TLOMA Today

On April 27, we had the first Networking Event of the year at the CN Tower.  We had over 50 people attend this event and provided a great opportunity to connect with fellow members while checking out the fabulous views of Toronto. 

For May, we have lots of our SIG events scheduled and these are all via Webinar which makes it easy to attend.

At the end of May, we have our Professional Development Event which will focus on “Effective Leadership in a Hybrid Workplace” and will feature several different topics based on your feedback. Opening remarks will begin at 9:00 am and the event will finish at 1pm followed by lunch and networking opportunities. Please click the link below to register.

Link and details to upcoming events:

• May 2 – Technology SIG - Simplify your network and security with SD-WAN 
• May 9 – Marketing SIG - How to Build, Grow or Reinvent your Personal Brand
• May 18 – General SIG - Level Up Your Live - How to Make the Camera Your Friend in this Hybrid World
• May 24 - HR SIG - Legal Issues re: Battle of Return to the office (Roundtable)
• May 30 – Professional Development Event - Effective Leadership in a Hybrid Workplace-
• June 21, 2023 – Golf Tournament at Royal Woodbine Golf Club – no experience necessary so come give it a try!

And don’t forget to register for the TLOMA 2023 Conference & Trade Show held in Ottawa at The Westin from October 11 to October 14. This will be the first time the conference is held in Ottawa, so you don’t want to miss it!! Early bird registration ends May 31, 2023.

Retaining employees in today’s tight labour market is more critical than ever. Recruiting and training new employees is time consuming and expensive, so we need to focus on retaining the employees we have. In a time where employees report feeling more burned out than ever, it is critical that companies take action to tackle this problem. Why should we focus on burnout? Because it is a leading indicator of future turnover.  

First, we need to understand what burnout is, and what really causes it. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 615 million people suffer from depression and anxiety which costs the global workforce an estimated $1 trillion in lost productivity each year.

The WHO defines burnout as:

1.  Feelings of exhaustion
2.  Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of cynicism related to one’s job
3.  Reduced professional efficacy

From this definition we can clearly see burnout is the symptom that appears in employees. However, it’s a symptom of a larger corporate problem. But what is the real problem? For that we need to look to the work environment.

Employers tend to overlook the role of the workplace in driving employee mental health and well-being, engagement, and performance. The list below clearly demonstrates that the root causes of burnout aren’t created by employees. The top reasons for burnout are found in the work environment, and that is management’s responsibility.

Top 5 Reasons for Burnout: (source: Gallup) 

1.  Unfair treatment at work
2.  Unmanageable workload
3.  Lack of role clarity
4.  Lack of communication and support from their manager
5.  Unreasonable time pressure

So, what creates these poorly structured work environments that lead to burnout? Why are so many employees set up for failure, with too much work, not enough time, and poor manager support? We only need look at the too common corporate culture of “Do more with less” that comes with the pressure for profits at any costs to understand why employees with the least power end up with the most stress. Attitudes that drive for profit at all costs enable poor behavior in the name of chasing performance. If there is little accountability for how we treat people, we create a culture where toxic behaviour can thrive.

When toxic behaviour is left to grow unchecked, companies create environments that drive employee burnout.

The results of a 2022 McKinsey survey of 14,500 employees across 15 countries, clearly show that toxic workplace behavior has the biggest impact predicting burnout symptoms and intent to leave. We often think of employee mental health, well-being, and burnout as a personal problem. That’s why most companies have responded by offering solutions to individuals such as wellness programs.

However, the findings in the McKinsey research are clear.

Corporate leaders need to look at prevention strategies much earlier on to tackle the issue. If companies are serious about wanting to reduce corporate burnout, then they need to follow a systematic approach to change the underlying forces that are causing the burnout. Toxic behaviour is the number one cause of employee burnout and has a direct link to employee’s intent to leave. Employers who try to improve burnout without addressing toxic behavior are likely to fail. Simply offering employees a wellness credit or lunchtime yoga sessions isn’t enough.

How to eliminate toxic workplace behaviour

Eliminating toxic behaviour at work starts at the top. It starts with seeing the treatment of others as a critical part of an employee’s performance. Basically, it means creating a “jerks will not be tolerated” policy and sticking too it. Too often high performers who create the toxic environment for others are tolerated, with the justification that they deliver results. But at what cost to other employees? The good news is that leaders can take steps to build workplaces where demeaning behavior isn’t tolerated, and nasty people are shown the door.

Companies should target the specific behaviours that are not acceptable and hold people accountable. Incidents of unacceptable behaviour should be addressed quickly. Employees must be given feedback, required to apologize and reflect on their mistake, and then work to improve. Repeat offenders aren’t ignored or forgiven again and again—they change or depart. This isn’t a case of “cancel culture”. We don’t need to create an environment where people make a mistake and are fired. But individuals need to own the consequences of their own behaviour. The excuse that the hurt wasn’t intended isn’t good enough. To create a culture that works for all, there needs to be accountability when hurt is inflicted on others.

The best cultures role model this from the top. When leaders own their own mistakes, learn from them, and grow, they show others what is expected. They also create an environment where it is safe to speak up. If employees aren’t listened to or supported when they do speak up, then they will learn to stay quiet, and toxic behaviours will continue to grow.

In closing, burnout is the symptom of a larger corporate problem. Leaders must look at the reasons for the burnout and identify who is responsible and put plans in place to remediate the poor work culture.

If you want to learn more, sign up for upcoming TLOMA  Training Event Effective Leadership in a Hybrid Workplace which will include practical sessions with experts to provide strategies on stress reduction and how to be a better leader for your teams.

Law firms are now waking up to the fact that they should be tackling data retention and disposition much more systematically than they are. But they’re also beset with trepidation over where and how to start what can seem like a gargantuan task. In this article, Chris Giles outlines the issues and recommends five basic steps for conquering data retention and disposition.

They shouldn’t, but it does seem as though a lot of the law firms we speak to about data retention and disposition are struggling to tackle the issues head on. They feel like it’s an overwhelmingly large task. Data is everywhere in the firm, no one knows where to start, and no one takes ownership, because it’s all too complex, too unwieldy and too formless a problem. Yet today’s law firms must conquer their growing mountains of data, because without intervention, they’ll just keep getting bigger.  

Moreover, until recently, data retention and disposition has been the ignorable second cousin in the information governance family. Whereas there’s long been a clear understanding of the need for data security and data storage provisioning, and for all the facets of data management that contribute to fee earning and system efficiency; tackling the firm’s inexorably rising data volumes has seemed like a wearisome chore with no clear reward. That’s no longer the case. The time has come for firms to tackle their excess data.

Not real clouds

What are the dangers? Well, as data keeps multiplying it creates more cost and more risk for the firm. As to cost, as firms increasingly move into cloud-based storage for things like document management systems and Office 365 (Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, etc.), the spend on cloud infrastructure is becoming significant. The global spend on cloud infrastructure was estimated at US$48 billion in 2020, and – wait for it – US$178 billion in 2021.[1] Revenue from the storage segment of the data center market is forecast to continue increasing between 2023 and 2027 by around US$11.6 billion, a greater than 24% price hike.[2] And you get to pay for it. Less data costs less to store.

Hack attack

As to risk, the least of your worries is that systems bloated with excess data will perform less efficiently, impacting firm productivity. A more pressing risk is your increased exposure to hackers – the more data held the juicier a target you present.

Plus, these days hackers are known to target law firms because you’re low hanging fruit: lucrative, but generally still playing catch-up after the shift to remove working, and much less well-defended than healthcare or financial services. Also, depending on your area of law and your clients, your data may present an irresistible target to hacktivists or even state-sponsored cybercriminals.

Another risk as you accumulate and retain data is that you may breach your client’s increasingly prescriptive outside counsel guidelines. OCGs have become noticeably more concerned about data retention and disposition schedules recently because clients have also noticed that law firms tend to get hacked.  

Regulation inflation

Likewise, as data ages it creates more risk for the firm. This is because old data risks breaching regulatory compliance. By this we don’t just mean GDPR – which applies to the personal data of EU citizens, irrespective of location – but also the growing body of state-based data privacy legislation, to date in California, Colorado, Iowa, Utah, Virginia and Connecticut; as well as in Canada’s Bill C-27.[3]

In addition, did you hear that on 27 March 2023, New York’s Attorney General secured a fine of USD$200k from a New York/New England based firm for a data breach that compromised the private medical records of nearly 115,000 patients? The firm’s Microsoft Exchange email server was hacked. Microsoft issued patches but the firm didn’t apply them soon enough. The breach violated the SHIELD Act,[4] and because of the firm’s relationship with healthcare clients, it breached HIPAA too.[5] As well as the fine, the New York Attorney General has required the firm to update “its data collection and retention practices … permanently deleting all such data when there is no longer a reasonable business or legal purpose to retain such information.”[6] The message is: “Don’t keep data any longer than you need to because it increases your risk.”

Institutional memory

The other issue with older data is it’s possible you don’t know you have it. We’re at the point where some firms have IT systems that are over 20-years-old. We know of one that found a live business intake and conflicts system that was superseded by a newer version more than 10 years ago. The old system was maintained for audit purposes and then forgotten. It was full of personally identifiable and other highly sensitive information, and being unsupported was easily hackable. Had the firm not stumbled on it, it would have gone on presenting a substantial, yet hidden, risk. 

Likewise, there’s shadow IT, which arises when individual lawyers do work beyond the boundaries of the firm’s sanctioned and provisioned IT infrastructure. Thus, you may have parts of a matter record in systems outside of the firm, or on the lawyer’s personal email from when they worked from home in 2020 during the pandemic; or in a physical folder in their home office.

Regulatory breaches can be expensive, embarrassing… and terminal. In April 2023 a 150-year-old listed London law firm went into administration, mainly because it never recovered from a large ransomware attack in March 2022.[7] That’s why you should be worried about your historical data.

One step at a time

To avoid following in their painful footsteps, the time has come to get a serious grip on data retention and disposition. To restate: this will decrease the likelihood of falling foul of regulators, hackers and clients (in relation to OCG breaches), increase the efficiency of systems, and save money on storage costs.

It may seem daunting when there’s decades of data in physical storage as well as electronic systems; when different types of data, in different practice areas needs to be treated differently; and when the rules on data retention vary across jurisdictions. But the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. Thus we recommend that firms get started on a logical, efficient and pragmatic five-step approach. These steps are:

1. Develop a data retention and disposition policy;
2. Understand what data you have;
3. Draw up a retention schedule;
4. Execute the policy; and
5. Get destruction decisions across the line.

This approach will be explained in greater detail in part two of this series and during our ILTA Masterclass; Rome wasn’t built in a day, where we will discuss the five steps that will help you conquer your firms data. To register, click here.   

Back in 2021 it started as a way to bring people together as COVID was starting to wane.  An idea that a group of TLOMA members Leah Halpenny, Mary DaRosa, Dawn Miller & Joanne Gibson-Davis approached the TLOMA Board with; and they said yes.

The first year was an unknown, how would people respond in the shadow of COVID to an outdoor event with people in small groups and sharing rides on carts?  COVID did play a hand in things, forcing organizers to push a planned spring event to the fall.  But in October, 60 golfers came out to Royal Ontario Golf course in Hornby and made golf day a hit.  TLOMA Business Partners were out in strong numbers in support.

With the success of the first golf event, it was a no-brainer for the Board to say yes to a second golf tournament.  This time they were able to have a spring event in June, and 57 golfers tried out a new course, Royal Woodbine in Etobicoke.  Again, TLOMA Business Partners were there.

The TLOMA 3^rd Annual Golf tournament June 21^st provides an excellent opportunity to network with peers and develop new business relationships in a relaxing social environment.

Golf tournaments are a great way to bring people together. From the novice to the experienced golfer, you will enjoy an unforgettable experience.

Royal Woodbine Golf Club, home of the TLOMA Golf Tournament, offers high and low handicappers a richly rewarding game on par with the area’s finest public and private clubs.

As the tournament grows, there are more opportunities for Business partners to show their support. In 2023 there are 2 sponsorship levels (Eagle $2800, and Birdie $18000 along with new options to sponsor individual holes at $500. 

This year we Business Partners can sign up for the Tee Off With TLOMA program. Business Partners can cover the cost of a TLOMA member to golf and include them as part of their group.  At $300 for a foursome it’s a great way to get one-on-one time with a member.

This year you can even get a chair massage courtesy of HealthCasa after you round.  Thank you to the Business Partners who have signed up to date:

• Facility Plus & GrassRoots Marketing – Eagle Sponsors
• HealthCasa – Wellness Sponsor
• CTI Interiors - Margherita Truck on course.
• InteriorCare -golf cart sponsor; Triella – Hole Sponsor

But there is still time to register your group.  And Sponsors, there’s still time to sign up.

See you on the links in June. Not a golfer?  Then join us for lunch at 1:00pm; tickets are $25.

A Checklist for Digitizing Your Firm’s Documents

If you’ve decided to digitize your office’s files, first make sure you have a document management system in place.

Why Move to a Document Management System?

In short: because we need to stay organized! There are many ways to do this, from keeping files organized simply by client and matter, to adding meta data (more information such as when or by whom documents were created, or custom information tags about the file).

Document management systems can be great because they “force” us to enter information a certain way, and can fold in all kinds of files, including emails.

A lot of software can do optimal character recognition (OCR), perfect for PDFs or scanned documents where you can’t “copy and paste” or search the information.

Having OCR when you organize and digitize your firm’s documents will help you in future by allowing you to search files by key words.

There is a spectrum of document management software and philosophy. Here’s what it looks like:

1. No document management whatsoever at one end of the spectrum.
2. Shared file server with a policy/folder structure for organizing files.
3. Document management software such as MetaJure that keeps everything in the file share but adds in meta data, OCR capability. This is great for firms that don’t want to change how they work.
4. A separate file share with document management such as SharePoint, Matter 365.
5. At the other end of the spectrum is where you find “opinionated” document management systems such as Primafact, ACL, Worldox, NetDocuments. With these, you must tag every piece of information. This type of software takes some work to set up but then saves you a ton of time. It essentially “forces” you to do everything the way your firm has decided to do things.

A note on billing integration: we’ve never had a law firm client use the document management software built into various billing and time-tracking systems. We don’t find that they are as good as the software that is dedicated to document management. If you’ve had a different experience, please let me know. I would be interested to learn about it.

The Checklist: Digitizing Physical Documents

• Decide on how to digitize after deciding on a document management system
• If your document management system has OCR, you don’t need OCR on your scanner
• If you are using SharePoint, buy a scanner that supports scanning directly to OneDrive/SharePoint
• If using a more basic file share, consider built-in OCR on the scanner or software
• Ensure your digital storage has secure backups and retention
• Faxes can move to an online portal where they can be automatically emailed
• Large input capacity and the ability to scan double-sided without having to manually flip the documents are “must-haves”
• Consider a “cut off” where active and recent matters are digitized and archival documents are stored for a fixed amount of time

Remember first and foremost that document management and digitization is about your practice, and the work flow you want. Decisions on what systems you use should be driven by how your firm works, and how your team collaborates within it.

Make it so…

TLOMA is on the search for intrepid individuals.

It’s continuing mission; to seek out new members and volunteers to boldly go where no one has gone before.  A search for people with creativity, energy and desire to explore the universe of possibilities.

There are two very exciting opportunities for such people:

Member Task Force

The Membership Task Force is an ad-hoc committee of the Board of Directors consisting of 3 members; 1 Board member, 1 member at-large and the Executive Director.

It’s purpose; to identify the needs of TLOMA members, review membership criteria and provide appropriate recommendations regarding enhancing the member experience and identify growth opportunities and strategies for the organization.

Marketing Committee

The Marketing Committee will develop TLOMA’s marketing approach, tools and strategies to raise the overall profile and awareness of TLOMA and will provide support to the Board and staff where assistance is required for specific event marketing.  

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

 The Marketing Committee will perform the following duties: 

• Develop and recommend to the Board for approval, marketing tools and strategies that contribute to raising TLOMA’s profile and awareness.
• Develop and recommend to other Directors or Committees that seek help marketing products for individual events or activities.
• Coordinate the development of innovative strategies to increase revenues and profile of TLOMA. 
• Create a social media strategy which promotes sector news and TLOMA objectives.
• Increase web and mobile-based marketing to improve TLOMA brand awareness. 
• Work with staff to ensure website is updated with most valuable and accurate content for members.
  
  

TLOMA needs 4 members to work with the Executive Director on these initiatives over the 2-year term on this committee.

Inside you is the potential to make TLOMA better, to make it more than it is.

There you have it, the opportunity to chart a new course into unchartered territory and reach out to the unknown.  Creating a compelling and worthwhile environment that new individuals will recognize and join this Starfleet alliance of legal management professionals.

Contact TLOMA’s Executive Director Joe Mauro, jmauro@tloma.com. The search portal closes May 31^st.

So, join us and make TLOMA ‘live long and prosper’.

I am not a golfer; the game was never a great draw for me growing up.  Even though I play hockey and golf seems to be a natural summer option for most guys, not me.  Maybe being a goalie, I never developed a shot that can easily translate into a swing on the course.

Even in my executive career I never had many opportunities to golf.  As President of a publishing company our printer held an annual customer appreciation weekend that included golf, so that was my only golf day. 

Now at TLOMA, we have an annual golf tournament, and despite my lack of golfing skill I really enjoy it.

Dawn Millar from Pape & Salter and TLOMA Past President is another ‘duffer’; as she describes her golfing prowess – ‘If there is a level below beginner, that would probably best describe my skill level!'

Another self-proclaimed non-golfer is our current President Brigitte Mulder from Henein Hutchison Robitaille. ‘Definitely beginner. I only get out golfing once a year at the TLOMA golf tournament.’

What surprised you about the day?

Last year at the second annual TLOMA golf Tournament, and my first, I was pleasantly surprised with my overall game that day.  In the past I would spend a couple of weeks playing Wii golf to try and develop something that resembled a stroke.  But technology changes and the PS4 replaced the Wii in my house so I was out of luck this time. I had to rely on muscle memory.

Dawn too was impressed by her golfing; ‘That I could actually hit the ball lol and some swings were not half bad!’

In Brigitte’s case it was the supportive nature of the golfers; ‘Fellow golfers are always supportive whether you do a great shot or not’.

What was the most enjoyable part of the day?

Dawn felt the entire day was A-one: ‘There wasn’t one part, it was really the experience of the whole day, getting to spend it outdoors, networking and a little friendly competition – what is there not to enjoy?’

Brigitte zeroed in on a special offering that was on the second hole; ‘the Margarita truck…this was a nice diversion to the game perhaps improved some of the team’s swings.’

Why do you think someone who isn’t a great golfer should come to the tournament?

The TOMA Golf Tournament is designed to give everyone regardless of skill level another chance to connect and engage with people.  And Dawn Miller agrees;

‘The tournament is a great way to meet new people and network with your colleagues and TLOMA business partners. The colleagues and BPs I was golfing with last year were great with giving me friendly tips on what clubs to use and how to improve my swing.  They were super patient with all my questions and very encouraging. It really is a fun day; everyone should come out!’

Brigitte Mulder sees the same benefit for any attendee; ‘? It’s fun, you get to  be outdoors and spend the day driving a golf cart.  You also get to meet fellow TLOMA members and business partners in an informal way.’

Days like this are not possible without the support of our Business Partners both as golfers and sponsors.  Thank you to the 2022 2^nd Annual TLOMA Golfer Tournament sponsors; Facility Plus, InteriorCare, LEAP Software, Integra Health Centre, Armour Cybersecurity, Branch Office Services, PC Law, Gallagher, Royal Woodbine.

1.  Name of Organization / Company: Dialogue Conferencing Inc.

Company: Dialogue Connect

 2. Organization / Company Overview

 a) Expertise & Growth –Dialogue Connect is a privately owned company that was launched in August 2004. The administrators of the company have a combined 50 years of telecom and unified communication services experience. We maintain the tradition of innovation, stability and strength of our partner network. We also proudly continue the culture of giving back to the communities where our employees work and live, as well as support our customers in many worthy causes. We deliver innovative technology, operational excellence and unparalleled customer service to companies of all sizes. Our goal is to exceed our clients’ audio, web and unified communications expectations.

 b) Service Overview – Dialogue connect is your single point of contact for UCaaS, CCaaS, SD-WAN cybersecurity, web collaboration, and video conferencing solutions. As your one source in an industry of constant change, Dialogue is leading the way with innovation. A relationship with Dialogue not only improves your satisfaction and ease of communication today, but will also ensure a superior value proposition for the future.

3. How many years have you been a Business Partner of TLOMA? Dialogue Connect is a new business partner/sponsor of TLOMA as of 2023 and has been a business partner of OLMA for the past 6 years.

 4. What has been your partnership experience with TLOMA over the years? We are looking forward to a mutually rewarding partnership based on the transfer of timely and pertinent IT insights and industry innovations which are focused on the legal communities needs. 

 5. Favorite TLOMA memory? When happily filled out this form 😊

 6. Where was the last place you vacationed? My wife and I vacationed in the Bordeaux region savored the wines of Saint Emilion and Pomerol, we then headed north up the west cost of Bretagne visiting Saint Malo, LaRochel, Rey, Nantes, Rennes and ended trip in Paris)

 7. What is your favorite lunch spot during the workweek? When in Toronto the Library Bar at the Royal York, In Montreal the Taverne Dominion Square and Holders Bistro.

8. What is your favorite movie? Shawshank redemption, Promising Young Woman, Braveheart, Love Actually.

9. What was the last movie you saw? Avatar, The way of water.

10. What is your favorite book? Lord Of The Rings - JRR Tolkien & The Foundation Series - Isaac Asimov  

11. Where is your go-to coffee shop? Starbucks

12. What are your favorite hobbies? Painting, reading, Tennis, biking,

13. If you could have a 60-minute conversation with anyone (fictional, famous, not famous, etc.) – who would you choose? Winston Churchill & Da Vinci….