This is the first installment of my blog, so I thought I would begin by explaining who I am, what I am about and why I am writing this blog.
I grew up in the west end of Toronto, in a neighbourhood then populated by working class families of Italian background. Overtime, it became more predominantly of a Portuguese background. I attended an all girls high school , which was common in my neighbourhood. I went on to attend the University of Toronto which, sad to say, wasn’t.
I worked for a year after university, and was admitted to the law school at the University of Western Ontario in 1997. I graduated in 2000, and was called to the bar in 2002.
Articling is a lawyer’s equivalent to residency. It is the year in which a prospective lawyer is introduced to the practice of law. I articled with the Region of Peel, which was the opportunity to mix my legal training, with my interest in urban studies and politics.
I joined a small Mississauga-based firm in June, 2002. The firm was a general practice, but I focused on litigation. I have a long-standing interest in employment law and labour relations, so the focus of my practice was, and is, employment law.
In September, 2007, I took the opportunity to return home as it were, and opened my own practice in west-end Toronto.
I continue to focus on litigation, particularly employment law, but I can offer assistance in a range of areas, including wills and estates and residential real estate.
I am constantly striving to find ways to reach out to clients, both existing and new ones. In the case of new/prospective clients, there is always a question, quite rightly, of the experience and expertise to be provided, although there is no real way to sample the work.
I am also looking for ways to reach out to other entrepreneurs, whether lawyers or otherwise, to share, and compare, experiences.
My blog is one method of reaching out to all three groups, in as personal a fashion as can be permitted in cyberspace. My blog can be a resource for existing clients to obtain information on issues which may be of interest to them. For new clients, my blog offers the closest they will ever get to a free sample in the legal profession. Entrepreneurs and other small business owners can check in to compare notes on how to operate, and grow, a business. Generally, my blog is offered as resource anyone seeking to find out how they may be affected by the law, and how I can help them through the process. I must caution, being a lawyer, that any legal information provided through this blog is simply that – information. It is not intended to be advice specific to any particular circumstances, but rather a starting point to assist in finding a way to address a matter. You should always seek advise specific to the facts of your situation.
I hope you find my blog useful. Please let me know if there is any topic of interest, and I will do my best to address it. You can contact me at the address listed on my blog, or use the link to my website to obtain other contact information.
I would like to begin my blog with a story about running the business. The point of running any business is to earn an income, which means, running invoices. My business is no different than any other in that respect. I have grown up in law using a program called PCLaw. It’s provided by LexisNexis, a company which provides an assortment of professional publications, including texts, programs and databases. I have become more acquainted with the product since I started my own firm, as I am responsible for all of the administrative tasks.
PCLaw is a great program in that it is a one-stop shop. You can keep track of dockets, establish a client list with contact information and produce invoices all from one program. The one issue I have had with PCLaw is the form of invoices it produces. My former assistant always used to bemoan preparing accounts, and it seemed like it took her forever. I now know why.
PCLaw creates a default invoice, the formatting of which, as far as I am aware, suits no-one. The formatting can be manipulated by opening the account in your word processing application, which is usually Word. There is where the problem lies. There are an array of default settings and hidden commands which inevitably become corrupted when you start editing your document. I have only just learned that the templates can be manipulated from within PCLaw. For anyone using the program, go to Tools and then Template Editor. In the Template Editor, you can create your own invoice, or you can open an existing one and modify it as you wish. I find that modifying an existing one is much easier, as the sections are already established. It is just a matter of moving things around, adjusting the formatting and maybe adding the odd detail. You can then save the modified template under a different name, thereby retaining the existing template.
The bigger issue for me, though, is why it took so long for me to figure this out. My assistant prepared accounts for me when I was at the old place. She edited the accounts in Word and, as far as I know, never altered a template. Why was that? She never received anything more than a cursory training session on the program presented by someone who really didn’t know it, and that was how they were taught to prepare accounts. When I went out on my own, I made the mistake of thinking I knew the program, notwithstanding the fact that I had received even less training with the program since all I was supposed to do was track time. I have received notices about training sessions, but, truth be told, was scared off by the cost, and justified not going through my “knowledge” of the product. As a result, it took me at least 20 minutes to prepare an account, when it should take no more than 30 seconds if the template is established.
There are a couple of lessons I can learn from the experience. First, never assume you know a product. Second, take the time to learn the product properly and thoroughly, even if that means paying for a training session. Last, and most important, just because a particular method has been used for years doesn’t mean that’s the best and most effective method. Look critically at everything you do every day. The savings attributable to finding a better method can be enormous. In my case, I can now do 20 invoices in the time it used to take me to do one. If I only have one account to complete, I now have 19.5 minutes to do something else.
The Friendly Lawyer
