TLOMA Today

My fellow TLOMA members: 

I hope you are enjoying the last days of spring despite the rain and the cold weather. I know I was until I realized that I had not yet written this, my sixth, presidential message and when I finally sat down to do it, not one original thought would cross my mind.  Now, this is not a new phenomenon for me but I seldom find myself in need to record it.  And rather than committing to paper anything that comes to mind – something you are no doubt used to by now – I will attempt to review the events of the past couple of weeks. 

Despite my being on vacation for most of it May was a very busy month educationally.  This proves something but I can’t think what.  

Three very well attended and positively reviewed sessions included: Facilities – “Clean Air in the Workplace”; Marketing – “CASL and July 1st, 2017: What You Need to Know and Do”; HR – “Elite-Level Athletic Performance for Today’s Modern HR Professional”.  Thomson Reuters organized and hosted a successful product briefing of their Matter Sphere Case/Matter Management system. 

The TLOMA Compensation Committee launched the new and improved 2017 TLOMA Compensation and TLOMA Associate Compensation Surveys on May 3^rd and followed that up by a Compensation Survey Workshop on May 5^th.  Kudos to Cheryl Brass who is chairing the Compensation Committee and all the committee members for all their hard work and dedication.  I would like to remind all TLOMA members that the deadline to complete the Compensation Surveys is June 16^th.  Please take a minute or an hour to do it.  We all win by having as many firms as possible participate.  Thank you! 

May culminated into, well, June 2^nd when we had the Spring Member Networking Event held at Michael’s on Simcoe.  By all accounts, a very civilized and refined affair which Michelle Medel put together for our enjoyment.  And enjoy we did:  the food, the drinks and most of all the great company.  Thank you Michelle!  It’s too bad that she could not be there to enjoy it herself.  And thank you Karen and Liz for making it work. 

At the Spring Member Networking Event Bernard Quilty, the Conference Committee Chair, updated the attendees on the progress of the conference preparation.  At this time the full conference agenda is finalized and the number of member registrations is exceeding the same number in prior years.  It promises to be a great conference again and I will encourage you to join us in Deerhurst.  

I won’t be writing to you again until September – the summer hiatus it’s called, I think – so let me take this opportunity to wish you a great summer.  You will of course go on vacation, as instructed, and when you do be careful in your travels.  As you know in the last two weeks violent attacks took place in Manchester and London.  Violence is never a solution to anything and the people of Manchester responded with a concert of love and solidarity and tolerance.  That was impressive.  

As humans, we are programmed to evolve and come together and these violent acts are small divisive acts of ignorance which are insignificant historically speaking – they too shall pass.  The divisiveness of the leader of the free world on the other hand has a much greater impact than all the violent acts combined.  Whether by bullying his peers at a world conference (didn’t he look like a triumphant aging hate child of Lucille Ball and Zoolander after he pushed Montenegro’s President aside to get to the front of the photoshoot) or by refusing to acknowledge with his signature that greenhouse gasses are bad for the planet, he encourages ignorant recklessness.  But I digress.  

Have a great summer and I will see you soon. 

PS.  I forgot to remind you that our first Professional Development event will be held on June 27^th   at Sheraton Centre Hotel, 123 Queen St. W.  The session is called “MEDICAL CANNABIS: Return to Work Consideration for Employers and Employees Regarding Workplace Usage”.  Isn’t it awesome?  Come join us, why not start the summer on a high note.   

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The ABA’s 2015 TECHREPORT revealed that 79% of lawyers use smartphones for law-related tasks. Although that number isn’t necessarily higher than the proportion of smartphone-wielding professionals in other industries, law firms handle particularly sensitive information and can’t afford to ignore the security risks associated with how they treat that data. After all, if an unauthorized party succeeds in breaching your company’s systems and obtaining client information, your reputation could suffer enormously, and you may even be subjected to legal action.

Having the right tools and procedures in place is essential, but there’s no substitute for actively training your staff and making sure they’re familiar with the risks involved. Law firms are held to a greater standard of care than ordinary businesses, and the increase of malware, identity theft, fraud and ransomware demands action. 

Raising Awareness with Online Training 

Most computer users have a vague idea of the risks they face, but you should never blindly assume your staff are suitably prepared. After all, the scams carried out on commercial businesses are often more sophisticated and evolved than those aimed at consumers. One to two-minute online training courses with content specifically tailored to law firm staff are a great way to ensure cyber security training is an ongoing effort. 

Driving Home Cyber Security as a Key Part of your Firm’s Culture

Online cyber security training, while undoubtedly serving as a useful introduction, should never be considered the be all and end all. As security threats continue to evolve, so should the training of your staff. Consequently, your training strategy should also incorporate face-to-face meetings that update employees on the newest threats. However you decide to structure your employee education, always keep in mind that studies peg nearly 70% of all cybersecurity breaches as the result of human error. It has become increasingly critical for law firms to embrace awareness and understanding of Internet security risks as critical knowledge for each and every member of the firm. 

Helping Employees Identify Scams with Real-World Simulations 

Security awareness training is always better with a hands-on approach that involves simulated phishing scams and other cyber security threats that your employees are likely to encounter. For example, everyone from senior managers down to receptionists could periodically be sent fake phishing emails to see how they respond. Based on the outcome, your firm can begin to establish clear protocols and accountability practices to prevent a real breach from taking place.  

While it’s important that your employees are aware of the consequences of a data breach, your training should primarily be focused on improving day-to-day security awareness. The process should involve every aspect of security, even those that involve little to no IT components. Employees must learn to identify social engineering scams, which often employ face-to-face or voice communication to gain the trust of their victims.  

What Should Law Firms Do?  

On May 12, 2017, one of the largest ever ransomware attacks brought tens of thousands of businesses to their knees across the globe - legal firms among them. A few days later, Microsoft described the attack as a wakeup call for victims who were unprepared. Law firms are under increasing pressure by financial institutions, regulatory bodies and clients to take greater steps to safeguard the sensitive information they handle, and you owe it to your reputation to do so.  

The first step involves assessing the risks and identifying the vulnerabilities in your computing infrastructure before assigning a responsible party for handling privacy and security issues. You’ll then need to create policies outlining what employees should do and whom they should contact in the event of a potential breach. Firm-wide training is the next step, and one that should involve regular audits, meetings, and tests to ensure staff are always up-to-date with the latest threats.  

Globally we’re seeing that anti-spam legislation is becoming much more common. In fact, as of July 1st, 2017, Canada’s center piece legislation moves into it’s second, and arguably most significant phase – the ‘right of private action’.

Since its inception, all I have heard in relation to Canada’s anti-spam law (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation or "CASL"¹) is how high the fines are and how shattering its impact will be. My response is – ‘take a breath’ – it’s going to the best thing that has happened to your eMarketing efforts in a long, long time.

CASL, for those who don’t know, has the following key concepts:  

1.  Starting 1 July 2017, the ‘right to private action’ comes into force. Meaning, in addition to the Canadian government, anyone may bring action against a non-compliant firm.

2.  Lists must be opted in, meaning the firm must have documented proof of a person’s consent to receive firm communications as well as all the procedures around compliance.

3.  Is focused on commercial electronic messages (CEMs) sent via email, SMS or social media as well as downloaded software sent to, from and within.

Just like when the anti-spam law was first passed in 2014, I believe this is not a moment for doom and gloom, but rather a great opportunity to step up our best practice efforts. The intention of the legislation is to drive firms towards respecting their contact's wishes. This only benefits a firm as it leads to better understanding of their clients, and helps build stronger and more rewarding business relationships as a result.

Expanding on the key concepts articulated above, the legislation is saying that a commercial electronic message (CEM) can only be sent to a person who has consented to receive it. Additionally, firms need to have a way to not only track who they’ve mailed, what was sent and when, but also the date consent was given². CASL also wants the sender to be identified, including the name of the firm, with the mailing address and either your phone number, email or web address. The third requirement, which won’t be new to most of you, is to provide an easy way to unsubscribe in every message, and this must be processed within 10 days.

What everyone that sends a CEM needs to know is that this legislation applies to anyone sending marketing emails to Canada, as well as from and within Canada. So, marketers in Canada, the US, or indeed anywhere in the world, need to understand is that CASL impacts them. The penalties for non-compliance are severe – up to $10,000,000 CAD per occurrence!

So the panic that I’m hearing in the industry is that the new law will impede marketers and make life extremely difficult. My view is that this simply isn’t the case. Compliance with this, or with any other anti-spam legislation, means that we’re always communicating with people who are genuinely open to hearing from us. It’s going to build much stronger relationships with your clients.

It also means that in time there’s going to be less disreputable and unwelcome spam email out there, so clients will be happier to receive commercial emails. What’s bad about that?

Best Practices

For me, the really good news is that anti-spam legislation drives us all towards best practice. We all work to create compelling content and get it out to our clients. Too often the missing link is that we’re not processing the responses effectively – we’re not closing the loop. Quite simply, best practice is where you are the custodian of all the feedback that you get in response to campaigns.

Doing this calls for a comprehensive, centralized database that shows us who has responded and what they’ve said, so we can react accordingly. It means we take ownership of everything the client is telling us. We are listening to our clients, and that’s a powerful thing. Because only then can we become much better at communicating with the client over time. We see how regularly they’re opening what we send, we find out if they’re opting in or out, and we learn what they like and don’t like, and what they’re interested in. We can then leverage that information in the most effective way, refining both the content and the consumption medium as well as who we contact and when.

Without best practice and a closed loop, we’re operating in the dark. We just keep sending the communications out and not getting back data that tells us what clients want, and what they want us to do. It’s hard to be relevant and timely. And we’ve gained no real insights on which to base future campaigns so they can be refined and made more impactful.

Anti-spam legislation tells us to ask ‘do you want to receive this?’ And actually, why wouldn’t you want to know? This is where the real value lies. Law firms are full of experts and easily capable of generating really compelling content that is valued and sought. When clients get the right information it continually builds and strengthens the relationship up to the threshold where they’re ready to engage the firm. Ours is the perfect industry for the use of eMarketing. But only if you’re closing the loop. Just prioritize anti-spam legislation compliance and already you’ll have a better business with better relationships.

Third-Parties

Another component of best practice, and of anti-spam legislation, is that you must clearly demonstrate that the contacts on the list have opted in. In this context, using third-party mailing list providers and pay-as-you-go options may not be the safest route. If you’re using a third-party, check that what they’re doing on your behalf is compliant. Note that under CASL, the firm is responsible for the third parties’ lists… put another way, the firm cannot sweep any deficiencies of the third party under the carpet or plead ignorance.

“Bought-in” lists pose a particular problem. Where’s the audit trail that shows the evidence that all the names have opted-in? When every element is handled inside your organization, with the right system in place you have the comfort that evidence of compliance is at your fingertips. Otherwise, clearly law firms need to assess the risks very carefully, because quite apart from the reputational repercussions, which can be significant, the financial penalties of non-compliance may be significant.  In the latest CRTC update, there have been several actions over $100,000 and the largest to date is over $1,000,000.

Technology Solutions

All this may sound grim and complicated, but fortunately, embedding best practice and compliance in your firm isn’t difficult. eMarketing software is a key component in your compliance efforts and should give you everything you need to handle email marketing in-house. These systems can provide a powerful broadcast capability based on targeted opted-in mailing lists, plus automated contact updating. Responses are recorded in real-time, against the contact’s record, including date, time and their stated wishes. They can also generate re-applications in good time to maintain compliance.

The better eMarketing systems can also provide the ability to track results to a granular level, providing the power to refine truly effective campaigns. They will supply a comprehensive reporting suite showing individual message results, as well as full history details. They track clicks, opens, categories, exclusions, bounce backs and even social media preferences against both the company and the contact. Some systems even enable clients to update their own contact information to ensure uninterrupted delivery of sought after content. Using the right eMarketing technology, you can learn enough about your clients to always target the right person, at the right time, with the right message.

Remember that building the client relationship is the real value proposition here, and one that the best eMarketing systems fully deliver on.

Never a Better Time to use eMarketing

Introduction

In this three-part series, I have focused on key trends in technology and business, and how they will affect the legal community. In Part Three, I will look at new services coming online for Law firms, allowing for immediate cost savings and improvements in service delivery.

Artificial Intelligence is Here - It Will Save You Time & Money Almost Immediately

The courts create millions of legal decisions in Canada every year. Lawyers comb through these decisions looking for precedents that can help them resolve their clients’ legal problems. By automating these basic tasks to AIs, firms can take an activity that would take hours for a junior lawyer and turn it into a task that can be completed in minutes.

Dentons, Latham & Watkins and Baker Hostetler have all signed on to use ROSS, a Canadian invention and the world’s first AI lawyer who helps US bankruptcy and insolvency lawyers complete research faster. ROSS’ inventors have a goal to sell this subscription service into every law firm globally; while this service isn’t available in Canada as yet, it is something to keep an eye on.

Partnering with Third Parties Makes E-Discovery Easier & Less Costly  

As more and more of business and personal activity is stored electronically, the days of sifting through paper files and memos is disappearing quickly. Gartner estimates that in 2017 e-discovery services will account for $2.9B in business and will continue to grow as the amount of information available for digital discovery proliferates. Sorting through it all is time-consuming, driving up the cost of litigation. Process automation efforts help organizations reduce the time it takes to complete repetitive tasks such as research and discovery.

Law firms are increasingly acquiring internal teams or partnering with accounting firms in e-discovery efforts, leveraging global forensics skills and technology that keep costs lower while improving overall service delivery. 

Connecting to the Cloud Will Change how your Business does Business

Beyond the hype, Cloud is having a major impact in almost every industry and law firms are not immune to this experience. The benefits of cloud include increased security and accessibility for data and applications, protecting business continuity and a shift from major one-time capital spending to a consistent operational spend.

Cloud is moving beyond the public and private options, creating new hybridized models that allow firms to keep their private data private while benefiting from the flexibility and scalability of the public cloud. New hosted software solutions are in continuous development, bringing enterprise efficiency and scale solutions to small and medium firms. The choices are almost endless and target all facets of operations.

Alternative Billing Arrangements Will Create More Stable Income for Firms

Firms are always pressured from clients to reduce cost. The traditional time/billing model continues to give way to flat, blended or fixed fee arrangements, as law-as-a-service and retainers stabilize anticipated costs for clients. Using technology to lower the cost of that service delivery – finding ways to commoditize their service to keep costs lower and maintain a desired profitability – will keep clients happy while protecting the bottom line.  

How long have you been a member of TLOMA? I have been member of TLOMA since 1989.  I am the Chief Operating Officer of Hughes Amys LLP which is a mid-sized insurance defence firm that is almost 100 years old. I have been with the firm since 2003. 

What do you enjoy most about the legal industry? I have worked in the legal industry for 30+ years in various capacities and I really enjoy working in a professional environment with smart intelligent people.

What has been your volunteer experience with TLOMA over the years? I have been actively involved with TLOMA in the following capacity:

• Vice-President, President, Past President (2007-2009)
• Conference Chair: (2013)
• Speaker Liaison (1992, 2006, and 2011)
• Nominating Committee: (1996, 2009 and 2015)
• Compensation Committee: (2009-2010)
• Marketing SIG: (2016-2017)

My favorite volunteer experience has been as Speaker Liaison.  I loved the opportunity to research the new and innovative legal initiatives and innovations that were/are taking place and provide the best educational content and experience to the membership.

Favorite TLOMA Memory? TLOMA holds many wonderful memories and experiences for me as well as wonderful friendships that cannot be found in any other organization.  If I had to describe it, I would say it is an environment of trust, honesty, goodwill and affection for a wonderful group of people who manage law firms.  It is a place of not being judged; freedom of speech and acceptance.  What other organization can provide this?

Where was the last place you vacationed? The last place vacationed was a road trip through Colorado, Utah, Grand Canyon, and Nevada with my husband and daughter.

What is your favorite lunch spot during the work week? Lunch with good friends and really no favorite other than what my taste buds say for that day.

What is the name of your favorite restaurant? As I am a foodie, to have a favorite restaurant is boring. If I had to choose it would be Coquine.

What is your favorite movie? My favorite movie is “Gone with the Wind”.

What is your favorite artist/band you got to see live in concert? Love Sting!!!  He played at Massie Hall.  Growing up in the UK I did get to see the Rolling Stones in my tiny hometown (before they were even known).  Still love to listen to their music but moved on to something better, “Sting”.

What is the one thing you can't live without? I can live without most things but I guess the one would be my car.  I love the freedom it provides me.

If you could have a 60-minute conversation with anyone (fictional, famous, not famous, etc.) - who would you choose? An hour conversation with anyone would have to be inspirational and motivating.  The one person would be my mother.  She passed away 20 years ago.  To have that time with her again knowing what I know now would be riveting.

If you had to sing a Karaoke song to describe the real you, what song would you sing? We Are The Champions by Queen.