We’ve all heard or read the
demographic statistics about our
aging population — meaning that
having an estates practice is a
good thing. Even if our practices
are not focused exclusively on
estates, many of us are doing more
and more wills and estates work.
What can you do to make this
work more satisfying and profitable? Increased use of technology to automate your estates
practice can do that and more.
Here are 10 technologies you
should consider using to automate your practice.
Wireless headset
A wireless headset is both convenient and easy to use. With
your hands free, you can easily
take notes and walk around the
office to retrieve the deceased’s
will while you are talking on the
phone with the executor. A wireless headset also reduces the risk
of back or neck strain.
DONNA
NEFF
&NATALIE
SANNA
Dual monitors
Everyone in your office who
uses a computer should have
two monitors. This low-cost
upgrade provides ample opportunities for increased productivity such as having an electronic copy of the client’s
current will displayed on one
screen while your meeting notes
or emails from the clients are
open on the other.
LogMeIn
LogMeIn provides secure
access to your desktop at the
office from anywhere you have an
Internet connection. Access key
documents while making a house
call to an elderly client or while at
a meeting with estate planning
clients and their accountant at
the accountant’s office. There is
both a free and pro version ($60
per user per year). The pro version offers additional features
such as file transfers and remote
printing.
Say it once by recording it
Find yourself repeating the
same basic introductory information to every client? Save
time and create a recording.
Provide this to every client prior
to their initial appointment
whether as a CD, an audiotrack
on your website (listen to ours
at nefflawoffice.com/audio-
tracks.html) or via email. All
“Find yourself
repeating the same
basic introductory
information to every
client? Save time and
create a recording.
clients arrive with the same,
consistent information which
greatly improves the productivity of that first meeting and
ensures that all clients know
what to expect.
Some of the topics on our
audiotrack for an estate planning
client include “Preparing For
Your Meeting With Us,” “
Advantages of Proper Estate Planning”
and “What to Bring to Your Meeting with Us.”
Social media
Climb aboard the social media
bandwagon to raise your public
profile and stay connected with
clients and colleagues. Consider
LinkedIn to build and maintain
relationships with other estates
practitioners. Use Facebook to
help locate heirs.
Become a blogger
Increase your website’s hit rate
by blogging regularly. Create content and use and re-use it in
many ways such as email newsletters, tweets, client brochures
and handouts at seminars.
Go paperless
Join the growing trend toward
using much less paper. The benefits are many: save storage fees,
time and money and increase efficiency and productivity. Ensure
you have the proper equipment
(i.e. a fast scanner, Adobe Acrobat
See Estates Page 11
How behavioural advertising intrudes on privacy rights
DONALEE MOULTON
Pitching your wares in an
Internet age can get much more
sophisticated than upbeat music
and pretty people flashing on a
screen for 30 seconds. Today,
there is behavioural advertising,
which opens up whole new
avenues of opportunity for companies — and whole new areas of
concern for the legal community.
Canada’s assistant privacy
commissioner, Chantal Bernier,
defines behavioural advertising
this way: a marketing practice
of targeting advertisements to
users on the basis of observed or
known personal characteristics,
such as age, profile and online
activity; it therefore entails the
collection and retention over
time of personal data and
involves consumer tracking.
“It’s the perfect conflux of
technology,” said Bill Hearn, a
partner with McMillan LLP in
Toronto. “As an advertiser, you
get more bang for your buck.”
And more privacy issues
come under the gun. In a speech
Bernier gave at Cambridge Uni-
versity last year, she said,
“Behavioural advertising, in our
view, is more intrusive than
contextual advertising because
it targets activities and connects
them to identity; this intrusion
is of concern in itself, in the
degree of surveillance it entails,
but it is also of concern for its
impact on the components of
the right to privacy.”
Indeed, said Elizabeth
McNaughton, a partner with
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in
Toronto, “Behavioural advertis-
ing raises the full gamut of pri-
vacy issues. Key among the issues
are what is personal information
in the context of behavioural
advertising, whether and how to
obtain meaningful consent in the
sense that the person consenting
actually understands how his or
her personal information will be
used and disclosed, validity of
consent when minors are
involved, and how to make Can-
adian privacy legislation effective
in a world where borders are
increasingly porous from a data
processing perspective.”
Another issue is awareness.
“The biggest concern expressed
by the privacy commissioner is
a lack of understanding on the
part of the community gener-
ally and a lack of disclosure by
advertisers, service providers
and others,” said Barbara
McIsaac, counsel in the Ottawa
office of Borden Ladner Ger-
vais LLP.
“Consumers may not be
aware of the extent to
which their online
activities are being
tracked and, if they
are, may not know
who is doing the
tracking and why.
What is equally clear is Canadians’ discomfort with the current lay of the land. A 2009 survey commissioned by the Office
of the Privacy Commissioner of
Canada found that 90 per cent of
adults in this country are concerned about the impacts of new
technology. “[They] are uncomfortable with the idea that they’re
being watched, they’re being
tracked,” noted Hearn.
“Consent is a huge issue in
the context of behavioural
advertising,” said McNaughton,
who is a past chair of the Can-
adian Bar Association’s Market-
ing Practices Committee. “Con-
sumers may not be aware of the
extent to which their online
activities are being tracked and,
if they are, may not know who is
doing the tracking and why.
Even if an individual gives some
form of consent, there are issues
about whether the consent was
knowledgeable as required by
the Personal Information Pro-
tection and Electronic Docu-
ments Act (PIPEDA).
We want to hear from you!
Email us at: tlw@lexisnexis.ca
