All posts filed under: Legal Practice Management

Quebec Court of Appeal overturns labour tribunal’s interpretation of litigation privilege

A ruling by the Quebec Administrative Labour Tribunal that held that litigation privilege applies only in civil matters and in adversarial proceedings but not in an administrative law context before a quasi-judicial tribunal with powers of inquiry was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal.

Total amount of legal fees not necessarily covered by solicitor-client privilege rules Quebec appeal court

The total amount of professional billings paid to lawyers working on a mandate for public bodies is not necessarily automatically protected by solicitor-client privilege ruled the Quebec Court of Appeal.

In what is described as a precedent-setting ruling, the Quebec appeal court decision provides much-needed guidance and strikes a delicate balance between professional secrecy and public access to documents, according to legal experts.

“The importance of this lies with the distinction the Quebec appeal court makes between professional secrecy and public access to documents regarding legal fees paid by public bodies to lawyers,” said Pierre Trudel, a former director of Université de Montréal’s Public Law Research Centre. “The decision provides helpful guidance over what should remain protected by professional secrecy and what should be accessible to ensure public access to documents.”

Business heaves sigh of relief as federal government suspends controversial private right of action provision in anti-spam law

Canada’s business community has just heaved a huge sigh of relief.

The federal government issued an Order in Council that suspends the controversial implementation of the private right of action under Canada’s Anti-Spam legislation (CASL) until the completion of a parliamentary review due to “broad-based concerns” raised by businesses, charities and the not-for-profit sector.

Managing partners say their lawyers are underperforming

Your boss is not impressed with your work. You underperform. You are not busy enough. You have weak business development skills. And on top of that you are resistant to change.

That is the telling, and damning, portrait laid bare by managing partners and chairs at 798 US law firms with 50 or more lawyers who were polled by American legal management consulting firm Altman Weil.