Skills Set # 21: Professionalism (Part 2)
In Part 1, I referred to Elements of Professionalism (Elements), and broke on the point of describing the importance of the Rules of Professional Conduct in the fostering of a professional approach in our new and more junior colleagues: The Best List of All (continued) Collegiality and Civility 5 addresses collegiality and civility. A lawyer shall […]
Skills Set # 21: Professionalism
One of the best pieces on professionalism, Elements of Professionalism, was released 19 years ago. This excellent paper (hereafter “Elements”) remains untouched in its elucidation of what professionalism means, or should mean, to all members of our profession, and importantly, our more junior colleagues: Professionalism as a personal characteristic is revealed in an attitude and […]
Skills Set # 20: Capitalizing on the LSO
“A lawyer’s duty to act with civility does not exist in a vacuum. Rather, it exists in concert with a series of professional obligations that both constrain and compel a lawyer’s behavior”. Groia v. The Law Society of Upper Canada (2018) Lawyers of all calls fall easily into the trap of thinking of the Law […]
Skill Sets # 19: To Blog or Not to Blog (Honestly, That is Not the Question)
I believe that inside every tool is a hammer. Adam Savage I was called to the Bar in 1977, and although I have presented many papers over the years for a variety of purposes, it was not until 2019 that I posted a blog, or for that matter, even read one. Kids, do not try […]
Skill Sets # 18: Intuition
“Intuition of truth, not preceded by perceptible meditation, is genius” – Lavator, Aphorisms on Man In my last post I identified 5 methods of knowing, the first of which is Intuition. Colloquially, we tend to regard intuition as an instinct or sixth sense, something that happens ‘without us’. In so doing we fail to give it […]
Skill Sets # 17: Know What You Must, and Then Some
“scientia est potentia” How do our new and junior colleagues, who do not get everything they need at law school, continue to acquire knowledge, and therefore the confidence to perform the tasks we ask them to perform? The question is worthy of consideration because we have a role to play in their continuing professional education. […]
Skill Sets # 16: Interviewing and Counselling Part 2
In Part 1 of this comment (see “Skill Sets # 12: Beware the Bear” ) I addressed the moment when we move from interviewing to counselling. I stressed the importance of ensuring that our junior colleagues understand the importance of focusing on what is both reasonable and realistic and that to do so they must, […]
Important Message Concerning Mental Health From OSC Justice
In a recent endorsement out of Civil Practice Court in Toronto (713949 Ontario Limited, Applicant and Hudson’s Bay Company ULC, Respondent, OSCJ January 25, 2021) Mr. Justice F.L. Myers took an important moment to remind law firms and their leaders of the need in COVID and one suspects other times to protect junior associates and […]
Skill Sets # 15: Fear, Anxiety and the Mystery of Confidence
“I can’t say as ever I was lost, but I was bewildered once for three days” – Daniel Boone 1734 – 1820 Overview In working with new calls and younger colleagues in law it is not uncommon, but unquestionably unsettling, for mentors to hear expressions of a lack of confidence, twinned with feelings of fear […]
