More from the articles
Practical writing on practice management, billing, client experience, hiring, and legal technology.
The Paperwork Trail Behind a Clean Consent Order
A handshake settlement is not an order. Here is every document, recital, and signature the registry wants before it will turn your agreement into something enforceable.
When Intake Overflows: Handling More Leads Than You Can Answer
A rush of inquiries is a good problem until people slip through the cracks. Here are practical tactics to keep every potential client warm.
What to Expect From Your Articling Year
The articling year is unlike anything law school prepared you for. Here is what actually happens, month by month, and how to get through it well.
Closing a Small Firm for a Week Without Chaos
The first time we closed the firm for a full week, we came back to a mess we mostly made ourselves. Here is what we changed so the second time ran quietly.
Measuring Utilization Without Micromanaging
Utilization is a capacity signal for owners, not a scoreboard for staff. Here is how to read the number honestly and track it without corroding the trust your firm runs on.
Build a Matter Numbering System That Scales With Your Firm
A step by step guide to designing a matter naming and numbering convention that stays legible after five thousand files and survives staff turnover.
The Disbursements Checklist Every Civil File Needs
A running checklist of every disbursement category on a civil matter, with tips for tracking the small costs clients forget were ever incurred.
The Performance Conversation Everyone Dreads, Handled Well
A managing lawyer walks through preparing for, opening, and following through on a difficult performance conversation without it turning into an argument.
Fewer Decisions, Better Firm
Decision fatigue wears firm owners down. Learn how default rules, delegation budgets, and templates remove dozens of small daily choices so your best judgment goes where it counts.
Leaving a Legal Job Without Burning Bridges
How you leave a firm matters more than most lawyers expect in a community this connected. A practical and honest look at making a professional exit.
How to Run a Compensation Review Without Guesswork
A plain answers guide to timing raises, benchmarking small firm pay, and handling the raise conversation so it feels fair to the firm and the person.
What Firms Get Wrong About Hybrid Work
Where legal hybrid work is really heading in Canada, and how to tell the confidentiality concerns worth taking seriously from tired assumptions about presence.