integrity of the judicial system, and our understanding of the vital role our profession plays in the lives of those who entrust us with such great responsibility.
You are now a part of that culture of lawyering. It is populated by an ever-broadening, diverse and eclectic group of individuals, but it is solidly rooted in the best traditions of the profession that have emerged over our long history of advocacy and service in western democracies.
I’d like to simply note a few observations for the benefit of yesterday’s new Calls, to serve as this week’s surrogates for the tips usually found in this column:
- You will see immediately that lawyering is quite a change from articling. You must now begin to assume a higher level of accountability – and potential liability – for your opinions, actions, and advice. That’s a serious responsibility, but you can handle it!
- Find a way to build a practice over time that enables you do the kind of work you enjoy most. Work-life balance starts right there.
- Find a mentor. Or several. As I’ve said previously, figure out whose doors are open to you and walk through those open doors often.
- Learn about the business of law, from the outset. There are many new resources on this topic, online and off. The more you know and understand about the economics of law, business planning and practice management, the greater the asset you will become, wherever you land.
- Our rules of professional responsibility are extensive, but let me posit one overriding principle: Do the right thing. In your dealings with clients, peers, courts and regulators, just do the right thing. And if you aren’t sure what the right thing is in a specific circumstance (and there will be times you aren’t), ask for guidance before you act. Your law societies and more experienced colleagues will be only too happy to assist – but bear in mind, sometimes they won’t be sure either.
- Use social media – blogging, tweeting and commenting – to demonstrate your knowledge, make a name for yourself, and establish street credibility. Be creative and emphatic, but don’t overstate, embellish, plagiarize or be offensive.
- It’s probably an overstatement to describe the chapter ahead as the Era of the Innovator, but it’s not a giant overstatement. A willingness to adapt to changing market conditions – before it’s too late – may emerge as a necessary skill set. There are many who argue that we are now witnessing the collapse of the old model of too-big-to-fail firms, large hourly fees, and aversion to technology that sacrifices efficiencies and increases the weight and cost of virtually every matter. Technology itself is eliminating much of the work lawyers have always done. It may one day eliminate much of the work judges have always done. So learn about current trends, and be ready to innovate. Change is upon us.
- Remember to say thank you to everyone who lends a hand to help you out. It will make a difference.
- Competence and knowledge are the indispensable tools of our trade. Work hard at building your skills and knowing your stuff. Incorporate reading and learning into your daily routine.
- But most of all, take the time to reflect and enjoy your careers, the people you will work with, the intellectual puzzles you will solve and the challenges you will meet and overcome. Enjoy the success that your Call to the Bar represents and enjoy the pride you and your families will rightfully take in this milestone.
Finally, please accept our SlawTips congratulations on a job well done.
– Garry J. Wise, Toronto (@wiselaw on Twitter)
New CanLII and Your Browser
Like the best programmed websites, the newly launched CanLII works well on mobile devices and in a wide variety of browsers, Chrome, FireFox, Safari, and Internet Explorer.
One thing to note for Internet Explorer (version 9) users is the IE Compatibilitiy View. If you are having difficulties with a research website, try turning off Compatibility View (in IE under Tools on the menu).
Some sites require Compatibility View to be “on”. It is worthwhile knowing that this function is available and to select or de-select it as needed.
Legacy Apps Now Available for Older iPhones, iPods and iPads in the App Store
Some of us have older iPhones, iPods and iPads which will not run newer versions of iOS. Needless to say, newer version of many apps also won’t run on these older devices. That changed today. Apple now lets you access earlier versions of apps for your older hardware. 
This is how it works: Select the app you want. If it is incompatible with the iOS version on your device, a prompt will offer you a earlier compatible version of the app.
Interesting move for Apple as they prepare to release iOS 7, which presumably would leave many devices and apps behind but for this change.
Embrace Change
♫ It was the night things changed, can you see it now?
These walls that they put up to hold us back fell down
It’s a revolution, throw your hands up, ’cause we never gave in..♫
Lyrics, music and recorded by Taylor Swift.
“Change the firm but don’t change anything about how I work”
Those were the instructions that I received from one managing partner after being called into a firm to help them with coming up to speed on a number of fronts. They knew they needed to change…in many fronts..such as in technology and other areas. The firm didn’t even use a consistent letterhead format. The challenges that they faced were manifest, deep and long-reaching.
However what was apparent was without the support of the managing partner, bringing about any meaningful change…at least in the short term…was simply not going to be possible.
In this situation I was left with the possibility of …either refusing to work with the firm …or trying to work with the firm and produce the changes that they needed…from as many different perspectives as possible. I chose to work with the firm and start the slow process of change.
These days with the rate of change increasing, it is vitally important that an organization adopts a change mindset. That mindset starts at the top. If the staff get an inkling that those at the top don’t embrace change, they will get the message and maintain the status quo.
With the growing competition in business, failure to adapt to change is deadly.
Oftentimes the changes that must be adapted to are not ones that a person chooses. The corporation, organization or business for whom they work has deemed that they change the way that they perform their tasks to be more effective or efficient. Or it could be that the organization needs to meet new and competitive challenges arising from new competitors.
In any case the organization has to deal with the fact that changes must be implemented to continue in business in order to survive. Woody Allen in one of his movies famously once said:
“A relationship, I think, is like a shark, you know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark.”
One thing that any organization, and in particular a law firm, doesn’t want to be is a dead shark. So it has to learn to continually change – to move forward to survive. It needs to find, grow and nuture the leadership that will take it to its future. The walls holding back change have to fall down…
-David J. Bilinsky, Vancouver.
Watch for Moving Targets
Building on last week’s tip about managing current awareness, today’s tip is about watching for source changes. A whine at my research blog shared a recent experience with the change of an RSS feed address. If you are monitoring information using automation to help, make sure you pay attention to when information should appear.
If you are considering watching Government of Canada news releases with RSS feeds, here is a handy list.
Pin Programs to the Windows 7 Taskbar to Be More Efficient
Any program on your computer can be “pinned” to the Taskbar. This makes it visible as an icon on the Taskbar and allows easy access without having to use the Start Menu. To pin a program to the Taskbar, right-click on the program or shortcut to the program and in the menu choose the Pin to Taskbar option. Alternatively you can also drag the icon to the Taskbar.
If you want to remove a pinned program, right-click on the Taskbar icon and click Unpin this program from the Taskbar. Alternatively you can also drag the icon off of the task bar and then click Unpin this program from the Taskbar.
Any pinned or opened program on the Taskbar can be moved and arranged. Left-click on any icon on the Taskbar and drag it to the location you want it to remain.
Pin your favorite or most frequently used programs to the Taskbar – you will find this very helpful for the programs use on a daily basis.
Ah, September
Summer wanes, the harvest abounds, and we ready ourselves for a return to our higher-octane existences. New beginnings, new chapters, and for those of us observing Rosh Hashanah, a new year begins with contemplation and taking stock of the year gone by.
It is also a time to reflect on and appreciate the people in our lives, personal and professional, whose contributions and presence have made a difference.
In that spirit, I will firstly say thank you to my Tips partner, David Bilinsky, for inviting me to join him here in collaboration, discussions and debates on “all things law practice.” It’s been about a year since I jumped aboard the Slaw train, and I’d also like to thank Simon Fodden for apparently determining that my presence here wasn’t so bad an idea, after all.
Who are some of the other people in our lives who deserve our professional thanks? Here is my short list:
- Our associates and staff, without whom it would be impossible to function and who make us look good, day-in and day-out
- Those finicky court office clerks who let you file the occasional document a bit after the official deadline
- Our bookkeepers and accountants who toil away and keep our law societies happy
- Our bar associations, regulators and leading legal thinkers like Jordan Furlong and Mitchell Kowalski, all of whom have demonstrated an increasing awareness of the importance to our profession of innovation and being ahead of the curve
- The people who manufacture our smartphones and apps and software, whose collective efforts make our working lives a little bit easier and our non-working lives a little more fun every day
- Judges who speak out about the challenges facing the administration of justice in Canada
- Our spouses, partners, families and friends who stand by us, tolerate our schedules, and give us strength to carry on in this very challenging profession
- Our clients, for they choose us out of the seemingly infinite options for representation that are always only a Google search away. Those we may have unintentionally disappointed, for the lessons they will always teach in the feedback we don’t always want to receive, and those we have pleased who have let us know they recognized our effort and commitment to their successes and causes.
- Our colleagues and opposition, for making us better with the standards of professionalism, ethical practice and sheer brain power they model and demonstrate in virtually every encounter.
- Our online followers, readers and friends, who enrich our daily existences with their virtual insights, shared-treasures, and general schtick.
So today’s tip, coming to you on the eve of this Jewish New Year 5774, is contemplate and appreciate.
(It’s a work-life balance thing, too).
– Garry J. Wise, Toronto
