Presentation Skills for Lawyers – Webinar Event

We would like to give a huge thank you to Max Beaumont from Potato Chip Communications for adjusting his presentation “Presentation Skills for Lawyers” to fit an online medium. Although we were not able to participate in some of the interactive exercises that were originally planned before COVID-19 arrived and online meetings became the norm, Max still made the session fun, interactive and memorable. 

Everyone has experienced the nervousness that comes with giving public presentations, perhaps reminding us of that first middle school presentation that felt like a flop! Max understands this nervousness and outlines six major things to focus on to improve our presentation skills: mindset, body language, audience interaction, conversational delivery, and simple messages.

The biggest takeaway was mindset and audience interaction. 

Max Beaumont from Potato Chip Communications

Our natural bent when explaining our presentation before our peers or others is to focus on ourselves: not messing up, slowing down our speech, getting sales, how we’re coming across.  Bottom line?  We’re thinking about ‘me’.  Max challenged us to change our mindset, shifting it from the mechanics we’re engaging in to get our message across, to instead think about our audience, to listen to ourselves as if we were sitting in their shoes.  In addition, he let us in on the ‘secret sauce,’ the key ingredient to channeling our nervousness into a presentation that achieves a conversational style and engages our audience in an accessible way. By the end, we all left the meeting with something to think about.

This is one of the benefits of being a member of Wolf Law Chambers, that from time to time we come together as a community of professionals to participate in ongoing educational seminars that are also open to friends of Wolf Law Chambers.  And of course, the credits gained by attending count towards a legal practitioners’ annual requirement for continuing education. 

We invite you to join us for our next seminar. Who knows? Maybe Max will be back. 

Cyber Security with Humzah Khaial

Cyber Security has been the most requested seminar after How to Survive an Audit (which took place in the spring of 2019). Humzah Khaial kindly gave a seminar on the tactics used by hackers and preventative measures against their attacks to the group gathered at our Oakville location on December 5, 2019.

Even though it can be a scary topic, it is important to educate ourselves not only about ways to prevent attacks but also how hackers try to infiltrate our systems. If we know their methods, it’s easier to recognize their tactics. 

One of the main targets for hackers is small businesses because they’re lucrative. They have money and sensitive information, but they’re small, so they don’t have a dedicated security department, making them easier to hack into.

What to look for

Attachments in emails can look legitimate. But if after clicking on the attachment, it asks you to change something to your system, don’t. If you do, it gives access to the hacker.

How do you know the email is fake? Hover over the “From” address. Microsoft Office and Outlook 365 now give you the full address when you hover. This is to help you identify senders. If you don’t recognize the sender, don’t click.

Another technique hackers use is grammar and spelling mistakes. They want to filter out anyone who is paying attention. They want victims who aren’t paying attention because those people may not remember what exactly they clicked on or allowed onto their computer.

If the email contains an image of text instead of just plain text, this could be hackers trying to get around your detection software. Software can read text easily, but it cannot read images.

Prevention

The best way is a combination defence. Use as many methods as possible to foil hackers.

When on a public network, use a VPN, a Virtual Private Network. It acts as a tunnel between your device and the public network, preventing any would-be hackers from easily accessing your device and any passwords you may enter while on that public network.

Constantly back up your work. This will protect your information no matter what happens.

Don’t use the same password for everything and use a combination of symbols, letters and numbers. Try not to put passwords on sticky notes. They can get lost easily.

Use two-factor authentication. It’s a password and a code sent to your phone, extra security to verify it is you who is accessing the account. 

Update all operating systems on a regular basis.

Employees are your first line of defence. It’s important to train them in security awareness and prevention. 

Risk Management

Going forward, we need to: prevent, protect, educate. It’s a continuous and changing process. The technological landscape is constantly changing and we need to keep up to date with it.

As the head of your business, you set the tone for your organization. Preventive, protective and educational measures starts at the top. It starts with you. 

At Wolf Law Chambers we strive to host seminars that are relevant to the challenges legal practitioners are facing today. Let us know if there is a topic or challenge you want to learn more about. 

Learn How You Can Survive the Law Society Audit

Wow, what an amazing turnout on the eve of October 10th, 2019 at Wolf Law Chambers! We had Mark Dormer of Cosgrove give a very insightful presentation to our electric audience. It was a true success, so much so that we are hosting another in depth presentation on readying your practice for the Law Society audit in the early part of 2020. We host a variety of seminars, workshops and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) initiatives but the Law Society audit is one that touches base with all legal professionals. We have all gone through an audit by the Law Society or will be going through one in the near future. Instead of leaving things to the last moment and stressing yourself, the best approach is to ensure that you are complying with the outlined practice strategies for your area of practice from the beginning. This ensures that the proper processes for record keeping are already in place and excellent habits are developed. Thus, you will not only ‘survive’ the audit, you will thrive and excel in your legal practice.

Mark Dormer, owner and president of Cosgrove, possesses grassroots knowledge of law firm management and is able to transfer is effectively to legal professionals in all areas of practice. These techniques help improve profitability and guarantee that the fear of Law Society audits is alleviated. Marks Dormer suggests that in preparation for the audit, legal professionals should:

  • Develop processes for record keeping procedures that are compliant
  • Maintain those systems
  • Maintain up to date records
  • Be proactive

Instead of panicking and scrambling things last minute, doing the above will most definitely yield the right results for you. The keys for a successful audit and practice management established by Mark Dormer are financial and client record keeping.

For financial record keeping:

  • Record method of receipt for trust and general transactions (cheque, wire, etc.)
  • Record method of payment for trust and general transactions
  • Prepare a Form 9A for electronic transfers out of trust
  • Maintain valuable property record
  • Maintain cash receipts book
  • Maintain Referral Fee Journal

For client record keeping:

  • The client’s full name.
  • The client’s business address and business telephone number, if applicable.
  • If the client is an individual, the client’s home address and home telephone number.
  • If the client is an organization, the organization’s incorporation or business identification number and the place of issue of its incorporation or business identification number, if applicable.
  • If the client is an individual, the client’s occupation or occupations.
  • If the client is an organization, other than a financial institution, public body or company that is not a private company, the general nature of the type of business or businesses or activity or activities engaged in by the client, where applicable.
  • If the client is an organization, the name, position and contact information for those individuals authorized to give instructions with respect to the matter for which the licensee is retained.
  • If the client is acting for or representing a third party beneficiary or a principal, information about the beneficiary or principal as applicable.
  • Verification of identity when receiving, paying or transferring funds.    

It is clear that a successful audit requires for a legal professional to execute proper record keeping techniques that are in compliance with the Law Society’s code of conduct. Building the right habits from the initial stages of your practice will establish processes that allow for you to manage your practice with the highest efficiency. It is very much possible that an auditor may note down a few areas of concern despite your aim for perfection but that is nothing to be worried about. The auditor is only trying to HELP YOU! Take note and consideration of their recommendations and speak openly to them about how you can improve.

For future seminars, workshops, and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses, you are welcome to visit Wolf Law Chambers at 90 Matheson Blvd. W, Suite 101, in the heart of Mississauga. We aim to provide a shared workspace for legal professionals to flourish by equipping them with the tools and resources they need to succeed.

Networking Event – Legal Outsourcing vs. Hiring New Talent

Thank you to our fellow sole practitioners, the marvellous Peter Carayiannis from Conduit Law, and most welcomed guests for joining us on Thursday, August 15th, 2019 at Wolf Law Chambers. The topic of discussion for our event was the practicality that lies in outsourcing legal work in comparison to hiring new talent. Initially, sole practitioner, Dezso Farkas, of Farkas Legal Professional Corporation, spoke on the misconceptions in the legal field about outsourcing tasks to staff or legal clerks.

He explained how sole practitioners have a false perception that entails them carrying out every task that is part of the profession. Doing so, takes up a significant portion of their day and they are left with little to no time for billing clients. Mr. Farkas used accurate figures and analysis to depict how hours spent on practice management can be outsourced to staff and/or legal clerks to spend more time on actual legal work that can be billed. This leaves room to yield higher returns immediately, and is significantly compounded over longer durations of time. Legal outsourcing may seem like a discouraging practice as one has to shell money out of their pocket at first, but the time left to actually work on files and bill clients summons more profits for legal professionals.

Peter Carayiannis from Conduit Law and Clerks on Demand outlined the many advantages legal outsourcing can have on one’s legal practice. He explained the differences between hiring new talent and outsourcing tasks to a company like Clerks on Demand. Essentially, hiring new talent thoroughly involves a recruitment process, training that has to be given, dealing with employee needs, and the constant thought of an employee leaving, leading to the whole process occurring again. Legal outsourcing, on the contrary, encompasses the passing of particular tasks to a professional and certified legal clerk, who is capable/experienced enough to complete assignments on their own. They can even be hired for a particular task or a specific period of time, allowing sole practitioners to leverage their time accordingly. Lawyers can then apply themselves to other facets of their practice, which in turn, allows for a yield of more returns. Peter brought up an interesting point during his presentation. He insisted that the audience understand the practicality behind outsourcing certain tasks of their legal practice. If a lawyer is not serving their client’s needs by performing a certain task, it should be outsourced to a legal clerk who can take care of it, while the lawyer works on more important matters, that serve the client’s legal needs directly.

Many of the sole practitioners present at the event saw the immediate benefits from outsourcing various areas of their practice to staff or legal clerks, and by doing so, being able to better focus and serve client needs. Some lawyers even noted the benefit in taking on more tasks than they would normally be able to handle by simply hiring clerks. Peter’s company, Clerks on Demand, allows lawyers to do exactly that. They can hire clerks at any time to assign tasks that they may not want to carry out and/or have the resources/time to complete. They would still be able to supervise all operations without having to indulge completely. With that said, any aspect of legal practice that does not serve the purpose of going to law school and receiving a legal education, can be contracted out, allowing lawyers to leverage their time accordingly.

A workspace designed to provide sole practitioners many opportunities to leverage their time efficiently is Wolf Law Chambers. The Wolf Law Chambers team incorporates innovative technological practices in their office to allow for rapid communication between lawyers, staff, and clientele. They also offer many services to sole practitioners deciding to join them, such as easily accessible office coordinators, marketing specialists, and process servers. These individuals are staffed to allow lawyers within the chamber to focus on what really matters: serving their client’s needs and executing the legal work that they specialize in.

We loved the turnout for the event and hope to continue seeing both familiar and new faces for the future. We have a workshop coming up again on Tuesday, August 27th, 2019 from 6-9 P.M. with guest speaker, Humza Adam of HFactor Solutions. Humza will be providing business development and marketing strategies for both lawyers and paralegals. We hope to see you soon!

Wolf Law Chambers Oakville – 227 Lakeshore Road East, Suite 408

Come in and see the exceptional services Wolf Law Chambers has to offer for you and your clientele. Currently, there is a Wolf Law Chambers location in the heart of Mississauga, and we are proud to announce the opening of another location at 227 Lakeshore Road East, Suite 408, in downtown Oakville. Wolf Law Chambers is dedicated to being easily dependable and providing sole practitioners with all the resources they need to succeed in the legal profession. Please feel free to book a tour and join us in building a community of sole practitioners striving to set new standards.

Wolf Law Chambers Lunch & Learn

What a turn out! We can honestly say that the Lunch & Learn at the Wolf Law Chambers was a success. Thank you to all who attended the event, and a special thanks to Praveen Srinivasan of uLawPractice for his informative and engaging presentation. We would also like to give a special thanks to Prime Asia TV for attending and conducting interviews. It was a real pleasure to have them.

 

Wolf Law Chambers, on June 6, 2019, hosted a Lunch & Learn for Sole Practitioners and Small Firms. The purpose of the event was to get to know other practitioners going through the same journey. The sense of community is very important to Wolf Law Chambers, and there is no better way to gain a sense of community than to meet new people and make new connections. For those who were unable to attend, we understand. There are plenty more events to come, for we are just getting started.

 

Wolf Law Chambers had the privilege of attaining Praveen’s attendance. He provided a great presentation on uLawPractice, a legal accounting software meant to make any lawyer’s accounting experience easier than it has to be. He walked everyone through the desktop and mobile interfaces. It was fascinating to see how innovative his company’s services are. Wolf Law Chambers recommends any practitioner to consider uLawPractice, for it can make a big difference in how lawyers conduct their business.

 

Wolf Law Chambers is a multidisciplinary law practice, providing professional legal services to clients in several areas of law, including corporate, commercial, family, immigration, criminal, and real estate. The ability for a lawyer to run their practice and be accessible to clients, while having the freedom and flexibility to make use of a larger firm’s resources is powerful. The encouragement and freedom to consult legal ideas with other lawyers within the same field or across different fields, leads to better and stronger representation of client interests.

 

Conveniently located near Hurontario and Hwy. 401 in Mississauga’s business cluster, our premier location is minutes away from the Superior Court of Justice, Small Claims Court, Provincial Offences Court, and Downtown Mississauga Square One area.

 

We recommend anyone to come visit us. Wolf Law Chambers will be happy to connect with you.

 

First Law Practice Series 2019 = Success

Hi everyone!

I thoroughly enjoyed our first event of the Law Practice Series 2019, held at Wolf Law Chambers Mississauga.

I spoke about the challenges faced by sole practitioners, small firms and paralegals in the current market for legal services. I began delving into the strategies that we can employ to succeed in this market.

I received great feedback on the presentation and now realize more than ever how much sole practitioners, small firms and paralegals need this type of information and assistance.

I am also pleased to announce that we have two new lawyers coming on board at Wolf Law Chambers!

We look forward to helping each other to succeed in our respective areas.

-Dezso Farkas

LAW PRACTICE SERIES 2019 are coming on April 9th

LAW PRACTICE SERIES 2019

Position yourself to succeed: the role of small law firms and paralegals in the emerging economy!

Speaker: Dezso Farkas

Wine and Cheese Networking Event!

Tuesday, April 9th at 6:30 PM


Wolf Law Chambers – Shared workspace for the legal profession

90 Matheson Blvd. W. Suite 101
Mississauga, ON L5R 3R3