Dynamic Lawyers Blog» History of DL

Dynamic Lawyers mentioned in Canwest News Services (National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun, etc.)

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:09:50 +0000

Soon after returning from my honeymoon, I noticed that Janice Tibbetts of the Canwest News Service had written a very nice article that briefly mentioned Dynamic Lawyers in the context of how the legal landscape is changing. Her article, which was published on August 17-18, 2010, went everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE: National Post, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen, The Star Phoenix, and MORE! Thanks go out to Janice for the honourable mention along with Richard Susskind (the brainchild of everything I do). Here’s the article:

Janice Tibbetts, “Legal Landscape Changes Leave Lawyers Feeling the Pinch” (Postmedia News, August 17-18, 2010):

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Lawyers are under a “huge threat” and risk being run out of business unless they come to grips with a new legal order instead of trusting that big profits will bounce back when the economy recovers, says a legal futurist.

“The genie is out of the bottle,” warned Richard Susskind, who said Tuesday that the wide availability of do-it-yourself services and legal documents online, along with a growing trend to hire lawyers in India for a fraction of the cost, will force the profession to offer more for less.

“That is the mindset you have to have,” Mr. Susskind, author of a provocative book called The End of Lawyers?, told the Canadian Bar Association. “What I find as I wander around is that there is no way back.”

Mr. Susskind, an international speaker and professor at Oxford University in the U.K., who has made a bit of a splash in the legal world with his brand of futurism, noted that his audiences tend to be gatherings of senior lawyers who seem more interested in short-term profitability that the wave of the future.

“Leading firms are relying on the market returning,” said Mr. Susskind, who also asserted that the “old way of thinking” is gradually giving way to more openness because the traditional business is under siege.

Clients, in particular, are loathe to pay high hourly rates for routine services that they can source online or find offshore for a fraction of the cost, Susskind said.

The public is not only demanding more, but young lawyers are also questioning whether the business model is broken, whether fixed costs are too high, and whether senior partners care about the long-term sustainability of the profession, he said.

The bar association hired Mr. Susskind as a “special adviser” last year to help modernize the business in Canada, which has been slow to adopt new ways of doing business to compete with novel legal services.

Traditionally, lawyers have billed by the hour and clients pay for the whole package of services, without knowing whether they are getting value for their money.

Mr. Susskind told his audience that firms have no choice but to embrace change as the online business becomes more inventive and sophisticated. Legal documents and how-to manuals can be bought on eBay, “temping” services in the U.K. are beginning to offer lawyers and paralegals at about half the cost of law firms, and there are several online providers of such things as dispute resolution techniques.

In Canada, a novel business called Dynamic Lawyers offers free legal advice and documents online.

For a start, Mr. Susskind said, law firms should provide more a la carte services rather than full packages. They can also outsource their more routine work, and pass the savings along to customers, while keeping high-end, complex work in-house.

Canadian lawyers have been considering following a growing trend in the United States of “unbundling” services by permitting clients to do some of the work themselves.

Critics, however, contend it could open up lawyers to legal problems of their own by offering advice on issues when they do not have the full picture.

Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, in a weekend news conference at the bar association gathering, suggested that legal fees could be more affordable if lawyers were “more flexible” in billing their clients, perhaps by “unbundling” or charging a flat rate rather than by the hour.

All options that are being considered by a legal task force of lawyers and judges, she said, while cautioning she is not telling lawyers how to run their business.

I am back!

admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:03:36 +0000

So after taking some time off to get married and go on my honeymoon, I’m back! It was a crazy time leading up to the wedding, but I enjoyed myself very much (best wedding I’ve ever been to . Now it’s time to get back into the swing of things… I’m thinking of writing a series of blogs about limited partnerships, partnerships, shareholder agreements and the like over the next few weeks. But first, it’s time for me to give a proper opinion about the digital O.R.s. I know: it’s been a while since I said anything about them. But now everyone wants an opinion… So why not just write it here?

Dinner with Garry Wise

Legal Forms + Video Guides Featured in Globe and Mail!

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:18:47 +0000

I am pleased to announce that the Globe and Mail has featured yet another article of our Legal Forms + Video Guides and our Make a Post and Get FREE QUOTES from Ontario lawyers. Here’s the most recent article by Ian Harvey that mentions us: Law firms cater to small business clients with new structures and services.

Here’s the text of the article that relates to Dynamic Lawyers:

Technology is the driving force behind this change in the way that firms interact with a new range of business clients, says Michael Carabash, a Toronto lawyer.

Mr. Carabash runs an online legal clinic, dynamiclawyers.com, which offers anyone the opportunity to post queries which certified lawyers can respond to via email.

His next project is an “assisted self-serve model” of legal advice, in which clients pay for a downloadable package of legal forms along with video tutorials on how to complete and file them.

He’s still building his inventory but has already developed packages for confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, employment agreements, independent contractor agreements and general settlement agreements.

Once a client has finished with the paperwork, “a lawyer can review it, make suggestions, and ensure that they’ve covered what they wanted in the first place,” says Mr. Carabash. He adds that the cost is a fraction of what would have been spent with a traditional law firm.

Many thanks go out to Ian Harvey of Pitbull Media for writing about us.

FREE Revocation of Will? Not Quite…But it’s the next BEST thing!

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:15:46 +0000

FREE Revocation of Will? Not quite…but it’s the next best thing…

We have just released a Revocation of Last Will and Testament for Ontario. While it’s not FREE, it’s pretty darn affordable: ONLY $17! In addition to the lawyer-prepared, customizable, and downloadable legal form, you get a FREE Video Tutorial (watch an example of how to customize it), a FREE WRITTEN GUIDE (read helpful information about this legal form) and ANOTHER FREE WRITTEN GUIDE (entitled “Is My Legal Form Valid and Enforceable?”). All for just $17? Awesome! Best of all, if you need a lawyer, just go to www.DynamicLawyers.com and make a post to get free quotes.

This Ontario legal form can be used by a testator or testatrix (i.e. a person who has made a Will) to revoke a previously made Last Will and Testament. To be valid and enforceable in Ontario, this legal form must be signed by the testator / testatrix in front of 2 witnesses. As an added bonus, we have included TWO affidavits of attestation / execution to show that the Notice of Revocation of Will has been witnessed by two people. Those individuals would swear or affirm in this Affidavit of Attestation | Execution that they witnessed the signing of the Notice of Revocation of Will (which is attached to the Affidavit as Exhibit “A”) before a Commissioner for Taking Affidavits (e.g.a lawyer).

Revoking a Will | Terminating a Last Will: New DL Legal Form + Video Guide!

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:55:57 +0000

Here comes Legal Form + Video Guide #22:

Revocation of Will | Canceling a Will

This Ontario Agreement can be used by a testator or testatrix (i.e. a person who made a Last Will and Testament) to cancel or terminate a previously made Will. Two witnesses are required to be present and see the testator or testatrix signing this legal form. That’s why I included 2 AFFIDAVITS OF EXECUTION after the Notice of Revocation of Will. The two witnesses need to simply swear or affirm before a Commissioner for Taking Affidavits that they acted as witnesses. They can also attach the Notice of Revocation of Will to the Affidavit as Exhibit “A”.

Here’s the sample Video Guide that comes with this Notice of Revocation of Will (Ontario):

This information and this sample video guide is NOT legal advice and is provided for informational purposes only. If you need an Ontario lawyer, go to Dynamic Lawyers and make a post.

FREE Affidavit of Attestation of Instrument? Not Quite! But it’s the next best thing!

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:48:45 +0000

FREE Affidavit of Execution? Not quite…but it’s the next best thing…

We have just released an Affidavit of Execution (Two Witnesses) for Ontario. While it’s not FREE, it’s pretty darn affordable: ONLY $17! In addition to the lawyer-prepared, customizable, and downloadable legal form, you get a FREE Video Tutorial (watch an example of how to customize it), a FREE WRITTEN GUIDE (read helpful information about this legal form) and ANOTHER FREE WRITTEN GUIDE (entitled “Is My Legal Form Valid and Enforceable?”). All for just $17? Awesome! Best of all, if you need a lawyer, just go to www.DynamicLawyers.com and make a post to get free quotes.

This Ontario Agreement can be used to show that a separate written document or legal form has been witnessed by TWO people. These individuals would swear or affirm in this Affidavit of Attestation | Execution that they witnessed the signing of another document, which is attached to the Affidavit as Exhibit “A”.

Affidavit of Attestation of Instrument | Execution of Instrument (TWO Witnesses) for Ontario

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:46:51 +0000

Here comes Legal Form + Video Guide #21:

Affidavit of Attestation | Execution for Ontario (TWO Witness)

This Ontario Agreement can be used to show that a separate written document or legal form has been witnessed by TWO people. Those two individuals would each swear or affirm in an Affidavit of Attestation | Execution that they witnessed the signing of another document, which is attached to the Affidavit as Exhibit “A”.

Here’s the sample Video Guide that comes with this Affidavit of Execution (TWO Witnesses) for Ontario:

This information and this sample video guide is NOT legal advice and is provided for informational purposes only. If you need an Ontario lawyer, go to Dynamic Lawyers and make a post.

FREE Affidavit of Attestation | Executation? Not Quite…But it’s the next best thing!

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:41:03 +0000

FREE Affidavit of Execution? Not quite…but it’s the next best thing…

We have just released an Affidavit of Execution (One Witness) for Ontario. While it’s not FREE, it’s pretty darn affordable: ONLY $17! In addition to the lawyer-prepared, customizable, and downloadable legal form, you get a FREE Video Tutorial (watch an example of how to customize it), a FREE WRITTEN GUIDE (read helpful information about this legal form) and ANOTHER FREE WRITTEN GUIDE (entitled “Is My Legal Form Valid and Enforceable?”). All for just $17? Awesome! Best of all, if you need a lawyer, just go to www.DynamicLawyers.com and make a post to get free quotes.

This Ontario Agreement can be used to show that a separate written document or legal form has been witnessed by a person. That person would swear or affirm in this Affidavit of Attestation | Execution that they witnessed the signing of another document, which is attached to the Affidavit as Exhibit “A”.

Affidavit of Execution | Attestation Ontario (One Witness): New DL Legal Form + Video Guide!

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:27:17 +0000

Here comes Legal Form + Video Guide #20:

Affidavit of Attestation | Execution for Ontario (ONE Witness)

Here’s the sample Video Guide that comes with this Affidavit of Execution (One Witness) for Ontario:

This information and this sample video guide is NOT legal advice and is provided for informational purposes only. If you need an Ontario lawyer, go to Dynamic Lawyers and make a post.

Canadian Legal Forms…coming soon!

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:03:14 +0000

Canadian Legal Forms!

You guessed it: we’re releasing a whole bunch of new legal forms over the next few days. They will include revocations of Wills and Powers of Attorney, Affidavits of Execution, Employee Termination Agreement, Residential Sublease Agreement, Non-Solicitation and Non-Compete agreements and LOTS MORE! Stay tuned!