Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 37 of information management services with KPMG LLP (Canada). Senior leadership and oversight is key, otherwise the whole exercise is bound to fail. Senior manage- ment not only has to endorse the importance of information governance to the entire organization, it has to adopt the strategic objectives of the program, provide appropriate resources, and establish account- ability for meeting program expectations and for establishing the organization's strategic objectives for information governance. "Senior management really do have to believe in what will be done, why it will be done, and how it will be done," says Sheila Taylor, CEO of Ergo Information Management Consulting. "Sometimes management is not as enlightened as they ideally should be or they view this as something that just employees have to do. They all have to buy in, oth- erwise why would the average employee pay attention to it." The path to information governance is laden with even more awkward and complex challenges for law firms. To begin with, the legal profession is still paper-intensive, due in large part to court systems' reliance on paper. "Some busi- nesses can say we're going to go all digital, and law firms might wish to do that and should in terms of information governance and make the transition by saying that the elec- tronic record is going to be the official record and the paper secondary but it's hard for law firms to do that because the paper in many cases is the primary record and continues to be as you go to court," says Felsky. Some judges are not happy with the situation. This September, in DBDC Spadina Ltd. v. Walton, Ontario Superior Court Justice David M. Brown criticized the requirement that parties file paper copies of materials in court as an "unnecessary cost," and chastised the Ontario Court for the "failure of this Court to move into the digital age" and "the continued insistence that liti- gants deal with this Court through the dated and expensive medium of paper." Many times, though, the problem lies within law firms themselves. When techno- logically savvy law firms want to forge ahead and do an entire case electronically, they are often stymied because opposing counsel may not be set up to receive docu- ments electronically or may feel that they are not sophisti- cated enough to entirely manage the case that way. More fundamentally, the nature of data still befuddles many law firms. Gone are the days when lawyers largely relied on manila folders and file cabinets to store documents, and protected sensitive information with a simple lock and a key, all of which was anchored by records management. Digital is an altogether different beast: it is interactive, programmable, and machine-readable only. Its sources are wide-ranging, and Get comprehensive coverage of Ontario guardianship law New Publication Ontario Guardianship Law A. Sean Graham and Christopher M.B. Graham Now, for the first time, there is a comprehensive new resource designed to help you navigate through every aspect of a guardianship proceeding. Ontario Guardianship Law covers the current state of the law relating to the property and personal care of adults as well as the guardianship of minors. You'll get expert insight on the various kinds of guardianship applications as well as practical advice on making effective applications. And you'll save time with access to expertly drafted precedents for a simple guardianship application; a guardianship with urgent issues application and an application to pass accounts. Experience the benefits • Work more efficiently with access to a unique combination of substantive law, practical advice and precedents • Draft high-quality application documents in less time by leveraging expert precedents • Get practical guidance on every aspect of guardianship proceedings Order # 986269-65203 $140 Softcover approx. 180 pages June 2014 978-0-7798-6269 Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. A44530-65203 Available risk-free for 30 days Order online: www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800

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