Beating the document dump

One tactic that firms sometimes employ against opposing counsel is dumping vast amounts of documents on them at the last moment. This allows the firm to honestly tell the judge that it shared all relevant materials as required, while ensuring that the opposition doesn’t have enough time to digest them.

This recently happened to Rein Lomax, solo practitioner at Lomax Law Firm in London, Ont. “I was representing the plaintiff in a wrongful dismissal suit against one of Canada’s Big Five banks, when they did a massive document dump on me prior to a mediation,” said Lomax. “On my own, there was no way that I could go through all of these materials in time to deliver a mediation brief on deadline.”

Fortunately, Lomax knew about Taran Virtual Associates Inc. This is a London, Ont.-based legal outsourcing firm that has “virtual associates” – contract lawyers across Canada, ready to tackle legal work at a moment’s notice.

“Our internet-connected lawyers act as virtual associates for other lawyers; doing research, drafting, discoveries, corporate counsel, and appellate/trial work for other lawyers across the country,” said Stephen Taran, the company’s president. “When Rein contacted us with his problem, we were able to share the documents among our people, and draft a mediation brief for him very quickly.”

“TVA’s brief was so good that I only made to make a few changes for stylistic reasons,” said Lomax. “Much to the surprise of the bank’s lawyer, we got our mediation brief to the mediator before they did. This allowed us to shape the narrative to our advantage, and resulted in a very good result for our client.”

Written by James Careless
Published by the Canadian Bar Association - November 2018

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Statistics suggest that over 20% of companies are working with law firms that engage in outsourcing, and that the size of the Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) market internationally is approaching $3 billion. Forecasters anticipate that the global LPO market will grow by more than 25% in the next three years.

Corbin Partners Inc.
For immediate press release - September 7, 2016
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“Strategically outsourcing what they cannot cost-effectively do themselves gives lawyers an opportunity to better service their clients – opening the door perhaps to a successful discussion about topping up the retainer or taking on other work that the client may be sending elsewhere – or even devoting a portion of that time to building work on the practice and do some business building.”

But cost control and improved profitability are not the only reasons to reconsider the outsourcing option, says Taran, “Firms are starting to understand that they need to offer a more balanced lifestyle to their associates and future leaders; they’re starting to see that outsourcing the repetitive, lower-skilled work not only helps keep overhead down, but also makes for happier, more engaged and ultimately valuable associates.” Could outsourcing displace associates or other legal service providers? Not at all, says Birer. “It takes the mechanics out of the process – and gives associates the opportunity to do work of a higher standard.”

Adds Taran: "Outsourcing often levels  the playing field for small firms and sole practitioners."

Written by Tim Lemieux, Gary Edgar
Published in LawPRO

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The legal process outsourcing ship has sailed and Canadian law firms need to make sure they’re not left behind by clients seeking more cost-effective legal services.

Michael Shannon, a partner at Toronto-based Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, who specializes in personal injury litigation, says he often uses the services of Taran Virtual Associates Inc., a London, Ont.,-based provider of outsourced legal services that relied on a network of Ontario lawyers. Shannon says he uses the service, not for commodity-type work, but as a cost-effective source of specialized expertise in his area of law.

Written by Kevin Marro
Published in Canadian Lawyer Magazine - August 2011Click here to read the entire article

The existing jurisprudence relating to whether an expert witness must comply with Rule 53.03 is in a state of flux (McNeill v. Filthaut, 2011 ONSC 2165 at para. 52).

In Beasley et al. v. Barrand (2010 ONSC 2095), the court in the tort trial denied the insurer's motion to: (a) file medical expert reports that were used in the statutory accident benefits claim, and (b) call the doctors who authored those reports as experts at trial. Each physician had only seen the plaintiff on one occasion approximately seven years prior to the trial. The court held that non-compliance by the defence with the newly enacted Rule 53.03 was fatal to its motion. Rule 53.03 (2.1) enumerates the content that is now required in an expert's report.

Written by Stephen Taran, H.B.A., LL.B.
October 20, 2011
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Written by Rebecca Jaremko BromwichPublished in The Lawyers Weekly - October 2009

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The process starts with his project manager, a seasoned lawyer, who works with the client to undertake conflicts checks, receive instructions, determine the parameters of the project and suggest which lawyers could do the work. Budgets and deadlines are all agreed to ahead of time. Quality control resides with TVA’s project management team:

“The client delegates fully to us – he or she tells us what is needed and we take it from there and ensure we deliver a quality finished product.”

Written by Tim Lemieux and Gary Edgar
Published in Law Pro - July 2009
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Doing agency work as a virtual associate since my call, I have assisted other lawyers with a wide variety of appellate, trial, motion and other proceedings. I have appeared on litigation matters, and I have run trials. My virtual career has allowed me to revolve my legal career around the rest of my life. I have worked remotely from Illinois, Ohio, Florida, Alberta, England, Ireland, Mexico and Ontario.

Written by Rebecca Jaremko BromwichPublished in The Lawyers Weekly - October 2009

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The process starts with his project manager, a seasoned lawyer, who works with the client to undertake conflicts checks, receive instructions, determine the parameters of the project and suggest which lawyers could do the work. Budgets and deadlines are all agreed to ahead of time. Quality control resides with TVA’s project management team:

“The client delegates fully to us – he or she tells us what is needed and we take it from there and ensure we deliver a quality finished product.”

Written by Tim Lemieux and Gary Edgar
Published in Law Pro - July 2009
Click here to read the entire article.

Law firms looking to contain costs and enhance their human resources are turning more and more often to a newer, apparently popular, option: outsourcing.

“Clients demand instant service these days. This is a way of managing the workflow,” Taran noted.

Written by Donalee Moulton
Published in The Lawyers Weekly - February 2009
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Until the Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Joseph v. Paramount Canada’s Wonderland (2008), 90 O.R. (3d) 401 (C.A.), many lawyers in Ontario thought they could still rely on the common law doctrine of special circumstances, which gave the Court the discretion to extend a limitation period after its expiration, if special circumstances existed.

The doctrine, which originated with the Supreme Court of Canada’s 1972 decision in Basarsky v. Quinlan, [1972] S.C.R. 380 came to be increasingly applied to motions to add parties (Rule 5.04) and to amend pleadings (Rule 26.01). This allowed parties to argue on a motion that special circumstances existed which should allow the Courts to allow the amendments, add a party, or add a cause of action after the expiry of a limitation period where special circumstances existed, unless prejudice would result that could not be compensated for by costs or an adjournment.

Written by Linda Rondinelli
Project Manager, TVA | The Legal Outsourcing Network
Created: October, 2008

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Stephen Taran is offering lawyers of all walks a better life. That’s no marketing line, pithy pitch, or promise of files of grandeur. It is, rather, exactly what his support service for lawyers, Taran Virtual Associates Inc., can achieve for both his lawyer clients, along with the counsel who work within his network.

“It’s about taking work off the desk that wasn’t making money and replacing it with full billable work,” says Taran, which not only enables the lawyer to focus on billable hours but also to “spend time with family, on business development, reading articles... just freeing up valuable time.”

Written by Daryl-Lynn Carlson
Published in Law Times - November 2007

OUTSOURCING: If used wisely, it may be the one technology based tool that actually deceases stress, enhances profits and leads to greater career satisfaction.

Some innovations, like the internet, will stand the test of time. Outsourcing promises to be one of those innovations. The term ‘outsourcing’ originated around 1980 and it means simply: to purchase (goods) or subcontract (services) from an outside company or individual, rather than hire internally. Work can be outsourced ‘offshore’, ‘near shore’ or ‘home shore’/ ‘on shore’. In the Canadian legal context, these terms have taken on the following meanings:

• Offshore refers to legally trained individuals who are located overseas, like India;
• Near shore refers to service providers who are in different countries but are relatively close in proximity, have similar cultures and speak English without a strong accent. For example, Canadians would refer to American mid-west lawyers as being ‘near shore’; and
• Home shore/onshore are interchangeable terms that mean, essentially, practicing lawyers located in Canada.

Written by A. Van Wees, LL.B., MBA, LL.M.
(2007) Ontario Bar Association's Sole, Small Firm and General Practice Section Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 2.
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Long working hours are a way of life for veteran lawyers and a way of life for new recruits. But those hours don't always translate into revenue.

Indeed, while large firms absorb research and other labour intensive work by delegating to junior associates, smaller practices don't have that luxury. Lawyers in small firms and sole practice often can't justify charging full rates for such tasks. Hours of research simply gets written off.

Stephen Taran, president of Taran Virtual Associates, offers these firms a creative solution. Though his legal outsourcing network, he matches project lawyers with firms on a flexible assignment-by-assignment basis.

Written by Alison Huges
Published in Business London Magazine - May 2004