INTERVIEWS OF LAWYERS, BY LAWYERS, FOR LAWYERS.

Episode 2 Lynne Watt on Legal Argument

Career Advice
  1. In the early years of your practice, including articles, try to get as much exposure to as many areas of law and practice as possible. Do not be quick to specialize.
  2. Be ready for “the call”. You never know when you will receive an offer to take a position with another firm, organization or employer. Keep an open mind and carefully consider whether you are better off growing in your current position or switching.
  3. When you are offered an opportunity to participate in a file, promise only what you can deliver and then deliver it. Establish a reputation as reliable.
Argument Techniques
  1. In preparing legal argument consider what the test is that you have to meet. Reduce your argument to the minimum necessary to meet that test. Like Occam’s Razor, pare away the inessential.
  2. Frame your argument as if you were to explain it to a neighbor across the fence, a neighbor who is not legally trained. This will focus you on why your case should succeed.
  3. In oral argument, concentrate more on the facts of your case than the law. If you are time-limited, trust the trial judge to read and deal with the legal arguments. 

Episode 3 Jeff saikaley on preparation for trial

Career Advice
  1. As a junior, get as much and as broad experience as you can.
  2. Get to know other lawyers through organizations (CCLA, Advocates Society, OBA).
  3. Leadership is an acquired skill. Learn leadership through the NGOs.
  4. If leaving a firm, don’t burn the bridges to past associates/partners. Use communication to avoid burning those bridges.
Preparation for Trial
  1. Start to prepare for trial as soon as you open the file.
  2. Maintain a chronology with facts, witnesses, exhibits
  3. Prepare your outlines long before trial. Update as more information received. Get advice from others.
  4. Identify important documents for the agreed brief. Be prepared to shed the unnecessary ones. Case analysis tells you what is necessary.

EPISODE 4 rick moore on mediation in personal cases

Career Advice
  1. If you are considering mediation as a career choice, take the in-depth training and decide when you have that experience.
  2. Volunteer for lawyers’ associations (CCLA, Advocates’ Society). You will receive more than you give.   You can discover and hone leadership skills.
  3. If you make the choice to leap into a new area such as mediation, be disciplined to spend committed time and effort to build that business.​
Books
  1. Chris Moore, “The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict”
  2. John Paul Lederach, “The Little Book of Conflict Transformation”
  3. Michael Lang, “Understanding and Responding to Power in Mediation”
Mediation Techniques
  1. Rick’s experience is in cases involving individuals (either dealing with each other or with institutions). His advice is based on that experience. 
  2. Mediation brief should tells the client’s story in plain language. The goal is to settle, not to make law or beat up the opposition. Stay high level and avoid reams of attachments.
  3. To level the playing field against senior lawyers, junior lawyers should do their homework (such as research and damage ranges) in advance, even by consulting senior counsel.
  4. Plenary sessions are an opportunity set the mediation into a non-legal but productive direction. Have the client make some or all of the opening statement (if possible). Clients should tell their stories, even if shy.
  5. Get value from the mediator to manage the client’s emotions and expectations.
  6. To do that, mediators should be in the caucus room when the client is considering a position.
  7. Use the caucus to create a positive communication to the mediator (what obstacles are there to settle?) and to the other side (what steps are needed to settlement?)
  8. Don’t bargain before the stage is set for negotiation – after the stories are told and considered.
  9. Avoid stalemates by moving off the initial positions in the pleadings and don’t state that an offer is a “bottom line”. 

EPISODE 5 WILLIAM NEVILLE ON ARBITRATION

Career Advice
  1. You can learn advocacy skills from all kinds of public speaking opportunities.
  2. Get organized and stay organized. Keep your case files in such a way that you can get quick and reliable access to whatever you need to win that case.
  3. When considering partnership, figure out where your files (and income) will come from.
  4. To market effectively, identify your genuine interests outside law. Get involved with those so people can get to know you. Be in it for the long haul.
  5. In preparing for trial, find and consult senior counsel for help to look for better or other ways to approach the case. 
Publications/Books:                 
  1. Keith Spicer, “Think On Your Feet”
  2. Jack Valenti, “Speak Up with Confidence”
  3. Herbert J. Stern, “Trying Cases to Win: Cross-         Examination”
  4. Edward Knappmann, “Great World Trials”
  5. William Safire, “Lend Me your Ears”
 
Inspiration:        
Gettysburg Address
I Have A Dream
Arbitration Techniques
  1. Arbitration practice can be as similar or different from litigation as the parties wish. Use imagination to “fit the forum to the fuss”.  Have the procedure suit the parties’ requirements.
  2. When preparing an outline of an examination (direct or cross) use short questions. Have the reference material (exhibits or transcripts) handy and annotated.
  3. When making opening statements or argument, find something to catch the attention of the decision-maker, especially in the first 30 seconds. Read the Gettysburg address as a great precedent.
  4. Consider the decision-maker to be a consumer of a product you have to sell. If the arbitrator/judge is not paying attention, you have lost the consumer.
  5. There is lots of opportunity for junior counsel to prepare witnesses for testimony, to examine some witnesses.

EPISODE 6 BRYAN CARROLL ON EFFECTIVE DISCOVERY

Career Advice
  1. Partnership represents both opportunity and risk. Associates considering partnership should consider carefully how things will go in bad times.
  2. When law firms split up, junior lawyers should focus more on themselves and their own futures.
  3. Junior lawyers should become actively involved in professional organizations, such as the CCLA and Advocates Society. This gives them both networking and educational opportunities.
Discovery Techniques
  1. Prepare for discovery by creating an outline of subjects, not questions
  2. Use chronology as the guide for structure to avoid getting lost.
  3. Ask short, targeted questions. Insist on answers that respond to the questions asked so you can use the transcript later, if needed.
  4. Consider and accomplish the goals of discovery: learn what the witness might say at trial, get admissions, get a sense of how the opposing party will perform as a witness.
  5. If you get an inaccurate answer that you may find useful at trial you may let it sit to be used later or follow it up if you believe the witness is honestly trying to be upfront and simply made a mistake.
  6. Don’t ask the question too many. If you get a good, useful answer, let it sit unexplained.
  7. Be polite, even friendly where possible. Always keep it professional.
  8. Order the transcript so you can analyze how you performed – good habits and poor ones.

EPISODE 7 IAN MCBRIDE ON CONSTRUCTION LITIGATION

Career Advice
  1. In bleak economic times, junior lawyers in search of their first job should consider sharing space with an existing firm and taking overflow files.
  2. Get as much and as broad experience as possible. This allows you to find areas that interest you and also makes you more marketable to firms and clients.
  3. In Ottawa, junior lawyers should join the CCLA to create a network of contacts, to make friends and to develop leadership skills that will help develop their law practice.
  4. Seek out and join client-oriented organizations in your chosen field, such as the Ottawa Construction Association in the case of construction lawyers.
  5. When a law firm splits up, this causes stress to all of the lawyers and staff. To get through it, stay true to yourself and keep good relationships with everybody to the greatest extent possible.
  6. Treat the split as an opportunity to demonstrate your value to the different components of the firm as they go their separate ways.
​
Construction Litigation Techniques
  1. When performing intake with a contractor, focus on documentation. If the client does not have good paperwork, get it started.
  2. Photographs and video can be very helpful to prove the client’s case.
  3. Construction litigation is a minefield with issues involving the lien, the labour and material bond, time limits, trusts and the different jurisdictions. Get guidance if you are not sure what you are doing.
  4. Other lawyers need not be treated as the opposition, as often lawyers can find common ground to move the case forward.
​
​​

episode 8 ted mann on will intakeS

Career Advice ​
  1. There are three things that distinguish a successful junior lawyer or articling student: hard work, networking and rapport with clients. 
  2. You can start to build a practice by participating in community activities that you love, such as music, theatre, sports. People you meet will refer work to you once they become comfortable with your values. 
  3. You can learn how to network and develop rapport with clients by watching and learning from more senior lawyers around you. 
  4. Leadership is a learned skill that can be practised by taking on roles with the local Bar association (CCLA), Advocates Society etc. 
  5. When considering partnership, use due diligence with respect to both the people in the partnership and the financial prospects of the firm.
Will Intakes​
  1. Before you start to prepare wills for clients, take the necessary CLE to become proficient. There are many issues and traps for the unwary. 
  2. Spend the initial time to get to know the client. That intake will inform you about both what the client needs and the client’s capacity to give instructions. 
  3. Most clients look to their lawyer for advice on how to deal with issues that commonly arise when making the decisions involved in a will. 
  4. Be aware of the conflicts that may exist between clients. 
  5. Be prepared to have an adult conversation with clients about choices that face them.  
  6. If you are not prepared to do it right, find a wills practitioner to whom you can refer the work. Try to arrange to receive referrals back in an are where you are proficient.

episode 9 laurie tucker on personal injury intakeS

Career Advice​
  1. Partnership is not for everyone. Junior lawyers should seek advice and guidance before taking on the responsibility. 
  2. When opportunities present, junior lawyers should seize the opportunity. It may make their careers. 
  3. The extent to which a junior lawyer specializes will depend upon the opportunities that present as well as what is right for that junior lawyer. This is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. 
  4. When a junior lawyer runs into a problem on the file delegated by a senior, the junior should not dump the problem back on the desk of the senior. Instead, the junior should present alternatives and recommendations for how to deal with the problem. 
  5. If you are shy about working a room at a social event, latch on to someone more senior. Ask that person to introduce you to people. Then start up your own conversations. 
  6. To develop leadership skills, first become involved in your local Bar association or other lawyers group. Exploit the opportunity to make presentations and to work on committee projects. Volunteer to take on a project at the office. 
  7. On the subject of work-life balance, junior lawyers have to establish an equilibrium that works for them. By assessing what a proper week looks like, they can allocate commitments to fit that model equilibrium.
  8. Be protective of your time outside the office. Just because you have an available evening or weekend, that does not mean that you have to devote it to work on files. 
Book
​Lawyers who go to court should arm themselves with: Ontario Courtroom Procedure, 4th Edition by Sanderson and Fuerst (from a project commenced by Justice Daniel Ferguson). https://store.lexisnexis.ca/en/categories/products/ontario-courtroom-procedure-4th-edition-skusku-cad-00615/details
Personal Injury Intake 
  1. New client intake can be shared between clerks and lawyers. However, the difficult questions must be answered by the responsible lawyer. 
  2. When discussing a contingency fee retainer, lawyers must ensure compliance with the Solicitors Act. It is preferable to send clients home with the draft retainer agreement so that they can review this independently. 
  3. When considering whether a case is worth proceeding, lawyers should deal with their clients openly and honestly. Clients will appreciate a straightforward answer that their case is not suitable for the courts, or will likely not succeed. 
  4. Lawyers should arm potential clients with information, even when there is no retainer. In this case, lawyers should protect themselves by confirming that there is no retainer and that they are not giving legal advice. 
  5. On intake, there is often insufficient information to determine whether the client has a claim that survives the limitations legislation because of discoverability or other issues. Be particularly alert to limitations that are not subject to discoverability, such as claims arising from wrongful death. 
  6. Car accident cases involve no-fault benefits. Often, lawyers don’t know at intake whether they will take the tort claim. They should be ready to give ongoing guidance about dealing with the client’s own insurer. Lawyers should be careful not to give legal advice without a retainer, however. This may require that the lawyer send a letter to confirm that there is no retainer in effect. 
  7. When a client is offered a final settlement from the accident benefits insurer, the lawyer should obtain the entire accident benefits file to determine whether the proposed settlement is fair. This includes a review of past payments to make sure that the insurer has paid everything that it should have until that date. This may not be a lucrative retainer, but it is a valuable client service. 
  8. In a contingency fee practice, lawyers have to conduct a careful case analysis at the beginning of a file to determine whether it makes sense to take it on. This includes confronting the hard questions about liability, limitations and technical defences. 
  9. Personal injury cases, and especially car accidents, are a minefield of complex issues (statutory and practical). If they don't practice in the area, junior lawyers can establish a relationship with a firm that concentrates on such cases in return for a referral fee or referrals of cases with which the junior lawyer is comfortable. 

Episode 10 Fiona Porter on Professionalism

Career Advice
  1. On the subject of maternity leave, women should be prepared to take the amount of time that works for them. A year or even two from a long career is not nearly as significant as the benefit to the whole person.
  2. Relationships formed during articling or junior years can lead to great success in the future as these relationships turn into employment or partnership opportunities.  Keep in touch with those early work relations. Even an occasional email will go a long way to keeping doors open.
  3. Working for a corporate employer (Intact, at least) has differences for the junior lawyer. These include:
    1. Hours of work,benefits and working conditions tend to be more corporate.
    2. Although Intact  requires dockets, incentives and performance management are based upon work product and not hours.
    3. When preparing for large assignments, such as examinations or trial, work at a corporation will resemble work in a law firm.
  4. Promotional opportunities are available throughout the corporation, and not just the legal department.
Professionalism Advice - ​Fiona’s
​10 Commandments
  1. If you are not happy at work, find a mentor from outside the management of your firm.
  2. Before you announce your intent to leave the firm, get advice from your mentor about whether you should speak with your work provider about changes that could be made. You may be better off where you are.
  3. Take ownership of the cases that are assigned to you.
  4. Go the extra mile. Do not just do the specific assignment. Figure out how you can add real value.
  5. Always deliver what you promise. If you cannot, don’t give excuses. Give solutions.
  6. When you deliver, it should be in the form of a final work product. E.g. motion includes record and order
  7. Watch out for precedents. These may have been used for another purpose or may be defective. Check the references, such as case citations and whether the decision was appealed.
  8. Don’t delegate to staff. Use any assighnment as a learning opportunity. Always thank the staff and others
  9. If you face a problem, deal with it.
  10. Do the right thing - not the easiest or financially best for you. Be proud of what you do. 

Episode 11 Fiona Porter on the defence perspective

Contact Information
Good practices for plaintiff's counsel
  1. Provide all of the evidence to allow the insurer to evaluate the claim and make a reasonable offer.
  2. Cooperate with defense inquiries. If you do not think the information is relevant, or you think it is a fishing expedition, call defense counsel and have an adult discussion. They will often agree with you more moderate their own demands.
  3. Make it in a format that insurer can use, which often does not mean using document management software that only works for the firm that creates it
  4. Moderate your demands so that the insurer will not reject them as silly. This is a good way to start the negotiation.
  5. Stay calm. Don’t take it personally when the insurer makes an offer that you do not think is appropriate
  6. Get on the phone. Stop the long emails.
Specifically for mediation
  1. Draft your brief with the audience in mind. Address the claims examiner (and the mediator), not defence counsel.
  2. Get your brief to the defence with enough time for the claims examiner to read it – not at the last minute.
  3. Focus on the points where there is known (or suspected) conflict.
  4. Don’t attach all the reports. Just the portions of the key ones. Attendant care reports can be very lengthy. Usually a couple of pages gets the important points across.
  5. Consider use of willsays from lay witnesses about how the accident affected the plaintiff. These can be persuasive.
  6. Make sure that the defense has all your documents well in advance. If you are going to spring something on them at the last minute, give as much advance notice as you possibly can.
  7. Be imaginative. Structure the mediation process to fit the parties. “Fit the forum to the fuss” (quoted from Bill Neville’s interview, Episode 4.
  8. If the claims examiner/adjuster attends, consider having the plaintiff take part in the discussion to show the decision-maker what to expect at trial. Again, focus on the area of conflict. This won’t work if the plaintiff is not suited for such participation.
  9. In plenary, presentations are not necessary. If you speak, focus on areas of conflict.
  10. If there is an impasse, discuss how to bridge it. If plaintiff knows that defence won’t settle because of a missing piece of evidence (fact or opinion) discuss how and when to full this gap.
  11. If your opponent has a problem (client management or missing evidence), try to help them solve it. That way, your case has a better chance of resolving.

EPISODE 12 Eric Williams on Trial Tactics

Contact Information
Career Advice
  1. Articling students and Junior lawyers should learn the “human touch” personalizing their interaction with clients, witnesses and other lawyers.
  2. Articling students and junior lawyers who are able to ask questions cogently using simple language are most likely to succeed in their careers.
  3. Junior lawyers should not specialize. They should develop the skill set at trial. This permits them to appreciate the significance of motions, discoveries and other steps, all of which set the table for possible trials.
  4. Junior lawyers can add value to their firms by writing articles in a folksy way to attract clients, by joining legal organizations and becoming speakers to become known to their peers.
  5. When junior lawyers change firms, they should not burn bridges. They should be open about their reasons for changing, and should retain relationships with their former colleagues.
  6. One benefit of active community involvement is the development of people skills that help young lawyers deal with clients, witnesses and their colleagues.
Preparation for trial​
  1. Opening addresses should
    1. Present the facts as simple chronology using neutral terms.
    2. Identify the problems of law that the court will be asked to resolve.
    3. Identify the result that the lawyer wants to achieve.
    4. Warn the court of potential issues between experts.
  2. When he represents a defendant, he gives his opening address immediately after the plaintiff’s counsel.
  3. When calling evidence, “less is more” for witnesses. The more who testify, and the longer they testify, the greater the chance that something will go wrong.
  4. When preparing a witness to testify, identify the context for the witness so the witness can appreciate what is important.
  5. Prepare the witness to be cross-examined by offering likely difficult questions.
  6. Do not object unless it is very important. Objections tend to highlight things that counsel do not want highlighted, and may aggravate the trial judge.
  7. Plan the closing from the beginning of the trial. Usually, most of the evidence will go in as expected. Adapt the closing to fit the evidence as it varies.
  8. When preparing a brief of documents, try to reach a consensus with your opposition for a joint brief.
  9. Do not put in every relevant document, but only those that are essential.
  10. Consider breaking them into liability and damages briefs so that only documents relevant to the witness are presented.

Episode 13 Brenda Hollingsworth on promoting yourself and your practice

Contact information
Career Advice
  1. Learn as much as you can from your employer before you strike out on your own.
  2. If you do set up your own law practice, consider sharing space with an established firm. You can benefit from mentorship and advice, and maybe get some extra work to help your cash flow.
  3. Because you graduated from law school and now practice law, you enjoy a privilege that should cause you to search for opportunities to give back to the community. Community involvement introduces you to people and creates business development opportunities at the same time. While your motivation should be giving back, there is a positive economic spinoff.
  4. Community involvement also help to develop people skills. It is not good to restrict your social interactions to other lawyers.
  5. Leadership skills can be learned and practiced. Join organizations, both of lawyers and in the community, that expose you to managing groups and events, and presenting.
  6. Writing about legal issues and serving on committees will show people that you are thinking more broadly about law then just about individual cases. This both broadens your thinking and gets people to think about you.
  7. Avoid becoming too partisan by participating in organizations that represent both your position and the position of lawyers who you typically oppose (such as defence/Crown, plaintiff/defence and labour/management). Attend social events where both sides mix and mingle. It is easier to negotiate with your colleagues if you have some personal connection.
Books
Dan Kennedy’s "No BS Series" on Branding and Marketing
http://nobsbooks.com/
Promotion Advice
  1. Promote your practice in your geographical community, by referring to that community in your website and by advertising in local, community newspapers.
  2. When you attend an event or join a community organization, don’t just join, participate. Be helpful and make your presence known.
  3. Consider these other communities that you can promote:
    1. ​Linguistic, if people in your practice can speak other languages.
    2. Ethnic, if people in your practice are members of different racial or religious communities.
    3. Sports and cultural groups, if people in your practice participate in or support such activities
  4. Consider other sources of referrals, such as
    1. Opposing counsel on files.
    2. Your competitors, who may have conflicts.
    3. Lawyer organizations, such as the local Bar association, the Advocates Society.
  5. Learn the basics of writing to communicate with laypeople. Practice by doing. Read your drafts out loud to make sure that they sound right.
  6. When advertising on a low budget, consider small, community newspapers and social media, such as Google and Facebook. Be prepared to write an article to accompany your advertising. Have a message that will resonate.
  7. Seize the opportunity! Your career may blossom from a chance encounter or what appears to be a no-fee file.
  8. Promote yourself as well as the firm for which you work.
  9. Keep a running list of all of your prominent cases argued, articles written, speeches and presentations made. Use the significant ones on your website and in your promotional activities.

Episode 14 Alyssa Tomkins and Andrew Ferguson discuss Partnership

Alyssa's Contact Information                          Andrew's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. How their firms rose from the dissolution of their former entities.
  2. ​How junior lawyers prepare to become partners. 
  3. Whether they should aspire to partnership.
  4. How the subject of partnership arose (who popped the question).
  5. Due diligence into the commercial decision.
  6. Why they became partners.
  7. How partnership has changed them - as lawyers, as people.
  8. How they have changed their firms.

Episode 15 EUGENE MEEHAN QC ON FACTUM WRITING

Eugene's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. How to assess and deal with the time required for the drafting project.
  2. ​How to tackle the applicable issues, facts and law. 
  3. How and when to use dates.
  4. How to choose which (and how many) decisions to cite.
  5. Bluntness and how to use language

Episode 16 Jaye Hooper on Starting a Law Firm

Jaye's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. What are the conditions for a practising lawyer to start up a firm?
  2. ​What steps should that lawyer take to leave the existing firm? 
  3. What are some of the pitfalls to avoid?
  4. How to promote, staff and start the firm.
  5. How to avoid burning bridges.

EPISODE 17 Beverley Johnston & Adrienne Curran on Maternity Leave

Beverley and Adrienne'​s Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. How should the lawyer and firm prepare for the start of maternity leave?
  2. ​What can be the ongoing role of the mother while on leave?
  3. What about finding, training and grooming a replacement lawyer?
  4. ​What should the replacement lawyer do to improve career prospects?
  5. ​How does the lawyer re-integrate into the practice on her return from leave?
  6. Lessons learned.

EPISODE 18 - Peter Cronyn & Frances Shapiro Munn Discuss Class Actions

Peter's Contact Information
​Frances' Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. How should civil litigators change their approach when dealing with a class action?
  2. ​What are the challenges of dealing with class members and the class representative?
  3. What about dealing with opposing counsel?
  4. ​What should the junior lawyer consider when the opportunity to join a class action firm or practice group arises?
  5. ​How is class action litigation different, from a practice perspective?​

EPISODE 19 - Trina Fraser & Mario Torres Discuss creating a new practice group within a firm

Trina and Mario's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. What should lawyers consider when creating a new practice group within a firm?
  2. ​How can the new practice group draw on other resources in the firm?
  3. What services should be outsourced?
  4. ​How should the new group be promoted?
  5. ​What is the role of junior counsel in the new group?
  6. ​How should founders prepare for and measure success?

EPISODE 20 - KATIE BLACK AND THE SYRIAN REFUGEE SPONSORSHIP PROJECT

Katie's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. What should motivate a lawyer to take community action?
  2. ​How can the lawyer leverage resources to have a major impact?
  3. How can the lawyer motivate others to join forces in the activism?
  4. What benefit does that lawyer derive from the effort?
  5. ​What are the lessons of leadership?

Episode 21 - Avesta Alani and ​Taking advantage of what hand life deals you

Avesta's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. What does a law student or junior lawyer get from community involvement?
  2. How should a law student or junior lawyer take advantage of opportunities?
  3. Why should a law student or junior lawyer treat the stages of development as projects to be designed and managed?

​EPISODE 22 - DEAN ADAM DODEK AND ISSUES FACING THE MODERN LAW SCHOOL

Dean Dodek's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. What do modern regulation norms say about how Canadian Law Societies regulate lawyers?
  2. How can law schools address access to justice issues?
  3. How do financial constraints impact law schools?
  4. What is the future of experiential learning as a teaching method?
  5. What role should the law school play in ongoing training for lawyers, post-graduation?

EPISODE 23 - Retired SCC Justice Tom Cromwell and Access to Justice Initiatives

Tom Cromwell's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. What should a law student study in law school (spoiler alert: it's not what you think!)
  2. ​What can students and lawyers learn from the extensive career of this accomplished and committed jurist?
  3. ​What does "access to justice" mean"?
  4. ​What are we - the profession, governments and NGOs - doing to promote access to justice?
  5. How can junior lawyers engage in access to justice initiatives?
  6. For interesting reading on the subject, read the Roadmap for Change: Access to Civil & Family Justice.

EPISODE 24 - Carissima Mathen Brings Constitutional Law to Life

Carissima Mathen's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. Considerations when transitioning from law practice to a master of laws to academia.
  2. The debate between those who favour the law school as an academic pursuit and those who seek a practical, professional experience.
  3. The evolving concept of the 'national interest'.
  4. The emergence of provinces litigating against each other. 
  5. Never shy to confront controversy, listen to Carissima discuss the Trinity Western vs. the Law Societies of BC and Ontario decision in her interview with Michael Enright on CBC's Sunday edition, here. Where the Charter right of freedom of religion collided with the freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
  6. Watch Carissima engage in a discussion of modern constitutional  issues on a panel (including Preston Manning) here.

​EPISODE 25 - EMILIE TAMAN DISCUSSES WORK-LIFE BALANCE 

Emilie Taman's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. When to consider leaving a job that makes you unhappy. As she did. Read the Ottawa Citizen article on Emilie's fight with the Federal Government over her right to a leave of absence to run for political office, here. As written by Emilie's former boss and retired SCC Justice Ian Binnie (see the show notes for Jeff Saikaley Episode 3 above): "if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, stop doing it."
  2. Emilie discusses what "having it all" means in today's context.
  3. ​Do young lawyers have more of a safety net than they think they do? Can they afford to take on more risk than they think?
  4. Watch the CBC video, Mother Load, where Emilie features in an in-depth presentation on the issues facing working mothers, here.
  5. Emilie co-hosts a fascinating podcast series, The Docket.  Listen to an episode-by-episode examination of a real life crime docu-series.  Currently, its all about The Staircase following up the podcasters' discussion of the legal issues raised in Making A Murderer. The podcast website (of Emilie's criminal law spouse, Michael Spratt) can be found here.  Can a novel be far away?

Episode 26 - Yasir Naqvi and the merits of public life

Yasir Naqvi's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. How hard work and luck met to shape his career.
  2. How and why young lawyers should join a political party.
  3. Why - and how - make politics a career.
  4. Why is civil debate so rare on air, but so common in the inner workings of the legislature.
  5. The role of Attorney-General in speaking truth to power.
  6. How a lawyer's skills serve to advantage in running a constituency office (applied Pro Bono law) and in the lilfe of a politician.

Episode 27 - Christophe Bondy Explains International Law as a Career 

Christophe Bondy's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. What is meant by the practice of public international law (PIL - Warning: there are a lot of acronyms)?
  2. How should a junior lawyer or student prepare for a career in the field? 
  3. A few important pointers on how to deal with journalists when being interviewed on air or in print.
  4. Where are the jobs?
  5. How can an enterprising junior lawyer or student improve career opportunities through networking?
  6. What are the risks facing junior lawyers entering the field of PIL?
  7. What should one read to learn about the area, and to impress recruiters?
  8. For a great set of reading materials on various aspects of PIL, check out this website: http://legal.un.org/avl/lectureseries.html
  9. For a lesson on how to deal with the press, listen to Christophe's interview on CBC about Brexit in early November 2018: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/powerandpolitics/u-k-cabinet-backs-draft-brexit-deal-1.4907580

EPISODE 28 - Michelle Doody's First Trial

Michelle Doody's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. Case analysis to reduce the outline of questions for witnesses.
  2. Themes, and how they apply to frame the case.
  3. Trial preparation - of yourself and witnesses.
  4. Dealing with self-represented parties.
  5. What to do when one party says an event occurred, and your witness says "I don't recall".
  6. Challenges of re-directs.
  7. What insurance counsel want to hear from plaintiff's counsel to allow for effective settlement discussion.

Michelle refers to the seminal textbook on trial techniques, "Ontario Courtroom Procedure", by Mary Sanderson, published by Lexis Nexis in 2012, available here.

EPISODE 29 - Ludmilla Jarda's FIRST TRIAL

Ludmilla Jarda's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. Document management, from exhibit books to control of exhibits at trial
  2. Case analysis to inform witness selection
  3. Experts, from preparation to use as a source of your own trial preparation
  4. Inoculation of your witnesses against cross-examination
  5. Redirect examinations
  6. Managing client expectations
  7. The benefit of shadowing experienced counsel in other cases to gain experience and confidence

EPISODE 30 - Sean Van Helden's First Simplified Rules Trial

Sean Van Helden's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. Preparation for trial.
  2. Managing client expectations.
  3. Tipping off a pemding impeachment opportunity.
  4. Trial surprises, including a change in the theory of the case.
  5. Focusing on elements of the claim/defence vs. the relationships between the parties.
  6. What clients don't tell you can come back to hurt your chances.
  7. Driving home your evidentiary points so the trial judge appreciates the significance.
  8. To read the trial decision of Justice McLeod, go to CanLII here. Armstrong v. Moore (under appeal currently).

EPISODE 31 - Katie Black's FIRST Arbitration

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Discussion Topics
  1. The differences between civil litigation and arbitration practices.
  2. Preparation of case analysis.
  3. Using case analysis to prepare witnesses to testify.
  4. Best practices in witness preparation.
  5. Use of exhibit briefs in witness preparation (and at trial).
  6. Preparation of outlines to direct and cross-examine witnesses.
  7. Trial by ambush - how to cross-examine without a discovery transcript or other record.
  8. Arbitrations are private. Therefore there is no case decision citation.

Episode 32 - Victoria Boddy Discusses a Technical Civil Motion

Victoria Boddy's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. How to prepare for and conduct a technical civil motion.
  2. Can lawyers swear affidivits for use on their own motions?
  3. Using case analysis to prepare for a motion.
  4. This case is about: spinning the case for both sides.
  5. Seeking guidance from experienced counsel.
  6. Anticipating what could happen in court.
  7. The decision of (then) Master Calum MacLeod in RBC v. Manor Custom Homes can be found here. 

EPISODE 33 - NIGEL McKechnie DISCUSSES A LABOUR BOARD HEARING

Nigel McKechnie's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. How to prepare for and conduct a hearing in labour (administrative) law, where there is limited pre-hearing discovery.
  2. Frame the issue to be decided as a question to focus the evidence. Find an emotional driver to make your case persuasive.
  3. Use the pleadings to understand the case you have to meet and to prepare your client to be examined.
  4. As you prepare your client and witnesses to testify, run them through the narrative and "fold in" the documents that support that testimony.
  5. In preparing your client to be cross-examined, conduct a mock cross with the best attacks you can do. This requires that you know your opponent's case.
  6. Use a blank calendar as a tool to have witnesses show when events occurred. Mark this as an exhibit.
  7. Know the rules of procedure before the tribunal.
  8. A case going well may fail, just as the opposite may occur. Keep going!
  9. ​The decision of the OLRB in McRae v. thermal Systems Mechanical can be found here. 

Episode 34 - Jaye Hooper's "New" Firm after five years. What changed?

Jaye Hooper's Contact Information
Discussion Topics
  1. Revisits the new firm since it started, as described in Episode 16 (see above).
  2. How Jaye promoted and still promotes her new firm.
  3.  How Jaye dealt with changes in her junior associate cadre.
  4. What will Jaye consider in welcoming a new partnership in the future?
  5. Changes in the client mix.
  6. Financing lessons learned.
  7. Jaye's plans for the future of her firm.
  8. Lessons learned after five years of trial and error.

​EPISODE 35 - KATIE BLACK PRESENTS THE ACTIONABLE TECHNIQUES TO PREPARE FOR CROSS-EXAMINATION

Techniques to ptrepare for a cross-examaintion at trial, in arbitration, in a tribunal or out of court:
  1. When and how to start preparation.
  2. How to prepare the outline.
  3. How to identify and break down needed admissions.
  4. How to prepare to impeach.
  5. and many more techniques.

​EPISODE 36 - KATIE BLACK PRESENTS THE ACTIONABLE TECHNIQUES TO CONDUCT A CROSS-EXAMINATION

Issues that arise during a live action cross-examination of a witness, including:
  1. How do you avoid asking the question-too-many?
  2. What if the witness gives a great answer but follows it with, "may I explain"?
  3. What if the decision-maker interrupts?
  4. Or opposing counsel does, with repeated objections?
  5. What if it is the judge who interrupts?
  6. How do you use Browne v. Dunn?
  7. and many more!  

​EPISODE 37 - DEAN BLACHFORD AND KATIE BLACK DISCUSS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR JUNIOR LAWYERS

  1. How to plan a career as it impacts BD.
  2. The role of expertise in BD.
  3. The value of pro bono work in BD.
  4. Developing referral sources 'in a community.'
  5. The trade-off inherenmt in unpaid/under paid work.
  6. How to give/get referrals.
  7. What is your ideal client?
  8. Idealism vs. earning a living.