Dynamic Lawyers is pleased to announce that it has issued a brand new report on the Victoria, B.C. lawyer, Lloyd Duhaime of Duhaime.org.  The latter is a free legal information website (it’s got a legal dictionary, history of Canadian law, crazy laws, how to guides, etc.).  Lloyd is a law + technology guru, a social entrepreneur, and an access to justice advocate.  You can check out the full profile report here:

written by admin \\ tags: lawyer lloyd duhaime, lawyers, profile report, victoria

I am upset with myself for not coming across Duhaime.org sooner.  What a great legal resource!

In a nutshell, Duhaime.org is an entertaining and comprehensive legal dictionary website.  Started by Victoria, B.C. lawyer Lloyd Duhaime, as a bulletin board in Ottawa (1993-1994), Duhaime.org has grown into a very popular go-to place to find out about legal terms, Canadian legal history, legal Latin terms, crazy laws, and more.  The website has been hailed as (among other things):

• “One of the best legal dictionaries on the Web”: Forbes.com (2008);
• “…a great resource for improving your general understanding of Canadian law”: about.com (2009); and
• “a dictionary translating legalese into plain English”: Monday Magazine (1999).

On a more personal nature, Lloyd is an avid lawyer, writer, NHL- nut, jogger, goalie, and self-proclaimed renegade.  He keeps electric guitars in his office and wants to give the legal system ‘back to the people’ through simplification, transparency, accountability, and access.

He’s also a social entrepreneur.  Apart from Duhaime.org, in 1987, Lloyd started a company that faxed legal precedents to lawyers across Canada.  He duplicated judge’s decisions (from law reports), removed footnotes and summaries (what he considered to be copyrighted materials), and sent the rest.  He was ultimately threatened with copyright infringement from legal publishers and had to shut down the business.  He argued, however, that judges own their own copyright, not legal publishers.  Source: “Accessing Justice: Many People Go to Court and Come Away Poor and Frustrated” (September1999), Monday Magazine, p. 8.

Today, many judicial decisions are free for the public to access, courtesy of canlii.org.

Lloyd is a big proponent of access to justice through the technology. He has written countless guides and primers on Canadian law (e.g. how to write a contract, Affidavits: the How To Guide, and much more!).  He’s also a fun and entertaining writer.  I particularly like (and I think many other people do too!) the section in his website called “Law Fun“, where you’ll find Crazy Laws – American Style and Dumb, Crazy or Stupid Laws Around the World.

There’s just way too much to write about Lloyd and Duhaime.org.  I would highly recommend the website and encourage you all to check it out (p.s. it’s regularly updated!).

I smell another profile report coming up…

written by admin \\ tags: canadian legal history, canlii, copyright infringement, crazy laws, duhaime.org, electric guitars, how to write a contract, judicial decisions, latin terms, lawyer lloyd duhaime, legal dictionaries, legal dictionary, legal precedents, legal publishers, legal resource, legalese, lloyd duhaime, monday magazine, personal nature, plain english, social entrepreneur

Our good friends at AdviceScene are profiling Dynamic Lawyers (once again) in their AdviceTalk newsletter (for September).  They previously profiled us in their June 2009 newsletter.  In the September newsletter, AdviceScene talks about the concept, history and benefits of Dynamic Lawyers.  The newsletter even plugs our new FREE eBook entitled “4 Steps to Online Legal Marketing: For Lawyers. By Lawyers“.  Thanks Nancy Kinney (President and founder of AdviceScene) and keep up the great work on helping to democratize the law!

written by admin \\ tags: advicescene, Dynamic Lawyers, nancy kinney

You hear about it all the time.  Some lawyers pay out big referral fees to non-lawyers, which is prohibited in Ontario and elsewhere. In the U.S., the Associated Press has reported that one lawyer finally had enough of what he saw: a Norwich, Connecticut resident and bankruptcy lawyer (Zenas Zelotes) claimed that improper referrals were being made through internet websites run by Chicago’s Total Attorneys Inc. (e.g. www.totaldivorce.com and www.totaldui.com). Zelotes said he filed more than 550 complaints in 47 states.  So far, Connecticut’s chief disciplinary counsel has found probable cause against 5 of 12 attorneys named by Zelotes in his complaints.  The national scope of the complaints is drawing significant attention from legal circles. No doubt, important legal and ethical issues will likely arise as this matter progresses, perhaps even setting precedents concerning the interaction of lawyer referral websites and lawyers.

Source: James Mosher, “Norwich lawyer files hundreds of ethics complaints over colleagues’ Web advertising”, Noriwch Bulletin (September 13, 2009).

Please Note: Dynamic Lawyers does not charge lawyers referral fees in any way whatsoever.

written by admin \\ tags: lawyer referral, referral fees

Some interesting developments are happening in B.C.

Nancy Kinney of Advice Scene is helping to promote the Pro Bono Law of B.C.’’s Advice-a-Thon, which is a three day even held in Vancouver (September 11), Kelowna (September 15), and Victoria (September 18), B.C.

Advice-a-Thon lawyers volunteer their time to provide free legal advice to raise funds ($20,000) so B.C.’s pro bono programs can continue to facilitate access to justice for low and middle income people. Advice Scene staff will be live blogging on-site and interviewing lawyers and organizers during the Advice-a-Thon.

Advice Scene is a fully moderated, social networking community linking lawyers and the public to provide a free and democratic exchange of legal information. President Nancy Kinney explains, “AdviceScene.com was founded on the belief that an effective legal system includes democratizing the law  through providing free legal information and advice that everyone can access.”  As part of its pledge to donate 5% of advertising revenues to pro bono legal efforts in Canada, Advice Scene has already donated $550 to the Advice-a-Thon event.

written by admin \\ tags: advice scene, advice-a-thon, advicescene, free legal advice, nancy kinney

So, over the past few weeks, I’ve randomly selected clients who wanted to retain me for legal services and asked them: “How much is this worth to you?”.   Before asking, I had an idea of how long it would take for me to do the work and how much I would charge at my hourly rate.  The interesting thing thing is that the clients responded: “This is worth X to me” and that figure or range was usually bang on with what I had in mind!

So why did I do it if the figure was going to be the same?  Well, for starters, when it comes out the client’s mouth, you have less convincing to do around the value of what it is you’re going to do for them.  Next, they seem like they’re getting a great deal because they don’t even hear what you were thinking.  They’ve also fixed the price (it’s not: give me a big retainer, I’ll bill you hourly and we’ll take it from there).  And finally, once empowered, they now feel more relaxed in asking you for additional services knowing that they can come up with the value of those services.  So, at the end of the day, the client was happy with the price and a happy client is more likely going to be a repeat client or a referring client.

Now mind you: this type of value based billing might not work for all types of work.  These clients just so happened to need customized independent contractor agreements – something I am very, very familiar with.  In litigation, for example, with all the varying factors that could impact time spent on a matter, taking this approach might not work.  Indeed, asking a client how much it is worth to them and then getting a ridiculously low figure in response may put you on the defensive and have to attack your client for their lack of understanding.  This may not bode well for either of you.  So be selective with your clients and the type of work that you’re going to do if you ask: “How much is it worth to you?”

So try it: select a client, get an understanding of what their requirements are, discuss the legal services you’re going to provide, and when the time comes to discuss price, ask them: “How much is it worth to you?”  You’d be surprised at how happy they are with the end result.

written by admin \\ tags: alternative to hourly billing, value billing

It’s quite amazing to reflect on the similarities between two websites – Dynamic Lawyers and Advicescene – that are trying to enhance access to justice through technology.  Dynamic Lawyers, started by my in November 2008, allows users to post their legal issue(s) a la Craigslist and have Ontario lawyers respond with free information and quotes.   Advicescene, started by Nancy Kinney in March 2009, features an online Canadian legal wiki, a lawyer directory, and online legal forms and other resources.  Here are some similarities:

• Both websites were started recently by individuals in the legal field (I am a Toronto business lawyer and Nancy Kinney has a law degree).
• Both websites leverage social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to promote themselves.
• Both websites have posted their stories on lawbuzz.ca (and created some controversy in the process!).
• Both websites feature videos and free legal information (not advice).
• Both websites have newsletters and links to other online legal resources.
• Both websites have reached out to and been featured in the media.
• Both websites have reached out to and been featured by prominent legal bloggers.
• Both websites will feature lawyer directories.
• And the list goes on…

Based on our respective goals, Nancy Kinney and I have agreed to collaborate and cross-promote our websites towards the greater good – namely, the enhancement of access to justice and the further democratization of the law.  The bottom line is that we’re doing what Richard Susskind wrote about (i.e. leveraging technology to allow people to find lawyers and legal services and share knowledge and information about their experiences).  As per McDonald’s: “I’m loving It!”

written by admin \\ tags: advicescene.com, dynamiclawyers.com, Michael Carabash, nancy kinney, Richard Susskind

Be sure to check out these new videos and podcasts from Advicescene.com, a free legal forum where Canadians can ask questions and lawyers can answer them for free.  Right now, founder and president Nancy Kinney has posted video and audio interviews with popular family court judge Justice Harvey Brownstone (who is currently doing a North American tour for his new book, Tug of War) and Ontario Trial Appellate Lawyer Antonin I. Pribetic.  Here are some of the new videos:

written by admin \\ tags: advicescnene.com, nancy kinney, podcasts

The Lawyers Weekly has published an interesting piece this month about flat-fee billing by family law lawyer and lecturer, Lonny Balbi.  I’ve previously blogged extensively about the problems with the billable hour and you can even see our report about legal fees in Toronto.  This article picks up on those problems and identifies 4 principles that can be gleamed from looking at pricing models in other industries:

1. The customer has a fixed price up front.
2. A service is worth more when it is needed than when it is delivered.
3. Focus on the customer, not the cost to produce.
4. Look at the value to the customer.

Be sure to go to Lawyers Weekly and read the whole article – very interesting.

written by admin \\ tags: flat fee billing, lawyers weekly, legal fees in Toronto, lonny balbi

Dynamic Lawyers has just issued its latest profile report on 3rd law student and tech guru, Omar Ha-Redeye.  Omar has travelled the world, is well connected, and has lots of “Google Juice”.  He’s a great guy who I look forward to working closely with to help open up legal services to the masses – a la Richard Susskind.

written by admin \\ tags: dynamiclawyers.com, Michael Carabash, Omar Ha-Redeye