The Lawyers Weekly - May 21, 2010

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
May 21, 2010 | 23

BUSINESS
CAREERS

We have an immediate opening for a Director, Online Research Solutions, in our
Markham office. Reporting to the CEO, this senior management position will include
the following key responsibilities:
• Responsible for the overall vision, product strategy and roadmap as well as the
management of our flagship online research product.

• Develop and execute a growth strategy for both new and existing online research products.

• Work closely with Marketing, Sales, Customer Service and Solutions Development and manage two Product Managers.

• Create and implement product vision, direction and business plans, including development of conceptual and evolutionary product plans that meet measurable benchmarks of customer satisfaction and that exceed customer expectations.

• Responsible for product marketing and promotion, competitive analysis and assessment, revenue forecasting, managing budget plans and enhancing relationships with law firms, lawyers and corporations.

SHIRONOSOV / IS TOCKPHOTO. COM

Qualifications:

• Strong business, strategy and marketing background; a law degree is an asset
• Knowledge of the legal market; 5–7 years experience in software application
product management
• 5–7 years experience in a product marketing function, preferably in the electronic
information industry or publishing
• Previous experience with online services strategic planning
• Ability to work collaboratively across functional areas
• Business acumen and exceptional management skills, with the ability to define
clear objectives and achieve results
• Excellent communication, people-management and leadership skills

Use preventative law more

LAW 21

JORDAN
FURLONG

A family friend consulted me recently about her small claims court action. Her biggest problem wasn’t the dispute itself, however; it was the fact that she had missed the first hearing altogether and had sent her daughter to the second hearing to explain why she couldn’t make either one. She wasn’t being difficult; she simply didn’t realize how seriously judges take the failure to appear. Now she understood, and she needed help.

Listening to her account, I thought what countless lawyers have wanted to tell clients who came to seek their help too late in the process: “If only you’d come to me sooner.” But really, that’s asking too much. Most people aren’t just unaware of their legal rights and responsibilities; they’re not even aware that a legal framework exists and could apply to their situation.

We can blame our education system for failing to teach law effectively in high school, if we like. But we should also take a hard look at the inherently reactive nature of how lawyers practise.

Most of us in the legal profession view ourselves as problem-solvers: cleaning up mistakes, resolving disputes, obtaining compensation for injury. We’re quite content to visit the barn after the horse has bolted to study the door, blame the manufacturer, or launch a suit against the stablehand who left the door ajar. Not enough lawyers visit the barn beforehand to check the lock and help instruct the stablehand on door-closing procedures.

Few of us, in other words, see ourselves as problem-preventers: avoiding mistakes, anticipating disputes, minimizing the risk of injury. This is preventive law: striving to educate clients about what the law demands and reducing their legal risks accordingly.

In his new book Preventive Law and Prob-
lem Solving: Lawyering for the Future,
Thomas Barton, a professor at California
Western School of Law, defines preventive
law with reference to its founder, Louis
Brown:
“The approach that [Brown] pioneered
will be familiar to public health advocates:
learn as much as possible about the total
environment in which a client’s problems
may arise. This will help to anticipate risks.
Foreseeing and understanding risks will in
turn enable the lawyer to suggest interven-
tions that can disrupt pathways or environ-
ments that are potentially pathological.
Through such preventive interventions, the
client will remain healthy or become stronger.”
Brown called these relationships “legal
audits,” and while the financial metaphor is
apt, the medical one resonates even more:
assess the client’s legal situation and pre-
scribe risk-minimizing actions to ensure good
legal health. This approach will resonate with
lawyers in corporate law departments or the
public sector, who have only one client and a
mandate to advance that client’s interests
holistically. It will also be familiar to a hand-
ful of private lawyers, almost all of them solo
or small-firm practitioners.

But to most lawyers, especially in mid-size or larger firms, reducing their clients’ legal problems amounts to reducing their own income. Many lawyers, when you get right down to it, rely on clients to be uninformed, negligent or reckless in their legal con-

Closing Date: June 11, 2010

Contact Information: Pina Messiha, Human Resources Generalist

123 Commerce Valley Drive East, Suite 700, Markham, Ontario L3T 7W8 Fax: 905-479-5810 • Email: pina.messiha@lexisnexis.ca

IN HOUSE COUNSEL

Find the Spring 2010 issue of In-House Counsel magazine with your June 11 issue of The Lawyers Weekly

The Lawyers Weekly

IN HOUSE COUNSEL

WINTER 2008 | FREE

CHALLENGE // PERSPEC TIVE // CHANGE // VALUE // COS TS // FEES // OUTSIDE COUNSEL // LEGAL SERVICES// PROFIT // DISPUTE // FIRS T-YEAR ASSOCIATES // SALARY INCREASES // SECOND-YEAR ASSOCIATES // MORE EXPENSIVE // JUSTIFIED // PAY // DISCOUNTS // BILLING // HOURS // ASSOCIATION OF CORPORATE COUNSEL // FRUS TRATION // ANGER // SPENDING // HOURLY RATE // TAKE ACTION // VALUE // LEGAL COSTS // CLIENT OBJECTIVES // SOLUTIONS // REASONABLE COS TS // OPTIMIZING PROFITS // ECONOMIC MODEL // HIRING // ENTRY-LEVEL // MANAGE SPENDING // LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP // CANADIAN CORPORATE COUNSEL ASSOCIATION // VALUE-FOR-MONEY // REDUCE COS TS // TOOLS // OBJECTIVE // OPERATIONAL CHANGES//MINIMIZE //BONUSPLANS //RESOLUTION // OVERBUYING // COLLABORATIVE // BUDGETING // ESTIMATES // REFORMS // PROACTIVE // BUSINESS STRATEGIES // RISK MANAGEMENT // KEY CONTRIBUTORS // MARKETPLACE // DRIVE // AUDIT // PLAN // ON-THE JOB TRAINING // WAL-MART // IDENTIFY PROBLEMS // BUSINESS PRINCIPLES // EFFICIENCY // MOTIVATION // TALENT // COMPETENT // CONCERNS // REACTION // SUPPORTER // COMMUNICATION // ALTERNATIVE // PARTNERING // COUNTERINTUITIVE // ROUTINE // CONCEPT // CREATIVE // FLAT-FEE // ASSESS // OUTCOME // DIALOGUE // THINKING // SEMINARS // AR TICLING // QUALI T Y OF SERVICES // OVERBILLING