https://a1cms.com/articles/ Practical writing on running a modern law firm: practice management, billing, client experience, hiring, and legal technology. en-ca Sun, 30 Aug 2026 07:20:28 +0000 https://a1cms.com/articles/prep-client-discovery-examination/ https://a1cms.com/articles/prep-client-discovery-examination/ Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Family & Civil Practice Hannah Okafor A step by step routine for the meeting before discovery, built to teach your client to listen, pause, and answer only what is actually being asked. https://a1cms.com/articles/time-tracking-habit/ https://a1cms.com/articles/time-tracking-habit/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Firm Operations Devon Reyes Contemporaneous time capture is a behaviour, not a feature. Here is how to build routines that survive a busy litigation week without nagging your team. https://a1cms.com/articles/useful-one-on-ones/ https://a1cms.com/articles/useful-one-on-ones/ Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 People & Hiring Sam Whitecloud A recurring one on one that belongs to your staff, not your status report, surfaces the real problems long before they turn into a resignation letter. https://a1cms.com/articles/collecting-testimonials-ethically/ https://a1cms.com/articles/collecting-testimonials-ethically/ Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Client Experience Devon Reyes A plain answer to the questions Canadian lawyers actually ask about soliciting reviews, framed around law society marketing rules and client confidentiality. https://a1cms.com/articles/civil-litigation-timelines-explained/ https://a1cms.com/articles/civil-litigation-timelines-explained/ Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Family & Civil Practice Hannah Okafor Clients want one number, and there is no honest single answer. Here is how to break a civil claim into real phases and set expectations you can keep. https://a1cms.com/articles/writing-legal-job-posts/ https://a1cms.com/articles/writing-legal-job-posts/ Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 People & Hiring Sam Whitecloud Most law firm job posts scare off the very people they claim to want. Honesty about the actual work beats a wall of requirements every time. https://a1cms.com/articles/prepare-client-cross-examination/ https://a1cms.com/articles/prepare-client-cross-examination/ Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Family & Civil Practice Hannah Okafor Your client freezes, guesses, or fights back on the stand. Here is how to build composure for cross examination without ever coaching the evidence. https://a1cms.com/articles/billing-a-contingency-file/ https://a1cms.com/articles/billing-a-contingency-file/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Billing & Trust The A1 CMS Team A practical way to track time and disbursements on a no-win-no-fee matter so the fee statement is clean, compliant, and defensible when settlement lands. https://a1cms.com/articles/negotiating-salary-junior-lawyer/ https://a1cms.com/articles/negotiating-salary-junior-lawyer/ Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Careers & Job Search Tomas Belanger Junior lawyers often accept the first number offered. Knowing when and how to negotiate, even at the start of your career, can make a real difference. https://a1cms.com/articles/intake-call-script-builds-trust/ https://a1cms.com/articles/intake-call-script-builds-trust/ Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Client Experience Devon Reyes An intake coordinator walks us through the exact phrasing that makes a caller feel understood, long before anyone says a word about the retainer. https://a1cms.com/articles/realization-versus-collection/ https://a1cms.com/articles/realization-versus-collection/ Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Billing & Trust The A1 CMS Team A legal bookkeeper explains why billed is not collected, where firms quietly lose money between the two numbers, and how a small practice closes the gap. https://a1cms.com/articles/talking-costs-with-clients/ https://a1cms.com/articles/talking-costs-with-clients/ Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Family & Civil Practice Devon Reyes A composite client story about the early honest conversation on costs exposure and cost awards that changes decisions and builds trust before the bill lands. https://a1cms.com/articles/plain-language-undertakings-guide/ https://a1cms.com/articles/plain-language-undertakings-guide/ Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Family & Civil Practice Hannah Okafor What an undertaking really is, why it binds you and not just your client, and a simple system for tracking and answering every single one. https://a1cms.com/articles/workflow-automation-direction/ https://a1cms.com/articles/workflow-automation-direction/ Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Firm Operations Priya Natarajan A practical read on where small firm automation is going, which trends will last, which are noise, and how work will actually get routed and reviewed. https://a1cms.com/articles/esignatures-secure-sharing-trend/ https://a1cms.com/articles/esignatures-secure-sharing-trend/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Client Experience Devon Reyes Secure sharing and e signatures moved from a nice convenience to a plain client expectation. Here is what that shift signals for firms still emailing PDFs. https://a1cms.com/articles/nca-certificate-to-articling/ https://a1cms.com/articles/nca-certificate-to-articling/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Internationally Trained Lawyers Aisha Kwan Your NCA certificate is in hand. What happens next, and how do you turn it into an articling offer? A checklist of the steps most people miss. https://a1cms.com/articles/handling-the-monday-backlog/ https://a1cms.com/articles/handling-the-monday-backlog/ Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Firm Operations Devon Reyes The Monday pile-up is mostly made on Thursday and Friday. Here is the structure that gets you through the backlog by noon, and the harder truth about what causes it in the first place. https://a1cms.com/articles/nca-process-start-to-finish/ https://a1cms.com/articles/nca-process-start-to-finish/ Sat, 27 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Internationally Trained Lawyers The A1 CMS Team A plain language walkthrough of every stage of the National Committee on Accreditation route, answering the questions internationally trained lawyers ask before they begin. https://a1cms.com/articles/reading-wip-report-act-on-it/ https://a1cms.com/articles/reading-wip-report-act-on-it/ Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Billing & Trust Marc Lefebvre A hands-on walkthrough of a work-in-progress report, showing which lines to bill first and how to turn aging time into paid invoices. https://a1cms.com/articles/drafting-a-parenting-plan-clients-follow/ https://a1cms.com/articles/drafting-a-parenting-plan-clients-follow/ Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Family & Civil Practice Hannah Okafor Parenting plans fail when they are drafted to resolve a legal dispute instead of to answer how two people will actually share the daily lives of their children. Here is what makes the difference. https://a1cms.com/articles/quarterly-goals-small-firm/ https://a1cms.com/articles/quarterly-goals-small-firm/ Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Firm Operations Devon Reyes Annual plans stall by March. Here is a ninety day cycle built for a firm of two to ten, with goals tied to the hours you actually have. https://a1cms.com/articles/reduce-any-update-emails-interview/ https://a1cms.com/articles/reduce-any-update-emails-interview/ Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Client Experience Elena Ferraro A senior paralegal explains how proactive milestone updates cut status chasing to almost nothing, and what clients were really anxious about all along. https://a1cms.com/articles/affidavit-drafting-holds-up/ https://a1cms.com/articles/affidavit-drafting-holds-up/ Wed, 03 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Family & Civil Practice Hannah Okafor One family file, one affidavit, and the drafting choices that let a witness get through cross examination without contradicting what she had sworn. https://a1cms.com/articles/how-articling-search-works/ https://a1cms.com/articles/how-articling-search-works/ Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Articling & Licensing Aisha Kwan The articling search runs differently across provinces. Here is what actually happens, from recruit season timelines to the call you are waiting for. https://a1cms.com/articles/first-legal-assistant/ https://a1cms.com/articles/first-legal-assistant/ Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 People & Hiring Sam Whitecloud A step-by-step framework for solo lawyers deciding whether the workload really justifies a first hire, and how to make that hire without overspending.