The Canadian Lawyers Insurance Association (CLIA), along with the Law Society of Saskatchewan, present the following:
Bite Size CPD: Practice Management
For several years, the Law Society of Saskatchewan has developed the Bite Size CPD Series. These informative under-10-minute video episodes cover a variety of topics and are available for all to view on the Law Society website. A new episode is released each Thursday.
In case you missed it, over the summer the Law Society released several useful videos to help with various practice management issues, including:
• Episode 179: Staying on Your Lane:
Many negligence and discipline cases arise because the practitioner went outside their areas of competency. Reviewing the Code of Professional Conduct’s requirements can help overcome temptations to exceed one’s capabilities.
• Episode 180: Process Management Part 1 – Introduction:
Process management sounds complicated, but it can be as simple as a checklist. This episode looks at ways legal professionals can benefit by systemizing their tasks.
• Episode 181: Process Management Part 2 – Checklists:
Last week’s episode examined how process management can help deliver high quality legal work. The second episode in the series looks at how processes can be easily managed through checklists.
• Episode 182: Process Management Part 3 – Tools:
The last two Bite Size episodes examined the advantages of process management when delivering legal services. This conclusion to the series highlights some software and services to help adopt those routines.
• Episode 185: Windows 10 End of Life:
Windows 10 is still the world’s most popular desktop operating system, but support and updates will end in October 2025. This episode discusses why that is an issue for legal practitioners, and steps to take.
• Episode 186: Managing Mistakes:
Legal professionals are held to a high standard of competence, but mistakes inevitably occur. This episode reviews how practitioners and offices can make plans and handle errors effectively.
CLIA Wellness Toolkit: Emotional Intelligence
As noted by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, “legal professionals are at higher risk of experiencing stress, anxiety, depression and substance use than are other professionals”. We also know that many claims result from wellness issues. As such, CLIA recognizes the importance of promoting wellness for the profession.
To help, in 2025 CLIA compiled numerous wellness resources into an Online Wellness Toolkit. The focus of the Toolkit is based on the findings of the National Study on the Health and Wellness Determinants of Legal Professionals in Canada prepared by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, the Canadian Bar Association and the Université de Sherbrooke.
Our online Wellness Toolkit houses resources to assist you in detecting warning signs in yourself and others, provide more information for those in higher-risk groups, and tools to deal with risks specific to the legal profession. One specific topic is Developing Skills to Preserve Health, such as Emotional Intelligence. Resources include:
• Emotional Intelligence: The Essential Skill for the Workplace and Life (LAWPRO)
This resource includes the benefits of good emotional intelligence skills, how enhancing your emotional intelligence can make you a more effective lawyer, how to test your emotional intelligence and five practice tips for building emotional intelligence.
• Why Lawyers Need to Be Taught More About Emotional Intelligence (International Bar Association)
The evidence suggests that emotional intelligence (EI) – the ability to engage with your own and others’ emotions – is highly useful for lawyers in numerous ways. The author investigates how EI can help lawyers and the current degree of interest being taken by law firms and companies in developing lawyers’ EI.
• How Emotional Intelligence Makes You a Better Lawyer (American Bar Association)
An interview with Ronda Muir, author of “Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence”, which includes chapters on the business case for EI lawyers, ways EI builds more successful law firms and law departments, how to achieve an EI workplace, as well as EI assessments and worksheets.
Each Tuesday and Wednesday you can expect an informative post from CLIA on topics to better help you manage your practice, avoid errors and understand your insurance coverage needs. To receive these posts directly in your inbox, please subscribe!