Mayte Blanchard, Author at Legal Innovation Forum

Understanding Artificial Intelligence

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In association with:

By Lucy Saddleton, Managing Editor, ADB Insights

Artificial intelligence is transforming businesses across industries, opening up new opportunities for efficiency, and fundamentally changing the way we work. The legal profession is no exception – undergoing an unprecedented transformation as AI platforms streamline legal work processes and enhance workflows.

Attendees at the Legal Innovation Forum’s recent webinar on Understanding AI discovered through expert discussions and live demonstrations how the latest AI tools can benefit their practice, how they can be applied – and potential risks to watch out for.

“AI is bigger than the internet, bigger than email, and bigger than the web. It is the most transformational technology that we have seen in our lifetime, and indeed, many lifetimes. It’s not an overstatement to describe it as a type of industrial revolution,” said Andrew Terrett, founder and CEO at Toronto-based Andrew Terrett Consulting Ltd.

In contrast to other forms of technology used in legal practice, AI can be used in many different ways. Over the next few years, we will see significant opportunities around operational enhancements, Terrett predicts.

Terrett described some of the different types of Large Language Models being used in legal services, including publicly accessible LLMs (ChatGPT, Anthropic, Perplexity, Gemini); industry tailored LLMs (Harvey, CoCounsel, vLex); and the more expensive customized/fully integrated LLMs (including Open Source, Azure Cognitive Services)

While large law firms are predominantly still at an an experimental stage with Gen AI, and smaller firms are even further behind, Alternative Legal Service Providers are leading the pack, with many of them moving from experimentation to AI adoption through contract management solutions, attendees heard. Technology vendors are also looking to add GenAI capabilities.

ADOPTION

Although interest and conversations around AI have ramped up significantly in recent years, law firms and legal departments are still lagging behind other sectors in their use of AI.

A poll taken during the webinar revealed that only 57 percent of participants currently use AI in their legal practice.

“In legal service delivery, you have to change the way that you’ve been doing things, and sometimes you have to change how you regard risk and how you leverage your teams, and how you designate work. All of that has to shift slightly, and that makes adoption hard,” said Jenny Hotchin, London, UK-based director of AI solutions at iManage.

As with any transformation, putting people at the centre of the conversation around adoption is key to buy-in, Hotchin said. Technology vendors and law firms that focus on education and upskilling people and teams will be the most successful in the technology transformation phase, she noted.

A technology transformation takes time, so collaboration between stakeholders is vital to ensure a smooth transition.

“Being in a situation where we can work really closely as a vendor with the law firm, and with the law firm’s client, and coming together and having those really frank conversations around the table is important,” said Hotchin..

iManage aims to be a trusted partner, working closely with customers to provide support as they integrate new tools. Hotchin and her team are creating a package for customers purchasing the Gen AI natural language assistant Ask iManage which will help guide them through the process of adopting this new technology.

ECONOMICS

Value created through the use of Gen AI will flow directly to law firm clients in the form of lower fees, Terrett predicts. However, he also noted that the use of Gen AI is not yet reducing billable hours, suggesting that “work expands to fill time available.”

“I think generative AI could be incredible for access to justice, and it could also be a real boon for small-to-medium sized businesses that might otherwise be locked out of legal services because of cost,” said Terrett.

Law firm clients will want to see savings in fees as AI platforms reduce time taken for legal tasks, though this will not happen overnight, in Hotchin’s opinion.

“I think expecting law firms to quickly pass on any potential cost savings through their fee structures is a little ambitious and unfair,” she noted.

In another poll taken during the event, 29 percent of participants indicated that they believe the economics of the legal ecosystem will look completely different in the next two-to-five years, while 63 percent said it will look different to some extent, and nine percent said it will “not really” look different.

Large firms may shift to a flat fee rather than billable hours, commented Justin S. Daniels, a shareholder at Baker Donelson in Atlanta, Georgia.

“The question becomes, how do you factor in this value that you’re creating, because you know how to make the AI work in a way that gets the output that you intend? I think where you’re going to see a shift is in how this is billed, because it creates efficiency, but at the same time, new skills have to be learned to really take advantage of the promise that AI presents.”

REGULATORY RISK

Lawyers are navigating a tension between AI and security of the data, which may cause larger firms and organizations to hesitate before adopting new AI technologies – particularly in view of the complex regulatory landscape on a global scale.

Daniels advised the audience to review the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework to better understand the regulatory environment in the US.

(The Law Society of Ontario recently published a document on Generative AI: Your Professional Obligations.)

“This technology is far outpacing the regulatory environment,” said Daniels. “In this uncertain regulatory environment, using a framework like this can help you create a program that is designed to help you comply.”

According to Terrett, the EU will play a significant role in the global regulatory landscape for AI.

“The US innovates and the EU regulates, and that’s exactly what is happening. You can’t ignore that, whether you are in the EU or not,” said Terrett.

RISK MITIGATION

Implementing AI tools is not without risk for firms and organizations. For example, they may be at risk if they fail to fully educate employees and provide the necessary materials to learn about the technology and to have an awareness of pitfalls such as the potential for hallucinations.

Consistent human intervention and engagement is also key to mitigating risk.

“What are you as an organization doing to make sure that there is a human in the loop at consistent intervals, and double checking not only the answers, but the data being uploaded?” said Daniels. He also recommended having a team of stakeholders in charge of the AI policy for the firm or organization.

USE CASES

“Looking to the future, I think there will be virtually no workflows that are not touched in some way by the application of AI,” said Hotchin. “I think this is where it is transformative. It will touch everything.” Among its many uses, Ask iManage can be used to perform short, routine tasks such as rapidly finding and listing closing procedures in a lengthy legal document, for example.

When asked in a poll ‘in which areas do you see AI as having the greatest potential impact in your legal workflow?’, attendees pointed to ‘summarization & question generation’ as the most popular use. ‘Legal research + analysis’ was the second choice, while ‘automated drafting + redlines’ came in third place.

Our speakers agreed that there are thousands of potential use cases for law firms, so testing out the technology to see where it can be useful is a good starting point.

Use cases for Gen AI to improve outputs and efficiency in the legal profession:

(Source: Andrew Terrett Consulting)

Transactions

Contract review and drafting
Due diligence (clause identification and extraction)
Comparison of contracts against playbooks

Litigation

Deposition summarization and question generation
Document extraction for exhibits
Written discovery responses
Drafting communications (emails, generating timelines)
Strategy development (brainstorming options)

General Practice

Legal research and analysis
Client communication
Automated legal drafting and redlines

Operations

Matter management
Time tracking and billing, spend analysis
Knowledge management
Business development operations

Watch our webinar recording for the full conversation and demonstrations.

Stay tuned for the Legal Innovation Forum’s six-part Generative AI Masterclass series, coming in 2025.

Mastering the Business of Personal Injury Law

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By Lucy Saddleton, Managing Editor, ADB

Running a successful personal injury law firm requires a carefully executed business plan, including marketing and branding, hiring the right legal professionals, implementing the best technology – and perhaps most importantly, selecting appropriate third-party partners to support the business.

Attendees at the Legal Innovation Forum’s recent webinar on The business of personal injury law heard from experts in the space about how to define and execute a business strategy and manage finances to ensure sustainable growth in the competitive Canadian market.

Establishing a niche and focusing on that area is the best way for a new personal injury firm to carve out a space for itself amid considerable competition, according to Sandra Zisckind, managing partner at Diamond & Diamond, Canada’s largest personal injury firm.

“Pick an area and hone in on those clientele because you can’t go after everyone. You don’t have the size and you can’t compete with the big firms,” advised Zisckind.

From the perspective of a small boutique litigation firm, Paul Cahill, partner at Ontario-based Davidson Cahill Morrison, has found the niche approach to be very effective. Cahill chose to focus on medical malpractice to fill a gap in the market.

“I saw it as an opportunity, because if you could figure out the business side of it, there was a lot of potential there,” said Cahill. “It’s a tough area of law to litigate so it was easy to get files because personal injury lawyers didn’t want them so they were handing them off like a hot potato.”

MARKETING

While Diamond & Diamond still budgets for traditional advertising including billboards, Zisckind noted that social media is the future of marketing so that forms a significant portion of the firm’s marketing strategy.

Coming up with a solid business strategy which includes a marketing budget is key to avoid burning out too early.

“The problem is, when we go to law school, they don’t teach you about the business of law,” said Zisckind. “In personal injury, you don’t get paid right away, and then you’re put in a competitive space, where you may not break even for years, and then you have to advertise on top of that too, so before you start, really think about the business aspect and sit down and really map it out, because it’s tough,” she advised.

Direct advertising may not always be the best approach, in Cahill’s opinion, so he favours advertising his services in a way that provides useful information to the public, in the form of an advertorial or blog. For example, Cahill writes about recent cases or changes in legislation that are impacting Ontario hospitals and physicians.

ATTRACTING AND RETAINING TALENT

Attracting and retaining talent is also top of mind for personal injury law firms, and forms an important part of the overall business strategy.

As a small firm with around 12 lawyers, Davidson Cahill Morrison strives to give junior lawyers plenty of responsibility and hands-on experience, which includes time spent in court and direct contact with clients.

“They feel like they are basically co-piloting their plane that’s being flown, and for that reason, I think they get good training and experience, and it also allows us to have some sense of their potential,” said Cahill.

At Diamond & Diamond, a profit-sharing model helps to attract and retain talent, together with the option for unlimited commission.

“Giving them that independence and that feeling of participating in the profit of the firm is what’s allowed me to hold on to my lawyers for as long as I have,” said Zisckind.

NAVIGATING FINANCES

Navigating finances amid rising interest rates is a major challenge for smaller personal injury firms, especially in view of deferred fees, disbursements and unpredictable file durations. As a larger firm, Diamond & Diamond is able to self- finance disbursements. However, Zisckind is calling for fewer restrictions and greater clarity from law societies with regard to what is permissible in terms of financing disbursements.

Cahill agreed that the real challenge in personal injury is the lack of predictability of cash flow.

“If you, as a profit center, are getting some bad luck and you just don’t have cash flow for three or four months, that can be a problem, and can result in a crunch where you can have problems making payroll, and the banks are tough when it comes to lending money to personal injury firms,” he said.

Cahill and his partners at Davidson Cahill Morrison have worked hard in recent years to be able to completely self-finance so they no longer rely on a line of credit.

“Managing your overhead as best you can is important, but I think having that tenacity to keep your revenue as stable as possible, and having partners that can help smooth things out is really important,” Cahill said.

Litigation insurance can offer a significant benefit to firms and counter financial headwinds.

“This is your money so why not insure it, especially considering that the insurance premiums themselves can be charged back to your client?” said Nick Robson, president at TheJudge Canada – the Canadian arm of the largest global specialist litigation insurance brokerage. “My suggestion would be to simply avoid disbursement risks as much as possible, and insurance can play a key part in that,” he added.

Another benefit of litigation insurance for personal injury firms is the potential to negotiate better interest rates with the bank, Robson noted.

TECHNOLOGY AS AN ENABLER OF ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Our speakers agreed that technology can play an important role in enabling access to justice – particularly time-saving AI technologies.

“One of the labor intensive parts of my job is going through medical records and screening med mal cases – and it’s tough to delegate that – and so if you have a program that can go through all the medical records and identify certain issues for a lawyer to focus in on, that could save time and give you more time to look at more files,” said Cahill. However, he noted that AI cannot really help with access to justice when it comes to people who struggle to find a lawyer because their cases are not seen as meritorious or economical.

Zisckind added that AI will allow firms to streamline processes and reduce overheads, which in turn will help provide access to justice. She would also like to see the law societies and courts stop reducing contingency fees, to enable firms to take on more cases.

“If we have a real access justice problem and we want to move things ahead, they can’t go after our fees,” said Zisckind.

Robson added that ATE insurance can also be useful in combating the access to justice crisis as it encourages settlements when the defendant knows the plaintiff is backed by their own insurance company and therefore won’t hesitate to take the case all the way.

“It levels the playing field and gives more confidence to the plaintiff,” said Robson. “The plaintiff can’t be bullied into lower settlements, which is going to be good for the plaintiff, and also good for contingency fees for the firm.”

The event ended with presentations from event sponsors Rim Grewal, founder at Expert Valu8er Reports – a valuation software provider – and Nick Robson, president at TheJudge Canada.

Watch the full webinar recording here.

Driving Results Through Technology

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By Lucy Saddleton, Managing Editor, ADB Insights

In an increasingly stringent regulatory environment, legal departments at financial services firms are seeking new solutions to improve their contract management capabilities and reduce risk, as they often juggle tens of thousands of contacts.

“With the regulatory landscape from a financial services perspective, you have relatively sophisticated entities operating across multiple jurisdictions, so the sheer volume of data that you have to wrestle with as in-house counsel has increased exponentially in the last four or five years,” says Chris Neill, partner, legal business solutions at professional services firm PwC UK.

The role of the general counsel within financial institutions has also evolved in the same period, often now including a deeper focus on regulatory compliance, together with responsibility for the implementation of AI technology, and ESG initiatives. This places an increased burden upon legal departments – and opens the door for risk as they no longer have the bandwidth to review documents manually.

With this in mind, PwC UK recently announced a strategic collaboration with Catylex – a contract intelligence platform – to provide enhanced contract management solutions for asset managers and other financial institutions. The collaboration combines Catylex’s advanced AI-powered technology with PwC UK’s extensive industry expertise to provide actionable data from complex documentation.

“The need to apprehend information that’s in complex financial documentation isn’t a new thing, but the difference now is the ability to use technology,” says David Rosen, CEO at New York-based Catylex. “Historically, people addressed the problem with expensive, manual extraction, using law firms and contract attorneys – often waiting until something bad happened.” Rosen notes that even a four-eyed check can fail because the types of mistakes that people make tend to be correlated, so a machine analytics tool will greatly reduce the risk of errors.

While Catylex can help any type of business that needs to extract and optimize contract data, there is a particular need in the financial services space, due to the high risk of error and potentially damaging consequences.

Rosen notes that failure to fully understand the data in contracts prior to a problem arising presents huge risks to financial institutions. Knowing exactly how many contracts are on record, and who those contacts are with is critical to protect the firm. Financial institutions may have to articulate the data from their contracts to adhere to regulatory requirements, and potentially prevent millions of dollars in losses.

“We’ve been focusing on where we think we add the most value, and part of that is subject-matter expertise where the risk is very high and our ability to help with that risk is very strong, so that pushed us towards the financial services space,” says Rosen. “We apply our technology to situations where the client needs to look through very large numbers of contracts that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive to do manually.”

Keeping tabs on contracts and systematically tracking the obligations that sit in those contracts is one of the biggest gaps facing asset managers and financial institutions, according to Neill.

“What we see is very sophisticated entities negotiating highly complex documents in a very legalistic manner, but then falling down in relation to the post-execution part of the life-cycle,” says Neill. He notes that many in-house teams lose track of where their contracts are stored, and have no idea of the timeline for extracting data.

“Even with some of the most sophisticated players in the financial services space where there is a very high commensurate level of complexity around what they do, you see some of those foundational aspects being weak, and I think that is the piece that slows the process down,” Neill adds.

The collaboration between Catylex and PwC UK has already seen much demand, particularly with global investment management clients. Neill sees scope for further expansion of the project, as some investment management clients are asking for additional customized concepts.

Leveraging Catylex’s platform with one of PwC UK’s big hedge fund clients has enabled them to reduce the implementation journey of a Contract Lifecycle Management program by as much as fifty percent.

“It allows us to very quickly eat through big waves of contract data that, without a tool like Catylex, we would be doing manually,” says Neill.

Hear from David Rosen and other experts at the Legal Innovation Forum’s Financial Services InFocus event in New York City on December 12, 2024. We are bringing together leaders from legal departments in the financial services space to shed light on the unique challenges facing legal practitioners in the sector, and the role of technology in addressing these issues.

Winning strategies for estate practitioners in British Columbia

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By Lucy Saddleton, Managing Editor, ADB Insights

Estates professionals in British Columbia face their own unique set of challenges, driven by evolving provincial laws and legislation, together with shifts in client needs and expectations and family structures.

On May 30th, speakers at the Legal Innovation Forum’s fifth annual British Columbia Estates Forum took a deep dive into the key themes shaping the future of the BC estates ecosystem to facilitate a better understanding of the opportunities and the challenges facing British Columbian practitioners managing estates today.

We brought together lawyers, accountants, financial planners, insurance specialists, technology experts, and trustees to drive communication and collaboration between professionals navigating the complex estate landscape in BC.

INTRO TO WESA & CASE-LAW UPDATE

Our opening session with Hammerco Lawyers partner Krista Simon, and Hammerco associate Raman Dasanjh-Samra, provided a brief overview of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act, and reviewed the latest developments in case law by citing specific examples of recent cases:

Franco v. Franco Estate, 2023 BCSC 1015: Gifts versus a resulting trust

Case deals with transfer of assets prior to death to an adult, independent child
Question of whether the transfer is a gift or should it be held in trust by the child for the benefit of the estate
In order to be a legally binding gift, the donor must have intended to make a gift at the time of transfer, and the donor must have delivered the gift to the donee (completed the gift)
In this case, the court ultimately decided it was a complete gift

Bush Estate (Re), 2024 BCSC 375: Undue influence

Case examines the factors that raise a specific and focused suspicion of undue influence in writing a will
Initial will divided an estate equally between a large number of nieces and nephews, while a second will left only $5,000 to each respondent, with the remainder being left to the executor (a niece)
In order to prove a will is valid, the propounder must prove the will was executed in compliance with statutory formalities, the will-maker knew and approved of the contents of the will, and that the will-maker had testamentary capacity
The court decided there was not enough evidence to rise to the level of suspicious circumstances

Gil v. Gil, 2024 BCSC 526: Dismissing a grant of probate

Case deals with the circumstances in which probate is dismissed
Deals with the duties of the executor to ensure notice is given and is proper for a grant of probate
Section 121 of WESA sets out that a person applying for a grant of probate has to give notice of the application to the people who are listed
In this case, the court found that notice was not given because although notice was sent to the house, the executor did not rightfully expect it to be received since the testator’s son was living in Mexico and therefore unlikely to see mail sent to the family address in Canada

Sinitsin Estate, 2024 BCSC 534: Will variation claims

The deceased party divided her estate between her children and grandchildren
One of the adult children made a will variation claim, claiming that the distribution did not make adequate provision for his financial needs
There is no moral obligation to grandchildren
In will variation claims, the court looks at a number of factors to balance moral obligations with the wishes of the testator
In this case, the court determined that the deceased had satisfied her moral obligations, and provided for her son over his lifetime

Rawji Estate (Re), 2023 BCSC 1652: Removing an executor

The court ordered the removal of an executor from his deceased mother’s estate in a case where the relationship between parties was acrimonious
WESA allows for the removal of a personal representative of the estate if the court considers that they should not continue
However, pre-existing hostility between an executor and beneficiaries does not necessarily disqualify the executor from performing their duties
In this case, the court found that the executor should be removed, and selected an independent trust company.

Razafsha v. Heidary, 2022 BCSC 1357: Who is spouse?

Case centres around a deceased woman who died by suicide and had been living in a same-sex relationship, although they had a separation agreement
The deceased had no will and her only living relative was her sister
The court had to determine if the applicant was the spouse of the deceased under WESA, and whether or not the relationship had terminated
Under WESA, two people are considered spouses if they were both alive immediately before the relevant time, and they were married to each other or lived with each other in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years
The court found that this was a spousal relationship, and that the separation agreement was only a financial separation

UNDERSTANDING EVOLUTIONS IN TRUST

Trusts can be a valuable tool in estate planning, allowing for the secure transfer of assets, but navigating this complex landscape can be challenging.

In our second session, Steve Ivacko, partner, family office services at accounting firm MNP joined Andrew Bowyer, CEO and founder at ADB Insights for a fireside chat about different types of trusts, how to use them in estate planning, and when to challenge them.

Ivacko noted that it can be beneficial to freeze the value of a business at a specific point in time and put the growth into a family trust through which the growth can accrue to other family members.

“That also has the benefit of freezing the initial owner’s tax bill so you can mitigate what their tax bill is going to be on their passing,” said Ivacko.

“If there is a business that gets sold, that has a trust as a shareholder, you can multiply a lifetime capital gains exemption among a group of people, as opposed to just an original business owner, so there’s a lot of different benefits in my mind, for the use of trusts,” he added.

Bare trusts can be useful for estate planning, probate savings and estate administration, in Ivacko’s view, but be sure to use a lawyer to draft the document and ensure it is paid for properly, he advised. If it is a gift, you must specify that it is a gift in your estate planning documents.

As of June 25, 2024, the capital gains inclusion rate will increase from one-half to two-thirds on capital gains realized annually above $250,000 by individuals and on all capital gains realized by corporations and most types of trusts.

“A lot of people are scrambling to do planning and trying to figure out what to do, but there’s no rulebook yet,” said Ivacko. “If there are growth shares in a family trust, or an alter ego trust as well, that would actually apply, I believe, so people are making decisions quickly.”

OVERVIEW OF TECHNOLOGY IN PRACTICE

Technology has long been an essential tool for estate practitioners. The recent meteoric rise of generative AI has opened the door to new opportunities for efficiency and increased productivity.

Our expert panelists in this session explored the latest offerings in Gen AI and examined how it can enhance the estate practice and boost the bottom line for estate lawyers.

The significance of the impact of Gen AI on the legal sector cannot be overstated, according to Andrew Terrett, founder and CEO at Andrew Terrett Consulting Ltd.

“I’ve been in technology for close to 30 years now, and in my career this is probably the most significant technology that I’ve seen coming into a law firm,” said Terrett, adding that Gen AI is “as significant as the introduction of the World Wide Web, back in the 1990s.” Although users must be wary of hallucinations that can occur with Gen AI, it still has huge power, Terrett said.

Terrett advised law firms that have not yet ventured into the Gen AI space to start by experimenting with Chat GPT.

Estate planning and administration platform Appara.ai can assist estates lawyers through its automation capabilities, by producing wills, powers of attorney and other testamentary documents quickly and accurately.

Although Appara has not yet integrated Gen AI into its system, it is just a matter of time, according to Dagney Benton, head of business, estates at Appara.

“Our intention is to bring generative AI in just to assist even further in preparation of those documents,” said Benton.

However, Benton noted that Gen AI will not replace the role of lawyers. “It is not our intention to take over the lawyer’s job by any means,” she said. “The lawyer still has to gather information and provide that advice to the client, but we can help to produce that documentation.”

Sree Chintala has been in the estate space for many years and recently launched an AI platform estate-planning tool called My-Legacy.ai which helps lawyers in the space, and also helps to educate consumers.

“Adoption for estate planning is abysmally low because education for consumers hasn’t been addressed yet,” said Chintala. “We help consumers to understand what estate planning is and what they need to do for their specific scenario or profile, how long it would take and approximate costs.”

Intake can often be a slow, onerous problem for estate planners but technology can significantly simplify the process.

Appara’s automated system sends reminders to clients to return emailed questionnaires, for example.

“The intake process involves getting the information from the client, and then being able to do something with that information, which is the time consuming part a lot of the time, so we’re hoping that we can automate it for people,” said Benton.

My-Legacy.ai applies artificial intelligence to optimize customer engagement and then matches clients to the right lawyer. The platform also helps lawyers by automating repetitive tasks and simplifying the intake process.

“Our research shows that almost 60-to-70 percent of attorneys give 20 or 30 minutes of free time on the first call, and often it’s not the right customer so billable time is lost,” said Chintala. “We can find the right customers through our platform and advance them into the next phase so this will actually optimize billing time.”

Speakers agreed that practitioners should embrace innovation and not fear change.

“It starts with experimentation, but before that, the leadership within law firms has to give permission for experimentation. It really does start with the tone from the top,” said Terrett.

VIRTUAL SIMULATION - UNWINDING A COMPLEX ESTATE

Our final session featured a roundtable of estate advisors examining various scenarios that can arise during the unwinding of a complex estate, in our virtual simulation.

Speakers:

Steve Ivacko, partner, family office services, MNP
Laurent Munier, partner, Safe Pacific Financial
Mikis Manolis, legal counsel at Hammerco Lawyers
Michael Poznanski, partner, BTM Lawyers
Krista Simon, partner, Hammerco Lawyers (Chair)

VIRTUAL FACT PATTERN:

Pat & Chris were married in their thirties
Chris is a doctor earning $200,000
Pat is an accountant earning $150,000
They own a house valued at $1.8-million (mortgage of $1.4-million)
Investments and pension: $60 – 150,000
Monthly running costs: $15,000
Chris and Pat have two children, one of whom has special needs

Speaker observations:

Pat & Chris should have a life insurance plan including critical illness and disability insurance (recommend two times income for critical illness insurance)
Set up RDSP for the child with special needs
Pat & Chris should both be saving for retirement
They should have basic wills with a named guardian in place for the children. Pat and Chris are each other’s beneficiaries with children as contingent beneficiaries
Wills should include a disability trust
Ensure the house and other assets are secured with designated beneficiaries

FACT PATTERN UPDATES:

Chris dies at age 40 after a six-month illness
There is a will
Chris and their siblings were the beneficiaries of a family trust

Speaker observations:

Chris and Pat benefited from disability insurance and critical illness during the six-month illness
Life insurance pays out to Pat after Chris’ death
After Chris’ death, Pat should revisit lawyers to update their will and other documents
Will Chris’ children benefit from the family trust? Is Pat the trustee?

FACT PATTERN UPDATES:

Pat gets remarried at age 45 to an older person – Terry
Terry is wealthy and has three adult children who are close in age to Pat
Pat and Terry have mostly separate finances

Speaker observations:

Pat and Terry should get a prenup
They should consider tenancy in common planning around the house, and consider a spousal trust or joint partner trust with protections in place
Creating multiple trusts: ie Terry could divide assets into one trust for Pat’s benefit on Terry’s passing, and a separate trust, or direct gift to Terry’s kids on his passing. A corporate trustee would be helpful in this scenario
Pat should take out more life insurance as her children are still minors

FACT PATTERN UPDATES:

When Pat is in her 50s, Terry has a stroke and dies four months later
Terry had a will that was executed while at home, near the end of life
Terry left 90% of his $15-million estate to his housekeeper Sandy, with Pat getting 10%, and Terry’s children getting nothing
The will had been drafted by Sandy’s advisor
Sandy announces that Terry is the father of her 25-year old child (with DNA test evidence)

Speaker observations:

Litigation issues: Questions will arise about capacity and undue influence around the new will
Importance of communication between advisors, particularly when there are complex assets and multiple parties involved
Terry’s estate may face significant tax liability on his death, so hopefully he was insured to cover this. The insurance could also be used to equalize beneficiaries
After Terry’s death, Pat should consider probate planning, and also some some litigation tactics such as creating an alter ego trust

The webinar was moderated by Krista Simon, partner at Hammerco Lawyers, and Andrew Bowyer, founder and CEO at ADB Insights.

Navigating disruptive evolutions in Ontario´s Estates ecosystem

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By Lucy Saddleton, Managing Editor, ADB Insights

Increasingly complex family structures, multi-generational transfer of wealth, and ever-evolving laws are putting increased pressure on estate planning law firms in Ontario, and resulting in litigation disputes in some cases. Many firms are leveraging digitization and technological advances to improve efficiency and attract new clients as they evolve to align with societal shifts.

Speakers at the Legal Innovation Forum’s recent Ontario Estates Webinar discussed the drivers and emerging trends shaping the estate law landscape in Ontario and shared tips for collaborating holistically with other industry experts. They also revealed how they are innovating and making use of AI and other technologies to boost efficiency and remain competitive.

DRIVERS & TRENDS

Estate planners are keeping their fingers on the pulse of emerging trends such as digital assets, cryptocurrency and NFT ownership.

“When it comes to digital asset planning, I find that the conversation involves a lot about what to put in the will and what not to put in the will,” said Kavina Nagrani, founding partner at NIKA Law. “We often also find ourselves working with clients on what’s called an access plan, which is the plan for accessing these key assets when you die. It’s definitely an emerging trend.”

The inevitable rise of litigation cases around digital assets will be likely to prompt more pre-emptive protective measures on the front end, Nagrani said.

Societal and generational shifts have given rise to an increase in younger people writing wills as they come into money – either through starting and selling tech businesses – or through inheritance from wealthy grandparents. Successful estate lawyers are keeping in touch with the values and expectations of the younger generation, as well as modern family structures.

At the other end of the scale, Kim Gale, principal and lawyer at Gale Law, noted that people are living longer, giving rise to concerning trends such as misappropriation of funds through the use of power of attorney.

“There’s this whole area of capacity disputes, but it can be very expensive, and unfortunately sometimes the incapable person doesn’t survive the litigation. Unfortunately these disputes are becoming more and more common,” said Gale.

Planners are also navigating challenges around changing legislations in Ontario including the Succession Law Reform Act which was amended in 2022 to include separated spouses, as a way to guard against predatory marriages. Under the new legislation, marriage will not automatically revoke a will executed before the marriage.

“In order for certain provisions to be affected, you have to be separated for three years after 2022, so we have a very interesting period with somewhat competing claims between a common law spouse and the separated spouse because the legislation is still in transition,” said Dorothy Hagel, partner at Hagel Law Firm.

Speakers agreed that estate lawyers benefit from working with other advisors in a holistic way. Those who choose to work in silos are doing a disservice to the client, according to Nagrani. Lawyers, financial planners, accountants, insurance experts and other professionals all bring different expertise to the table.

“Good estate planners are collaborative, and they join forces with other professionals, so they can speak to each other directly, because there’s a lot of broken telephone that can go on when things are just passing through the client, and furthermore, I just feel like clients are tired of telling 10 different people the same thing,” said Nagrani.

BridgePoint Financial partners with estate firms to provide funding and added value for clients.

“If there is an access to counsel or access to justice issue, we’re able to provide funding, and in that circumstance we work very closely with the lawyer to ensure that it’s a meritus case,” said Tim Andrews, chief business development officer at BridgePoint.

Another issue that sometimes arises is the discrepancy between the date of marriage of a religious ceremony versus the date of the civil marriage, which can be many months later.

In other cases, the executors of a will can maximize the value of an estate by taking an advance from BridgePoint to renovate and increase its value. For example, BridgePoint recently provided $100,000 as an advance to fund the renovations of an inherited property in Saskatchewan, thereby increasing its value from $500,000 to $1.2 million, and ultimately creating a significantly larger inheritance for all beneficiaries.

“This really underscored the advance as a timely and strategic tool,” said Andrews. “Many executors don’t have the financial means or don’t wish to overextend themselves to invest, and utilizing a solution from BridgePoint is a perfect tool to cover off these types of expenses.”

Speakers also discussed the changing litigation landscape, agreeing that we can expect to see a rise in litigation disputes around wills and estates. Electronic wills and online estate planning platforms are becoming increasingly prevalent, potentially giving rise to more litigation.

“There’s a market for online wills. They’re simple. They’re not complex, and they can handle a very simple, quick case, but if you can afford to do something better, then I think everyone should be seeing a lawyer because I can see the boundaries with these online wills, and their boundaries are narrow,” said Nagrani. “Are those cases going to be litigated? Yes, because if that family had a complexity that the software didn’t even ask about, there’s no back and forth, and there’s no advice, so I think there’s a huge risk there.”

PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

Speakers in the second session of the Legal Innovation Forum’s Ontario Estates Webinar discussed the key pain points facing estate professionals in the current climate.

Panelists agreed that the intake process for new clients remains challenging as they strive to meet with clients and to collect their information as accurately and efficiently as possible, while being mindful of the privacy of the data. Education is another issue.

“I find it to be a painful point that people frequently don’t come to us until it’s too late,” said Marlenne Doss, partner at Aion Law Partners. “One of the challenges is in educating them and encouraging them to contact us before they get into the issues of estate planning, so they already have that in place. I think there’s still a huge gap in what people need and what they actually have in place,” she added.

Many clients have a fear of working with lawyers, so anything that can be done to make them feel comfortable is helpful in the intake process, noted Jordan Atin, certified specialist in estates law at Hull & Hull, and the co-creator of will planning software, eState Planner.

“If you can give them information before they even retain you about how the process is going to go, that really makes clients feel better about the process,” said Atin. “We send them a memo at the beginning with about five bullet points, explaining here’s our process, here’s what you can expect, and here’s the expected costs.”

Software and technology has greatly simplified the estate planning process in recent years. Atin’s eState Planner, for example, is designed to streamline the client intake process, create error-free estate plans, and generate wills and other legal documents.

Another valuable tool is My-legacy.ai which leverages artificial intelligence to make the estate planning process more accessible and user-friendly – both for lawyers and for consumers.

“Education is important because people don’t think estate planning applies to them,” said Sree Chintala, founder and CEO at My-Legacy.ai. “On the consumer side, My Legacy can help anyone to understand the basics of estate planning wherever you are in your life, and what are the things that you need, and then we take it to the next level.”

Chintala’s platform applies AI to optimize customer engagement and then matches clients to the right lawyer. The platform also helps lawyers by automating repetitive tasks.

Though AI will play an increasingly important role in the future, the role of the lawyer is never likely to be lost in the estate planning process, according to Doss

“It’s about the conversations that happen before that actual drafting, to create a plan that’s catered to the individual and to their circumstance,” said Doss. “The need for that is not going to be lost now or in the future. I don’t think that can be replaced by AI, but I think that AI can make the process more efficient and effective for both the lawyer and the clients.”

For his part Chintala notes that the estate planning process will get more and more complex in line with the rising transfer of generational wealth, so AI and technology can help to reduce workloads for lawyers.

“Sooner or later, everything is going to be digital. It’s just a matter of time. Having these documents on a blockchain to get a digital copy that you can protect for 30 or 40 years down the road, could avoid a lot of conflict and concerns about forgery,” said Chintala. “There are technologies here today that can help us solve a lot of problems, and I personally see a lot of opportunity for all of us to excel and help families to really cross the chasm in terms of adoption and learning more about estate planning.”

The webinar was moderated by Madison Gleis, principal lawyer at Gleis Law, and Andrew Bowyer, founder and CEO at ADB Insights.

Preparing for the transformational impact of Generative AI on the legal ecosystem

Panoramic shot of Vancouvers Iron Workers Memorial Bridge

By Lucy Saddleton, Managing Editor, ADB Insights

As generative artificial intelligence disrupts business models around the world, professionals from across the legal ecosystem are cautiously preparing for the potential opportunities that it brings – not only in regard to efficiency, but also in terms of acting as a catalyst for collaboration.

Experts at the recent Legal Innovation Forum in Toronto discussed the paradigm shift they are anticipating and offered advice on optimizing Gen AI tools, without creating unnecessary risk for the business.

In a panel discussion focused on the use of Gen AI and its impact on the legal industry, our speakers agreed that education is key to ensuring a smooth integration of AI tools into the workplace.

“There’s a huge need for education around the firm, and you need to have champions within your firm to be able to promote those concepts and field questions because there are varying levels of understanding”

said Alan Votary, head of product at LexisNexis Canada. Votary’s team offers thought-leadership and training in this space to clients.

It is also essential to consider the framework within which you are working, according to Tania Djerrahian, senior director, innovation and knowledge management at Davies. This includes examining the availability of the IT department, the privacy framework of the firm or organization, and any data residency restrictions that may apply.

“We put a lot of work not just into looking at the right tools to solve the problems, but also looking at whether or not these tools fit into our framework. Do they fit into our data security and privacy framework?”

From an in-house counsel perspective, Sacha Fraser, general counsel at IBM noted the importance of understanding the credibility of your vendors, and also ensuring a clear governance policy is in place. Not only is IBM a supplier in the AI space, but Fraser’s legal department also makes use of these tools.

“Turn your privacy impact assessment into an AI impact assessment.You probably want some sort of governance at the top levels of your company so you can test new use cases and think about how you want to involve your board and other stakeholders in setting policy around AI.”

Lawyers navigate many ethical traps with regard to data and data privacy, so it is important to understand how vendors will use company data before sharing with them.

“Is a Large Language Model grabbing on to your data and potentially using it and developing it, or is it going to use that data and then wipe it from its servers?” asked John Rizner, head of AI legal drafting at Filevine.

“These are important questions to think about when deciding what data you’re providing to an LLM, how you’re providing it, and what type of LLM or technology provider you’re working with.”

Kyle Turner, attorney and legal technologist at iManage – and panel chair – noted that

“data is the central driver to a good generative AI output.”

According to Votary, many firms lack a clear grasp on what data they have, so the vendor must have a clear understanding of the source and value of the data before directing it to a Gen AI tool.

“You can’t just point a model at a particular set of data. There’s almost a housekeeping exercise that has to go on,” Votary said.

The regulatory framework in Canada surrounding Gen AI use is slowly evolving, with each law society taking a slightly different approach. The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act is also going through a clause-by-clause review.

Collaboration is key to building a strong framework, according to Lisa Chamandy, chief knowledge and information officer at BLG.

“We’re going to have to keep the conversation going among all the relevant parties,” said Chamandy. “In our context, it’s the clients, the vendors, the people in operations and people on the front line in the practices. It’s really a time for collaboration to develop a framework together. We can’t just rely on a law society,” she added.

The speakers discussed strategies for helping clients with the AI integration process and making them feel comfortable with regard to risk concerns. Having conversations to understand emotional drivers and nuances behind the needs and concerns of the client is recommended.

“We’re consulting on the legal framework and what tools we’re using, and explaining to our clients what framework they have to operate within to use those tools,” said Djerrahian.

Rizner noted that it is important to discuss with clients which AI tools will work best for a specific problem and which problems are better solved by a human – or a combination of the two. Experimenting with the tools in a safe way can be helpful to determine which are most useful, he said.

Chamandy added that every organization should implement a responsible use policy and an education program to ensure that AI experimentation is conducted safely.

“It’s about so much more than productivity,” said Fraser. “You have to think about the halo effect of using AI. There’s a real benefit with some Gen AI products around risk management, governance and knowledge management.”

The panelists agreed that educating clients is key to helping them understand how to reap the potential benefits of Gen AI. For example, clients should be aware that results may not immediately be perfect, so a little trial and error may be needed at first, Djerrahian said.

“It’s about teaching them that in order to save time in the long run and have more time to do the things that you really enjoy doing – which is reasoning and advising – then you just need to invest a bit of time now, and it’s going to save you time in the long run,” said Djerrahian.

Passing information between clients and internal groups to help share best practices is helpful to all parties, Rizner added.

In fact, generative AI may be a catalyst for deeper communication within the legal industry.

“This isn’t an era where we’re really competitive with each other,” said Fraser. “We should be creating communities of practice and sharing, and that includes the triangle of the legal department, the law firm, and the legal tech supplier. We should learn together.” Working together to find a community can also help to bridge the divide between junior, intermediate and senior employees, Fraser said.

Votary added: It’s important for us to hear from our customers and to understand their clients’ needs, and to be able to build on that, so it really is an exciting time.”

Driving innovation through collaboration

By Lucy Saddleton, Managing Editor, ADB Insights

More than 250 people gathered at the Legal Innovation Forum’s fifth annual flagship event in Toronto on May 15, for a full day of learning and networking. Leaders from legal departments, law firms and third-party partners discussed the hottest topics keeping them up at night as the legal ecosystem experiences a wealth of transformational shifts.

Focused on a unifying theme: Forging new directions in a rapidly evolving legal ecosystem, the event shone a light on the intersection of business, innovation and law through a series of lively panel discussions featuring experts from across the legal landscape.

We also welcomed elevator pitches showcasing the latest legal technology from our partners: FTI Consulting, iManage, Filevine, PwC, Clarilis, LexisNexis, and BridgePoint Financial.

PANELS

LEADING AT THE INTERSECTION OF BUSINESS AND LAW - HOW ARE LEGAL LEADERS HELPING TO DRIVE CANADA’S ECONOMIC INNOVATION STORY?

Speakers:

In our first panel, general counsel and chief legal officers from leading organizations discussed the key challenges on their minds, and they explained how they are acting as agents of change by evolving their innovation strategies to mitigate risk and grasp new opportunities for the business in today’s complex operating environment.

Key challenges:

Talent acquisition and retention: the importance of maintaining workforce engagement; focusing on developing internal talent; the need for versatile skill sets
Managing misinformation and correcting false narratives to avoid reputational risks
Increasing expectations from CEOs mean GC roles are evolving to include enterprise risk management, government affairs, corporate communications and ESG/ sustainability
Geopolitical events: Legal teams need to understand and strategically manage the impact of geopolitical events and tariffs

Sectoral trends & transformations:

Honda: The shift to electric vehicles brings new regulatory and competitive challenges for Honda
Sun Life: Navigating regulatory changes in the insurance sector; using data to deliver client solutions while maintaining data privacy
Kraft Heinz: The impact of food inflation and rising commodity prices on the business
TMX Group: Transformation from an exchange-only business to a data business; developing a central advocacy function to support clients and influence public policy

In association with:

ON THE GROUND WITH GENERATIVE AI: HOW IS GENERATIVE AI TRANSFORMING THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE AND THE WIDER BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM?

Speakers:

While generative artificial intelligence continues upending business models around the world and across sectors, it can also be viewed as a valuable tool to support both the business and practice of law.

Firms and legal departments are scrambling to prepare for both the disruption – and the potential opportunities – that will emerge as GenAI rapidly evolves. Our speakers shared tips for preparing and reaping the rewards of Gen AI.

Client communication and integration of GenAI:

Have open conversations with clients about AI use: Educate clients and help them integrate AI into their own systems
Collaboration among all parties is key to develop a cohesive framework for AI use
Help clients understand where AI can be beneficial and where human intervention is still needed
Pilot testing: Start with small populations to mitigate risk before full deployment
Showcase responsible AI use and the benefits it brings to law firms and legal departments

Regulatory and ethical considerations:

Emphasizing existing ethical principles and adapting them to the context of AI
Questioning whether current legal structures are sufficient to handle new AI technologies
Raising awareness of AI capabilities and demonstrating responsibility in its use

In association with:

STRATEGY & OPERATIONS: HOW LEGAL DEPARTMENTS ARE FOCUSING ON STRATEGY TO CATALYZE OPERATIONAL CHANGE AND DELIVER VALUE FOR THEIR ENTERPRISES

Speakers:

Legal operations professionals are changing the way in-house teams function by introducing innovative solutions to allow them to serve the business more efficiently. This is having a broader effect on the legal sector as a whole – enabling a more structured approach to how external providers (law firms, ALSPs, and technology providers) deliver services and value.

In this session, our panelists shared practical tips for incorporating legal ops into a legal team, driving alignment with business objectives, and measuring the value generated by legal ops.

Highlights:

Relationships & collaboration: Building genuine relationships with executives, boards, law firms and vendor partners
Data and metrics: Using data analytics and metrics to inform decision making, track performance and identify areas for improvement
Integrating legal ops: Aligning with organizational priorities and stakeholder expectations
KPIs and performance measurement: Developing key performance indicators that align with organizational priorities
Tools for legal ops: Implementing tools such as Microsoft Forms, Power Apps, integrated SharePoint systems and Legal Tracker to streamline processes and prioritize initiatives

In association with:

MASTERING DIGITAL RISK: NAVIGATING A COMPLEX DIGITAL RISK LANDSCAPE

Speakers:

Canadian businesses are facing a new era of digital risk as emerging technologies increase fears of cyber crime, intellectual property theft, ransomware, phishing attacks and reputational threats through social media.

Our expert speakers outlined the best approach for building an effective cybersecurity plan across the entire enterprise to minimize risk against increasingly sophisticated attacks, and they explained how to take advantage of the digital environment to seize opportunities for innovation and growth.

Highlights:

Distinction between cybersecurity program and incident response plan: Important to have both, and to update them regularly
Conduct tabletop exercises to simulate scenarios and test the plan: identify gaps and weaknesses through simulations
Regulatory requirements for public disclosures: develop a script for rapid communications during an incident
Pre-established relationships are key: Ensure proactive engagement with vendors and advisors, such as ransomware negotiators and crypto providers, before an incident occurs
Cross-functional collaboration between legal, IT and other departments, and between different jurisdictions

In association with:

THE HUMAN EQUATION - ATTRACTING, RETAINING AND DEVELOPING TALENT, AND NAVIGATING GENERATIONAL SHIFTS

Speakers:

Speakers in this session explored the generational shifts and hiring obstacles that are shaping the role of legal leaders. They gave advice for overcoming roadblocks to attracting and retaining talent and for aligning with the generational shift in leadership by challenging long-standing business models.

Highlights:

Empathy in leadership: Understanding different perspectives of employees
Educate staff about communication differences across different generations
Keep experienced employees engaged while integrating new viewpoints from the younger generation: Junior associates expect more involvement in the operations of the firm
Offer a value-proposition that resonates with different motivations, such as compensation, work-life balance and flexible work
Encourage ongoing dialogue within the organization to meet the changing needs of a diverse workforce

In association with:

DELIVERING VALUE: LEVERAGING CONTRACTS TO DRIVE YOUR ORGANIZATION’S BOTTOM LINE

Speakers:

David Rosen, Catylex
Libby Evans, TD
Renee Smith, PwC
Andrew Bowyer, Legal Innovation Forum (chair)

An effective contract management system will not only minimize risk and improve compliance and visibility, but it will maximize value for the business or firm by reducing time and costs in the rapidly evolving legal landscape.

Panelists in this session discussed best practices for making the contract management system more efficient, and they explored the value of automation to reduce the risk of human error and ensure consistency in documentation.

Highlights:

Building a business case for contract management: Optimizing the contract process enhances organizational value; contracts are the connective tissue for the business, Team should use ROI models to communicate benefits
Managing risks: Importance of following contract compliance and acceptance criteria; teams should have a plan in place for crisis risk management; Ensure a detailed understanding of contract details
Contract management maturity model: Progress through each step methodically (most companies are currently in the early stages)
Work with tech partners that understand your evolving needs: ensure technology aligns with strategic goals

In association with:

THE NEW BUSINESS OF LAW: NEW MODELS, ENTRANTS & AGENTS OF CHANGE

As competition grows fiercer with the threat of new market entrants, the legal industry continues to shift and reinvent itself in line with societal changes and client demands. The evolving business landscape has created new priorities for the legal sector, generating a rise in alternative business models that allow for flexibility and remote or hybrid work.

Our panelists in the final session discussed the evolution of an industry that strives to adapt and thrive in line with a rapidly changing business world – and the risk associated with such changes.

Speakers:

Highlights:

Advantages of ALSPs: they fulfill the client demand for innovative solutions and entrepreneurial approaches; they allow for agility and the avoidance of traditional law firm constraints’ they offer on-demand legal talent through flexibility and cost-effective solutions
Preparing for new market entrants: leveraging existing client relationships and understanding client needs; building trust through demonstrations of capability
Mitigating risk: Test ALSPs with small projects first
ALSP potential: the role of ALSPs in tech consulting and business transformation

In association with:

With special thanks to our presenting sponsor BLG Beyond, and our national strategic partner Alexa Translations.

We also thank our gold sponsors FTI Consulting, Clarilis, PwC, Filevine, LexisNexis, Dye & Durham, and iManage;

our breakfast & breaks sponsor BridgePoint Financial; and our lunch sponsor DiliTrust;

our exhibition sponsors goodfact, legal suite, ClearyX, CiteRight, Catylex, LawVu, MinuteBox and Osgood Hall Law School;

our reception partner Simplex Legal; education partner ACEDS; and logistics partner Digicast.

Adapting to the new era of family law

By Lucy Saddleton, Managing Editor, ADB Insights

Transformational shifts in society in recent years – together with immense technological advances and growing economic struggles – have paved the way for family law firms to rethink their business plans. A rise in remote workplaces, virtual hearings and online dispute resolution practices have challenged the traditional legal framework, while evolving laws are creating new challenges and opportunities.

Leading Canadian family lawyers and industry experts came together at the Legal Innovation Forum’s Family Law Webinar earlier this month to discuss the drivers that are shaping the way they operate, and to divulge their strategies for innovative practice management.

DRIVERS & TRENDS

Speakers noted that the development of common law property rights is driving more litigation cases.

“People still need to remember you’re advancing these cases along the lines of trust law, so really you need to prove the principles of unjust enrichment.” said Kenneth Younie, a partner at Vanderschoot Family Law. “You need to prove that somebody was enriched and the other party was deprived, and there’s no juristic reason for that.”

As there are no automatic property rights for unmarried couples in Ontario, these cases can be difficult to settle, Younie added.

The rise in high-conflict litigation is driving high legal costs, so many clients are self-representing or seeking limited scope retainers.

“One of the things that I’ve been seeing is people are looking to retain a lawyer on a more limited basis, to help them get to a particular stage in the proceeding,” said Jennifer Eensild, associate lawyer at MFC Lawyers LLP. This can have advantages and disadvantages, Eensild said. On one hand it allows a client with a limited budget to get legal help, but it can sometimes end up being more costly for the client if they need further assistance from the lawyer at the end of the trial.

The underfunding of legal aid is having an impact on the rise of self-represented parties, which also increases the cost for those who do seek legal representation, Eensild noted.

Sarah Durcikova, associate at MacDonald & Partners LLP added that not only do self-represented litigants face logistical problems, but there may be other challenges such as a lack of access to technology, and potential language barriers.

“There are economic challenges, and there’s also limited judicial resources available to parties in general, whether one is self represented or represented,” said Durcikova. “The sad reality is at one point in time, an individual will be self-represented. There are challenges with qualifying for legal aid. There’s intersectionality, that is really driving family law into a different form.”

Criminal law proceedings can sometimes overlap with a family law case, thus impacting a parent’s right to see their children, Durcikova added.

The high immigration rate in Canada is also having an impact on the practice of family law. For example, family lawyers are seeing cases in the Court of Appeal that deal with Muslim marriage contracts – known as a Maher.

“You have the issue of what is promised in this Maher,” said Amit Dror a partner at Stanchieri Family Law. “What I’ve seen in my own practice is that the common thing to promise is pieces of gold, or some sort of gold coins, and the price of gold has gone up in the last 30 years quite significantly, so then you have this valuation problem.”

Another issue that sometimes arises is the discrepancy between the date of marriage of a religious ceremony versus the date of the civil marriage, which can be many months later.

“You then have an issue of ‘what is marriage?’ for the purposes of determining that family property,” said Eensild. “I have seen it used as a way to try and gain an advantage in equalization to boost property as of the date of marriage, or reduce debt.”

Since its rapid acceleration in use during the pandemic, virtual court has added a new dimension to the practice of family law, with many courts now taking a hybrid approach. Our speakers discussed the pros and cons.

“I definitely see the advantages of having a trial in-person,” said Durcikova. “It’s a lot easier to hand a witness a document and say, ‘look, this is what you said,’ as opposed to pointing to a document online.” In-person court also provides different learning opportunities for younger lawyers, such as the custom of bowing to the judge, she added. Some witnesses may not have access to technology so in-person court is also advantageous in this case.

However, our speakers noted the many advantages of virtual court, including the ability to serve in multiple jurisdictions, and the increased efficiency.

“There was kind of a great leap forward in terms of getting access to electronic documents,” said Younie. “It’s much easier using a laptop instead of rifling through stacks of paper.”

PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

Speakers in the second session of the Legal Innovation Forum’s family law webinar discussed how they are setting a strategic vision in line with the evolution of the practice of family law, and how they are managing costs and navigating financial risks to protect the bottom line of the business.

COVID was a major catalyst to remote work for many practices. For James Studer – a lawyer at Galbraith Family Law – the transition was easy, as the firm had already started to move to a hybrid set-up pre-pandemic, with a cloud-based file-storage system in place.

“Since the pandemic, we’ve continued on the plan that we had which was reducing days in the office, which reduces costs, and gives people more flexibility to work at home and manage their own schedules,” said Studer. “Clients don’t have to come to the office every time they need to sign a document, so we meet them where they want to be met,” he added.

At litigation financing firm BridgePoint Financial, chief business development officer Tim Andrews noted that an increase in the use of digital solutions for document management has accelerated the development and adoption of related AI-integrated solutions which can greatly benefit clients.

In another trend, Andrews said that socio-economic shifts have impacted the family law landscape.

“We’re seeing people lacking liquidity when they enter the separation process, and this impacts access to family law counsel as certain parties are disadvantaged, which ultimately creates an access-to-justice issue,” said Andrews. “If clients don’t have financial liquidity, there are other options before going down the slippery slope of using credit cards.

The speakers went on to discuss how they are mitigating financial risks to improve the profit margin for the firm. While rental costs have dropped post-pandemic with the rise of remote work, software and technology costs have increased for family law firms. All the panelists agreed that regular and frequent billing is key.

“We bill monthly and sometimes bi-weekly because it keeps our risk low,” said Studer. “If you get halfway through a file, and the client doesn’t have the money to continue, you’ve potentially wasted a lot of money, whereas if you’d had a discussion early on and you know they can’t afford the full blown litigation, you can talk about a limited scope retainer, which ultimately is much more beneficial for the client.”

Although technology can be costly, it is essential to be competitive in the family law space. AI is a valuable tool to simplify workflows, according to Russell Alexander, a lawyer at Russell Alexander Collaborative Family Lawyers.

“In two or three years, AI is just going to be another tool in the toolbox,” said Alexander. “We’re using it in every aspect of our practice.” Not only does Alexander use AI to create marketing plans, documents and digital financial statements, but it can even create videos using his image.

“You’re not going to be replaced by AI, but you’ll be replaced by a lawyer using AI, so you want to get on the train and start learning about this technology,” he advised.

“We also need to be mindful of our rules of professional conduct and supervise our team members who are using AI and use it in an ethical way, so it doesn’t mislead the court or the public,” Alexander added.

With the rise of AI, firms can expect the death of the billable hour, with tasks that once took days now being completed in hours or minutes.

“Ultimately, it will save clients money, but it will also help reimagine how firms approach their billing practices,” said Andrews.

Speakers agreed that client communication is essential to build relationships and develop trust. BridgePoint is developing an SMS system to update clients automatically on their files, for example.

“They’re always in the know and they can follow up with us at any point,” said Andrews. Being transparent about costs is also critical, he added.

“Having that conversation upfront about financial expectations can really assist in making sure the relationship goes smoothly, until the resolution of the file,” said Andrews.

The webinar was moderated by Madison Gleis, owner and principal lawyer at Gleis Law, and Heather Suttie, legal market strategy & management consultant at Suttie.

Embracing the human factor to attract and retain top talent

By Lucy Saddleton, Managing Editor, ADB Insights

As businesses and law firms have faced a wealth of transformational shifts in recent years, retaining and attracting the next generation of legal talent presents many challenges as well as opportunities. A new focus on work-life balance and mental health awareness have changed the way many legal teams operate.

Historic work models have shifted in the past decade, with in-house counsel roles becoming increasingly desirable and many lawyers rejecting traditional career paths.

“We’ve seen an amazing professionalization of the in-house bar, with people choosing to work in-house right from the start of their careers,” says Conni Gibson, chief legal officer and corporate secretary at Interac Corp. “We see thousands of resumes from amazingly qualified students who want to come and article with us and build their career in-house.” Interac also recruits lawyers who have been highly successful in private practice and choose to move in-house, Gibson adds.

Gibson will be speaking at the Legal Innovation Forum in Toronto on May 15.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the rise of technology and remote workplaces, allowing for more flexibility, and fundamentally changing the narrative for firm and corporate culture. Loblaw Companies is no exception.

“We moved from essentially being five days in the office to being entirely remote, and now people are returning to a hybrid world, so that’s the next evolution,” says Nick Henn, EVP and chief legal officer at Loblaw. “Frankly, it’s taken people a long time to work out how we can get the best of what we used to have while embracing what we learnt through COVID to create the best of both worlds.”

Like many legal departments, Cineplex has mandated three days per week in office for team members, following the end of pandemic-driven disruption.

“This is not based on improving productivity, and it’s definitely not a lack of trust,” says Thomas Santram, SVP, general counsel at Cineplex Entertainment. “It really was based on a desire to stay connected with each other and remain an effective team. Cineplex is a creative company in a creative industry, and the entire industry is rooted in collaboration, so it was important for us to maintain and continue the personal connections we have,” he adds.

Although video-conferencing technology has provided more flexibility and a wider geographical talent pool, the era of remote work can have a negative impact on the development of articling students, according to Gibson.

“Our first year articling students want to be in the office to be a part of something, but if other people aren’t in the office, that thing they want to be a part of just isn’t happening. There’s nobody here for them to learn from and shadow and join meetings with,” she says.

Following the generational shift towards work-life balance, many legal teams are choosing to promote mental health awareness.

With May being Mental Health Awareness Month in Canada, the legal department at CIRO (The Canadian Investment Regulatory Authority) recently launched an initiative with the Canadian Mental Health Association intended to foster a supportive and understanding workplace culture. The program incorporates interactive activities, educational resources and a platform to facilitate open dialogue.

“We are trying to emphasize the importance of nurturing your mental well being and to focus on wellness,” says Jennifer Armstrong, general counsel and corporate secretary at CIRO – another speaker at the Legal Innovation Forum. “Our culture supports mental health here at CIRO, and it also paves the way to help with resilience when we do face challenges, so it’s a proactive measure,” she adds.

Building a strong corporate culture with a focus on wellness can help to attract and retain talent at a time when some legal departments are struggling with rapid turnover.

“At CIRO, our employees identify and align with our purpose – and that’s to protect Canadian investors and uphold the integrity of the capital markets – so we do not suffer from turnover,” says Armstrong.

Employee engagement strategies are essential to make people feel valued and create a positive corporate culture, Armstrong says. For example, CIRO conducts quarterly anonymous engagement surveys to allow employees to give feedback and make suggestions. The organization has also put in place an advisory committee to help improve diversity,equity and inclusion. Among many DEI initiatives, CIRO recently sponsored employee participation in the First Nations University course on the Four Seasons of Reconciliation, which Armstrong says was well received by her team and across the organization.

At Cineplex, the legal department has built an appealing culture to align with the creative, forward-thinking image of the company brand.

“While the entertainment field is inherently appealing, I think our corporate and departmental culture sets us apart,” says Santram. “We’re a department that places emphasis on respect, and I think my obligation, in terms of managing the department, is to provide growth opportunities and to provide autonomy as much as possible. I work with phenomenal professionals and I’ve learnt that they thrive when they’re given the tools they need to succeed.”

In order to attract and retain talent, Santram offers his team the opportunity to try new roles and work on different types of files, or to cross-train in different areas of the business to build new skills. Team members also have the opportunity to attend industry events such as movie premieres, TIFF and award shows. Santram’s team also benefits from corporate social events where they watch movies and enjoy popcorn in the office screening room.

“I want people to feel comfortable and valued and to enjoy the environment that they work in,” says Santram.

Many lawyers are learning non-legal skills and choosing innovative, lateral career paths as opposed to climbing the traditional ladder. At Loblaw, Henn notes a rise in tech-savvy lawyers and an interest in moving to non-legal roles.

“We certainly have lots of examples of lawyers moving into business roles which gives them a chance to shine and be a competitive advantage to the business,” says Henn. “I’ve seen people move into compliance, operational roles, communications or ESG roles. A lot of organizations have embraced the idea that legal training is a pretty good basis for people to take on different things.”

Armstrong agrees that in-house lawyers are increasingly combining legal knowledge with industry knowledge and business acumen.

“I see this concept emerging of the business lawyer as an influencer,” says Armstrong. “Legal advice is obviously the first mission of lawyers but it can’t be isolated. I know I’m doing much more than just providing day to day legal advice.”

At Interac, Gibson strives to help employees reach their career goals by talking to them and asking what they hope to achieve and then encouraging them to take on new challenges to build the necessary skill set.

“I’m a big believer in authenticity and doubling down on the art of listening,” says Gibson. “It’s really important for young people to talk about career paths,” she adds. Gibson also believes in empowering her team to make decisions for themselves, rather than micromanaging.

“Empowerment is taking a leap of faith as a senior manager. They may not always make the right decision but you have to let them try and see where it goes,” she says.

Hear more from Gibson and Armstrong at the Legal Innovation Forum on May 15.

Agents of change at the intersection of business and law

By Lucy Saddleton, Managing Editor, ADB Insights

In a complex operating environment, legal department leaders are playing a critical role in balancing risk management with growth for the organization. As new challenges and alternative business models emerge, legal teams must continuously act as agents of change by evolving their innovation strategies to mitigate risk and and grasp new opportunities for the business.

The recent profound disruption of AI, together with increased competition, inflation and environmental awareness, has contributed to new risks across industries – and new responsibilities for general counsel.

“It used to be that a general counsel’s role was to block and tackle for the organization with respect to the laws out there,” says Av Maharaj, VP, legal and corporate affairs at the Kraft Heinz Company. “Now general counsel are expected to add significant value and take on different functions.”

The legal team at Kraft Heinz has partnered with outside expertise, particularly in the AI space, and they are asking law firms and other external partners to be more innovative with billing practices and the ways in which they add value to the business. Immersing legal into the entire business is also key, Maharaj says.

“We have stopped looking at ourselves as dispassionate from the business,” he says. “While we have a unique role and unique obligations in the enterprise, our role is not to block and tackle any more, but to add value by seeing over the hill to the next challenge. You have to have an understanding of the business, and you have to use the law to your advantage in order to advance your organization,” he adds.

Maharaj will be speaking on this topic at the Legal Innovation Forum in Toronto on May 15.

Other challenges facing legal departments this year include sourcing top talent and finding the right external support and ideal billing arrangement.

“Finding the optimal model has certainly been a challenge. Do we deal with a few firms or spread the wealth?” says Anthony Ruffolo, AVP, general counsel and corporate secretary at Honda and Honda Financial Services. Ruffolo is also speaking at the Legal Innovation Forum in Toronto.

Ruffolo’s approach is to select external counsel partners in a specific practice area who can provide value, as opposed to favouring one firm. The remote working landscape has made it easier to find the optimal choice for each purpose, from a competency and pricing perspective – albeit someone from a different geographical location.

General counsel are increasingly embracing technology, particularly with regard to workflow management in the hybrid working environment.

“We’ve implemented a number of new tools to track workflow so that leadership in the legal function can see when a file was opened and track the progress and determine how many hours were spent,” says Ruffolo. This also allows business partners to track the matter in real time, he adds.

Engaging with business partners to support the organization and help drive change is a key part of the role of legal department leaders. Ruffolo and his team regularly hold legal awareness sessions to help educate business partners on the role of the department and encourage them to reach out.

“It helps the business spot potential landmines and risks so that they are a bit more proactive and will be more likely to approach legal when they are engaging in certain matters, so it really helps from a risk management perspective, and it also helps establish that rapport,” says Ruffolo.

For Sandra Perri, SVP and general counsel at Sun Life, the role of legal department leader has become more about strategic advice and less about pure legal advice in recent years.

“Paying attention to what’s happening in the external environment has become more relevant” says Perri, who will also be speaking at the Legal Innovation Forum in Toronto. “There’s an expectation to be more technology-savvy and digital in our approach, and even more multidisciplinary in our skillset than we had been previously.”

Advancing technology provides legal teams with the opportunity to grow their capabilities and skill sets by taking on new roles within the organization, and allows in-house counsel to help shape business outcomes.

Perri notes more emphasis on cross-training and coordination between teams and business groups, to allow for a more seamless experience in helping the organization achieve its goals.

“We embed ourselves in every level of the business, from executive leadership tables right through to working group forums, to make sure we’re working in lockstep with our partners to understand short, medium and long-term goals and how we can best support them, and anticipate and manage risk in real time,” says Perri. Being open to continuous learning will allow teams to enable and support change and innovation, while managing risk, Perri adds.

The evolving business landscape has created new priorities for the legal sector, generating a rise in alternative business models that allow for flexibility and remote or hybrid work.

According to Anoop Dogra, managing partner at Simplex Legal, one of the key challenges for legal departments is managing ever-increasing law firm rates. As a result, they are increasingly seeking flat-fee arrangements or other alternative billing plans.

Dogra – another speaker at the Legal Innovation Forum on May 15 – advises in-house legal departments to consider fractional help from a company like Simplex, to alleviate the burden of a full-time hire or the cost of law firm support.

“Companies need to think about what their staffing needs are,” says Dogra. “Getting someone in as a permanent resource may not be the only solution available to them. The advantage of a flexible model is that when things slow down, we can have a conversation about whether or not they still need that resource.”

Of course, there are risks associated with seeking help from an alternative business model, so it is important for in-house teams to do due diligence to ensure that the lawyers they are considering hiring are capable and competent.

“There are a lot of providers in the market who have a flashy website and a splashy ad campaign, but at the end of the day, you have to dig down and find the substance,” says Dogra. “The challenge from the perspective of legal departments will be finding the right balance between cost efficiency and service, so they’re not sacrificing service and efficiency for the sake of cost.”

Hear more from Maharaj, Ruffolo, Perri and Dogra at the Legal Innovation Forum in Toronto on May 15. Register here.

ADOPTION

ECONOMICS

REGULATORY RISK

RISK MITIGATION

USE CASES

MARKETING

ATTRACTING AND RETAINING TALENT

NAVIGATING FINANCES

TECHNOLOGY AS AN ENABLER OF ACCESS TO JUSTICE

INTRO TO WESA & CASE-LAW UPDATE

UNDERSTANDING EVOLUTIONS IN TRUST

OVERVIEW OF TECHNOLOGY IN PRACTICE

VIRTUAL SIMULATION - UNWINDING A COMPLEX ESTATE

DRIVERS & TRENDS

PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

PANELS

LEADING AT THE INTERSECTION OF BUSINESS AND LAW - HOW ARE LEGAL LEADERS HELPING TO DRIVE CANADA’S ECONOMIC INNOVATION STORY?

ON THE GROUND WITH GENERATIVE AI: HOW IS GENERATIVE AI TRANSFORMING THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE AND THE WIDER BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM?

STRATEGY & OPERATIONS: HOW LEGAL DEPARTMENTS ARE FOCUSING ON STRATEGY TO CATALYZE OPERATIONAL CHANGE AND DELIVER VALUE FOR THEIR ENTERPRISES

MASTERING DIGITAL RISK: NAVIGATING A COMPLEX DIGITAL RISK LANDSCAPE

THE HUMAN EQUATION - ATTRACTING, RETAINING AND DEVELOPING TALENT, AND NAVIGATING GENERATIONAL SHIFTS

DELIVERING VALUE: LEVERAGING CONTRACTS TO DRIVE YOUR ORGANIZATION’S BOTTOM LINE

THE NEW BUSINESS OF LAW: NEW MODELS, ENTRANTS & AGENTS OF CHANGE

DRIVERS & TRENDS

PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

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