Thursday, March 28, 2013

140Law - Legal Headlines for Thursday, March 28, 2013

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Thursday, March 28, 2013:
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk

Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Thursday's Practice Tip: Communications with Clients

In our column this week at SlawTips, David Bilinsky and I offer practical solutions to the oft-cited challenge of maintaining good communications with our clients:
Once a practice has matured, no lawyer can do it alone. The solution to the communications conundrum is probably as simple as this – develop good communications systems for your firm and recruit excellent staff to implement those systems.
...Clients who are in the loop are likely to be happy with their professional advisors. Those who feel excluded from their own cases or files are much less likely to feel friendly.

So set up systems that prioritize communications, and train your staff and colleagues to implement them religiously.
See: Solving the Communications Problem 
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

140Law - Legal Headlines for Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Wednesday, March 27, 2013:
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk

Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Monday, March 25, 2013

140Law - Legal Headlines for Monday, March 25, 2013

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Monday, March 25, 2013:
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk

Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Dialogue with the "Law Society Guy"

My discussion with B.C. Law Society lawyer and practice management guru, David Bilinsky, continues today with this week's installment at SlawTips.  

See Perspectives on Practice Management: The Regulator and the Practitioner.

Here's a snippet:
Perhaps our regulators would do well to recognize – and dare I say learn from – the degree of dedication and determination so many of us have to getting it right, just as we must recognize how discouraging it must be for our Law Societies to so constantly confront situations where individuals in our profession fall short or are perceived by the public to fall short in delivering the most basic of client services.
When David so kindly invited me to join him for this ThursdaySlawTips adventure, I confess I was both flattered and extremely interested in seeing where this conversation between the practitioner and the “Law Society guy” might lead.  
And while we will get to the answers to the practice management questions above soon (I promise), my Practice Tip for the day is a simple one:  When regulators and practitioners dialogue, only good things are bound to happen.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

140Law - Legal Headlines for Thursday, March 21, 2013

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Thursday, March 21, 2013:
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk

Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Vexatious Litigants

I'm quoted in this week's Law Times in writer Yamri Tadesse's article on vexatious litigants - see Judge seeks end to 'longest running legal drama:'
While family law matters often lead to heated disputes, estates litigation “in some ways can be even worse,” says Toronto lawyer Garry Wise.

“Sibling rivalries go back to the beginning of time; they’re hugely entrenched,” he says.

“When parents make choices in the way they construct their wills and plan for their estates that leave one child or more than one child feeling out of the favoured circle, it’s just a prescription for this stuff to go on and on and on.”

There’s a cautionary tale for lawyers in cases like this one, says Wise. When they help clients draft a will, they should warn them about what could happen if they exclude someone or favour one child over others, he notes.

“The vast majority of their estate could get swallowed up by litigation if they don’t act in a way that is perceived as even-handed.”
Note that section 140.(1) of the Courts of Justice Act does not establish a process to absolutely bar vexatious litigants from engaging in further litigation.  Rather, it establishes a judicial triage process, invoked only after an individual has been deemed a vexatious litigant by a Judge, to require the court's approval before any further litigation may be continued or initiated by that person:
140.(1)Where a judge of the Superior Court of Justice is satisfied, on application, that a person has persistently and without reasonable grounds,
(a) instituted vexatious proceedings in any court; or
(b) conducted a proceeding in any court in a vexatious manner,
the judge may order that,
(c) no further proceeding be instituted by the person in any court; or
(d) a proceeding previously instituted by the person in any court not be continued,
except by leave of a judge of the Superior Court of Justice. R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43, s. 140 (1); 1996, c. 25, s. 9 (17).
(2)Repealed: 1998, c. 18, Sched. B, s. 5 (2).
Application for leave to proceed
(3)Where a person against whom an order under subsection (1) has been made seeks leave to institute or continue a proceeding, the person shall do so by way of an application in the Superior Court of Justice. R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43, s. 140 (3); 1996, c. 25, s. 9 (17).
Leave to proceed
(4)Where an application for leave is made under subsection (3),
(a) leave shall be granted only if the court is satisfied that the proceeding sought to be instituted or continued is not an abuse of process and that there are reasonable grounds for the proceeding;
(b) the person making the application for leave may seek the rescission of the order made under subsection (1) but may not seek any other relief on the application;
(c) the court may rescind the order made under subsection (1);
(d) the Attorney General is entitled to be heard on the application; and
(e) no appeal lies from a refusal to grant relief to the applicant.
Abuse of process
(5)Nothing in this section limits the authority of a court to stay or dismiss a proceeding as an abuse of process or on any other ground. R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43, s. 140 (4, 5).
This is a rarely-invoked procedure, and is quite properly reserved for the most egregious of cases.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
Update:

I also contributed comments on vexatious litigants in this Toronto Star article by Wendy Gillis - see Toronto judge moves to end 40-year war over Forest Hill man’s estate
Toronto civil lawyer Garry Wise said Morgan’s decision to designate Assaf as vexatious is a rare move reserved for the “very, very, very, very, tiny, tiny little class of people who abuse the courts.”
“There are certain people who simply do not understand the system at all and are constantly coming back and kicking at the same can over and over and over,” he said.
- GJW 
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140Law - Legal Headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Tuesday, March 19, 2013:
-Rachel Spence, Law Clerk

Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net

Monday, March 18, 2013

140Law - Legal Headlines for Monday, March 18, 2013

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Monday, March 18, 2013:
- Rachel Spence, Law Clerk

Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net