In a year that saw continued rejigging of our workspaces and schedules and, for some, a return to old routines, we wondered where busy lawyers were most frequently able to find focus and foster creativity. So, we asked members: “Where do you do your best thinking?”

The Honourable Mary Jo Nolan has devoted her decades-long career to advocating for access to justice for society’s most vulnerable, achieving many firsts along the way: first female case management master in Ontario, first female judge appointed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Essex County, and now, first recipient of the OBA Award of Excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution from the Southwest Region.

An overview of the language obligations set out in the Rules of Professional Conduct of the Law Society of Ontario (LSO Rules) and examination of the scope of “language rights” contemplated by the LSO Rules, including recent legislative changes regarding access to justice in French in the province.

For an increasing number of legal employers, offering a defined benefit pension plan is not only good business but the right thing to do.

A reminder to revisit, recalibrate and re-prioritize our self-care practices and mindfulness toward others after a year-and-a-half of social distance, disrupted routines and “rolling disasters.”

The former managing partner of Gowling WLG’s Hamilton office sat down for a Q&A session to talk about what has made chairing the Hamilton Commonwealth Games Bid Corporation such a revelatory and rewarding experience and what all lawyers might gain from taking a more “holistic and humanistic” view of their purpose and value.

In fashioning the legal workplace of the future, forward-thinking lawyers are prioritizing vital culture over vaunted convention and making a giant leap in how they operate, innovate, collaborate, and situate themselves within a fertile ecosystem of research, industry and ideas.

To bolster harvest innovation, technology companies are empowering innovators to identify promising ideas for patent or trade secret protection, which, when combined with deliberate streamlining of the IP protection process with the coordinated help of IP counsel, can bear valuable fruit.

When it comes to the complex and detailed work of estate administration, a little advance planning goes a long way. Panelists from the OBA program Your First Estate Administration share their top tips for streamlining these important – highly practical and personal – matters.

Feedback was always a tricky skill to master, and it’s even trickier now. There are two related reasons: first, the psychological impact of the pandemic and second, the challenge of providing feedback in a virtual world.