Most law firms in Canada are small to medium sized enterprises that just do not have the resources to implement and monitor a retirement arrangement, let alone take on the extra cost of administration and fiduciary governance. It is simply unrealistic to expect individual law firms, regardless of their size, to assume the financial, fiduciary and administrative burdens of a defined benefit plan. In fact, most law firms have no pension arrangements at all - Defined Contribution (DC) or (Defined Benefit (DB). Finally. A defined benefit pension plan for law firms In 2016, a Lawyers Financial task force, comprised of leading pension and actuarial experts began investigating pension options....
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In my previous column I reviewed a children’s book written by a lawyer explaining what lawyer moms do at work. So I figured it made perfect sense to follow up with a post about a book written by women lawyers for women lawyers. The book is aptly titled “50 Lessons for Women Lawyers From Women Lawyers.” It was published last year and is edited by Nora Riva Bergman, a lawyer who is a certified practice advisor for lawyers. The timing couldn’t be better for a book like this. Women have been graduating from law school at rates similar to their male colleagues for more than a decade now, but according to a report issued by the ABA last year, “The 2019 Profile of the...
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Virginia Burglary Lawyer Burglary, also known as breaking and entering, means a forced entry into a building to commit an illegal act. The intended illegal act is usually theft, but the forced entry may also be for the purposes of murder, rape, or arson, and thus carry additional severe penalties. Virginia recognizes two types of burglary (under Code 18.2): common law and statutory. Common law burglary is defined as illegally entering another person’s house at night time, which is defined as 30 minutes after sunset and 30 minutes before sunrise. The earliest common law definition of burglary required that the offense be committed at night, although that is not now required in all...
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Bar Association wants more lawyers to donate Alaska’s legal system can be daunting for the average citizen, and not everyone can afford professional help. The Alaska Bar Association tries to get private attorneys to donate time to needy clients, but there are fewer lawyers who can do that. The Alaska Bar Association is trying to close the “justice gap.” Everyone accused of a crime has the right to an attorney, but that’s not a right for parties in civil cases. If you are getting a divorce, or someone sues you, you have to pay for legal counsel or go it alone. And Rob Stone, the president of the Alaska Bar Association says there is a lawyer shortage today in certain sectors like poverty...
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A Woodstock attorney, on behalf of local blogger and former state representative Cal Skinner, defended anonymous online comments that labeled judicial candidate Mary McClellan as “satanic” and a “whore.” Lawyer Robert Hanlon argued in a Monday court filing that online references to McClellan as a “whore” might have been in poor taste, but nonetheless were true. Citing a Merriam-Webster definition of the word, Hanlon claimed that McClellan fit the description because she “had a son out of wedlock.” McClellan, who previously worked as the McHenry County clerk, and announced her bid for judge earlier this year, said the name-calling is nothing more than an intimidation effort. “Whatever he’s...
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Surprise! Lawyers called to holiness The following is an excerpt from a talk I gave following the Archdiocese of Boston’s Red Mass on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019. The work of a lawyer can be understood variously. I will mention four conceptions: as a job, as a career, as a profession, and as a calling or vocation. This is a sign, by the way, that I am an accomplished lawyer. I just used five terms to describe four concepts. At this rate, I could be able to generate 20 percent more billable hours this week. Speaking of which: Considering our work as a mere job or career focuses on the wages, hours, and working conditions: what kind of benefits and perks accrue to us so we can earn our living and...
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The US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Tuesday invited President Donald Trump to its first impeachment hearing, scheduled for December 4, starting a new phase of the inquiry that could lead to formal charges against the president within weeks. Trump is not required to attend the hearing. But the move allows the president and his legal team access to congressional impeachment procedures that he and other Republicans have denounced as unfair, partly because the White House has not been able to call or cross-examine witnesses. The House Intelligence Committee, which has led the impeachment investigation into Trump's dealings with Ukraine through weeks of closed-door testimony...
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Trump attorney general warns of ‘collateral consequences’ of Democrat ‘harassment’ November 18, 2019 ( LifeSiteNews ) — U.S. attorney general William Barr delivered a forceful speech Friday to the annual National Lawyers’ Convention of the conservative Federalist Society, during which he argued that the left-wing “Resistance” to President Donald Trump is not mere partisan politics, but an assault on the American presidency’s constitutional role. “Immediately after President Trump won election, opponents inaugurated what they called ‘The Resistance,’ and they rallied around an explicit strategy of using every tool and maneuver...
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This past summer the Maryland Governor signed off on a bill that changed the definition of marijuana, and now the impacts of this bill could have a real effect in courtrooms across the state. The bill did not receive much media attention despite the fact that it was marijuana related because the bill was created with the intent to modify agricultural laws rather than continue to reform marijuana policy. House Bill 1123 was signed into law back in April, and went into effect on June 1, 2019. The bill was characterized as agricultural and focused on hemp research and production. It had numerous components, but the main emphasis was to expand hemp production and establish safeguards for...
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A lawyer for Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman sent a letter to Fox News on Wednesday, requesting that the network either retract or correct a "deeply flawed and erroneous" segment that aired during the Oct. 28 episode of The Ingraham Angle. Vindman is the National Security Council's Ukraine expert, and the segment aired prior to his closed-door testimony as part of the House impeachment inquiry. Host Laura Ingraham said it was "kind of an interesting angle" that Vindman "is advising Ukraine, while working inside the White House, apparently against the president's interest, and usually, they spoke in English." Yoo replied, "I found that astounding. Some people might call that espionage." In his...
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