Canadian Lawyer

REGIONAL WRAP-UP WEST CALGARY LAW FIRM RULES . . . AND DOES THE PROFESSION A FAVOUR arid and arcane instructions practi- tioners must use to bring and keep matters before the courts. The slightest deviation can lead T he Alberta Rules of Court, like those in jurisdictions across the country, are the shockingly well Solomon sighs that not everyone was pleased. "I think we had three negative letters saying it was a ter- rible waste of time. received." But to delay or even outright dismissal of a case. Lawyers must play very carefully by the rules or risk the consequences. As a result, there was considerable anxiety across the pro- fession in Alberta in late 2010, when a major revision of the rules came into effect. In an effort to calm their own staff, JSS Barristers, a medium- sized Calgary litigation firm, decid- ed to hold several in-house seminars about the changes. They generously invited along a few outside practi- tioners. The seminar was a hit and so was has now switched to electronic distribution, which is cheaper and means the database is searchable. "And why are we doing this?" says Solomon asking the obvious ques- tion. "We were already producing it internally so making it available to everyone was no problem." And while there are costs, " JSS Barristers Glenn Solomon says his firm's rules tool has 'been shockingly well received.' the idea that key decisions under the new rules be collected and published. "There was no eureka moment," says Glenn Solomon, managing partner at JSS Barristers and one of the main mov- ers behind the idea. "It just grew natu- rally." He says the quarterly publication listing key decisions involving the rules was initially mailed out free to about 8,500 members of the Alberta Bar. "The cost was somewhere near $100,000 not counting staff time. The new tool is popular. "It's been " advertising. "We just get to put JSS Barristers Rules, which is a bit of a play on words, across the top of it." Solomon and another lawyer are there is no the firm plans to keep on churning out its electronic service and Solomon vows "we will never, never, ever charge for it. " — GEOFF ELLWAND writerlaw@gmail.com DEBATING LABOUR RIGHTS TO ARTICLE OR NOT TO ARTICLE? GO WEST, LAW FIRMS August 2011 DEBATING LABOUR RIGHTS TO ARTICLE OR NOT TO ARTICLE? GO WEST, LAW FIRMS August 2011 writing a fuller commentary on Alberta's Rules of Court that will be available through a major legal publisher soon. But in spite of that MOST INFLUENTIAL WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/SURVEYS 12 M AY 2012 www. CANADIAN Lawyermag.com THIS COUNTRY'S MOST POWERFUL LAWYERS? WHO ARE P26 CL_August_11.indd 1 P. 26 7/19/11 3:52:07 PM CL_August_11.indd 1 THIS COUNTRY'S MOST POWERFUL LAWYERS? WHO ARE P26 P. 26 J John Coleman 25 TOP MOST INFLUENTIAL 25 TOP Elizabeth May Elizabeth May J John Coleman $7.00 $7.00 Nathalie Des Rosiers Nathalie Des Rosiers Kelly Friedman Kelly Friedman 7/19/11 3:52:07 PM PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT # 40766500 PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT # 40766500 THE THE geoff ellwaNd DEBATING LABOUR RIGHTS TO ARTICLE OR NOT TO ARTICLE? GO WEST, LAW FIRMS August 2011 cast your VOTE! FOR THE TOP 25 MOST INFLUENTIAL LAWYERS 2012 CL_August_11.indd 1 Alan Young Alan Young MOST INFLUENTIAL THIS COUNTRY'S MOST POWERFUL LAWYERS? WHO ARE P26 P. 26 25 TOP Elizabeth May J John Coleman $7.00 Nathalie Des Rosiers Kelly Friedman 7/19/11 3:52:07 PM PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT # 40766500 THE Alan Young

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