NOVEMBER 2005
2005 CONFERENCE PLATINUM SPONSORS www.tloma.com November 2005 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE November 2005 Inside this Issue hey say as you get older, time goes by more quickly. I can’t think of a year where this was Tmore true. It’s astounding that in a few weeks ❖ Mars and Venus in the we will all be gathering for the TLOMA December Workplace Social and heading into the Holiday season. I look forward to seeing you ❖ Personalities at Work there and toasting to a warm and festive Holiday season and a happy and healthy new year. ❖ The Right to Infect? ❖ Voice Over Internet Fall is budget season for lots of us (the “most wonderful time of the year” for Protocol accountants, I guess!) and TLOMA is no exception. We have recently decided to increase our various fees a nominal amount to reflect the increasing costs ❖ Finance SIG – of all of our expenses (meeting speakers, rooms for meetings, supplies ... you Round Table know the list). Discussion Summary Our membership and Meeting fees will increase as follows: Membership: $250 to $275 plus GST Schedule of Events General Meeting (member) $45 to $47.50 plus GST General Meeting (non-member) $60 to $65 plus GST SIG (non-member/member cancellation charge) $25 to $30 (GST included). HR SIG Thursday, December 1, 2005 We are confident that TLOMA continues to provide huge value for these fees, and we hope you agree. We are looking forward to a new year of very high quality speakers and informative sessions at SIG meetings, as well as the 2006 TLOMA HOLIDAY SOCIAL Friday, December 9, 2005 Conference. If 2006 speeds by as quickly as 2005 did, the Conference will be here before we know it!
Speaking of Conference .... once again, it was a tremendous few days, with BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING speakers that were enlightening as well as educational, great networking Tuesday, December 13, 2005 opportunities in the context of the sessions as well as at the social events, and a very successful Trade Show. We recently had a TLOMA new members’ breakfast, and some of the attendees who had experienced the Conference for “Happy Holidays” the first time remarked at how impressive it was. I have lost count of how many conferences I have attended but despite this, I am impressed year after year at what a dedicated group of volunteers, the Conference Committee, can pull off. It’s truly remarkable! We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Committee, under the leadership of Christl Mittendorfer, for the great experience we had at White Oaks. Christl lead a great team — Barbara Russell, Thom Oakes, John Arcella, Theresa de Ocampo and Angela Duldhart each of whom took time from otherwise full time jobs to pull the event together. We are of course incredibly fortunate to have Liz Barrington as our Director of Administration; the Conference (well, actually, TLOMA as a whole) could not go on without her.
My next message will be my last one as President — again, how the year has flown - and I will be looking forward to passing the torch to Georgia Rennick and working with a revised Board for 2006 as Past President. I will certainly be recapping the year in this space next month, but in the meantime will look forward to toasting the successful year gone by and the new year to come, full of exciting possibilities, at our Social on December 9th at the Courthouse Market Grille. See you there! Susan Hodkinson Chief Administrative Officer Single issue: $8.00 Goodman and Carr LLP Yearly Subscription: $50.00
www.tloma.com 1 November 2005 LEGAL Find hundreds of opportunities @ zsa.ca
Fax: 416.628.7435 Carolyn Berger [email protected] Kelly Smith [email protected] Lana Sim [email protected] Marsha Forde [email protected]
WHAT’S PLAY GOT TO DO WITH IT? my notes and from excerpts MARS AND VENUS IN THE from John Gray’s book: WORKPLACE “How to Get What You Want at Work – A Practical John Gray, Ph.D. Guide for Improving Communication and Getting Submitted by Louise McNeely Results”
Where do I begin? Listening to Dr. John Gray speak, was Martian and Venusian languages use enlightening as well as very entertaining. Dr. Gray does not the same words but the meanings are work from a script; there are no power point slides; there different. are no handouts. It was Dr. Gray applying his expertise in the field of communication to help the audience Nowhere in the workplace do our differences show up more understand, respect and appreciate the differences between dramatically than in the area of communication. Not only men and women in both personal and professional are men and women from different planets, speaking relationships. different languages, but we don’t realize it; we think we are speaking the same language. Although the words are the Dr. Gray spoke to the audience by recounting stories of same, the meaning can be completely different. The same situations that most of us have experienced in such a way expression can easily have a different connotation or that made us laugh, but that also made simple emotional emphasis. Misinterpretation is so common and communication misunderstandings seem so easy to consistent that eventually we develop limiting perspectives understand. If I were to take away one resounding message, of each other. it is: “The more respect there is in the workplace, the more trust will exist”. He repeated this many times while Both men and women form all kinds of incorrect addressing the delegates. I am preparing this article from assumptions, judgments and conclusions about the opposite Continued on page 3
www.tloma.com 2 November 2005 • Often on Mars, anger and frustration are reactions to intimidate and threaten others.
• On Mars, if there is nothing you can do to solve a problem, then there is no reason to be upset about it or talk about it.
• Most men cannot discern the difference between Informed complaining and sharing, because on Mars they simply legal don’t share feelings. hiring decisions • Grumbling on Mars sounds like resentment on Venus. start here. • When men grumble it is not a sign that they don’t care or that they are unwilling to respond to a request. • On Mars while considering a request, a man may moan, groan, scowl, or mumble. This is temporary. • On Venus, when women grumble, it is a sign that they are Look to the 416.365.3153 overworked and need help. [email protected] Robert Half Legal • An angry woman is often seen in a negative light, but an 2006 Salary Guide. BCE Place 181 Bay Street, Suite.820 820 angry man tends to be respected more. Request your Toronto, ON M5J 2T3 FREE copy now! Marsian Gene: roberthalflegal.com • Don’t do anything unless you have to. Example of this: waiting until the last minute to do something (Christmas shopping) Continued on page 5
A Robert Half International Company Robert Half Legal. 0905-5001.b © sex, which then restrict or block our natural willingness to give respect and trust. It is not that men or women are need a inherently or intentionally sexist, instead it is our mutual failure to understand each other’s language that causes much of the injustice in the workplace. In the distant past, leasing to cope with this negative stereotyping, we lived and worked in two different worlds. There was a clear line partner? separating women’s work and men’s work. What is different today is that men and women are working together. While this is a great step of progress, it has also • Specialists in structured placed a new burden on both men and women. Unless we begin to correctly translate our messages and bridge this finance for a wide range of assets planetary communication gap, job dissatisfaction will • technology increase and productivity will decrease. • Asset management • telecommunications solutions If a woman tries to correct a man, it will be taken by the • office furniture man as criticism. When a woman is discussing a problem, • Full Disclosure • leasehold improvements and the man says: “Don’t worry about it”, she will become For more information please call extremely irritated and think he is not listening to her. Men Wendy Scott at 905-780-6150 ext. 211 communicate in a manner that allows them to save face – or by email at [email protected] women need to learn to do this better.
• “Sharing” on Venus sounds like complaining on Mars. Maxium Financial Services Inc. When women share negative feelings, a man hears www.maxium.net “complaining”.
www.tloma.com 3 November 2005 Support for
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and for TLOMA
Chris Stoate, President, LaserNetworks & Proud Supporter of TLOMA
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www.tloma.com 4 November 2005 • Don’t take it personally. Women don’t need to play by male rules, but they need to • Until a man sees that something doesn’t work he doesn’t take them into consideration. Women tend to communicate want to change it. in a manner that will be heard by the recipient. Women who communicate like men to get ahead, alienate themselves Venusian Gene: from other women. Further, if women don’t honour their femininity, they also risk alienating other women. • To improve, make things better. There are many challenges for women today. There was a By offering quick solutions, a man mistakenly thinks that time when men did men’s stuff and women did women’s he is making a good impression. Our biggest mistakes: Men stuff. Today we intersect more and, this is good. There are interrupt women with solutions; women make unsolicited a lot of advantages but many challenges as well. Rules in suggestions. To offer a man unsolicited advice is to the work world are from Mars, which is a challenge for presume that he doesn’t know what to do or that he can’t do women. it on his own. By sharing a problem, a woman is not implying that she could not come up with the solution on Men are the Masters of Receiving. Women are the Masters her own. Action is most relaxing for him, while talking is of Giving. The more you give to a male, the more you are often more relaxing for women. reinforcing that he is doing something to deserve it.
Talking about a problem on Mars is an invitation for advice. The workplace is not just about the bottom line –it is Talking about a problem on Venus is NOT an invitation for • about the bottom line advice. • it is about people • it is about children Men are excellent at advertising who they are: “I did this... • it is about the environment I did that…”. It is not in a woman’s nature to advertise. If a woman advertises, all the other women get upset. But, when women don’t advertise their abilities, a man often Continued on page 6 concludes that she has no successes to advertise.
In the workplace, women give ten times more compliments than men do. Women are cooperative, harmonious nurturers. A woman’s sense of self in the workplace is defined primarily by the quality of her work relationships.
On Venus, morale in the workplace is more about the quality of communication and less about the bottom line. Specializing in the Recruitment of On Venus women are more concerned with expressing Qualified Legal Professionals virtues like goodness, consideration and relatedness. On Mars, sometimes a round of golf and small talk is the best Senior Corporate Executives*Law Clerks*Legal way for men to seal a deal as well as strengthen loyalty. Assistants*Accounting*Administrative*Office Services How do Martians and Venusians deal with stress? PERMANENT*CONTRACT*TEMPORARY
❖ Men need to solve the problem, this reduces their stress. Please Contact: Sharon Page Men under stress = A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder). or Mary Anne Divjak ❖ Women need to talk about the problem to reduce their 1235 Bay Street, #1000, Toronto Ont. M5R 3K4 stress. They need to find a sounding board that is not interrupting them with solutions and that is willing to Phone: 416 934 5564 listen. Fax: 416 515 1273 What looks like stress to a woman is a de-stesser for a man. email: [email protected] When men are focused, they tend to do one thing at a time. www.trafalgar.to They are “solving the problem”. When Marsians are under stress, the whole mind is applied to one problem and they tend to miss the little stuff.
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Success today is due in large part to women – caring about WHAT’S PLAY GOT TO DO WITH IT? employees, customers etc. Women have a great deal of PERSONALITIES AT WORK: purchasing power – Men need to do more of the caring. A woman wants a relationship – she will pay more for a product to have a relationship with a supplier. Free Traits and Third Natures
To get ahead in the workplace women have to adjust for Submitted by Jennifer Norman men and men have to adjust for women when Dr. Brian Little holds joint appointments at Harvard and communicating with each other. Everyone needs to be Carleton University. At Carlton he is Distinguished concerned about how they look, how they sound, and the Research Professor Emeritus and at Harvard he lectures in approach they take in their communications with the the Department of Psychology. Described as a cross opposite sex to obtain a successful outcome. between Robin Williams and Einstein, Dr. Little is one of There are so many other observations that Dr. Gray shared the most engaging and entertaining speakers we have with us, but the message that he was sending “loud and enjoyed at TLOMA. clear” is: Fundamentally everyone deserves RESPECT. Dr. Little has combined scholarly research with his own Louise McNeely empathetic human nature to describe some personality Office Administrator traits in a manner that we can identify with, learn about and Lawrence, Lawrence, Stevenson LLP potentially utilize to our advantage within the workplace.
We were asked to look both forward and backward simultaneously. Forward to the world and workplace we live in that requires constant updating of skills to keep up in our jobs and backward to how we did in school. In all Continued on page 7
www.tloma.com 6 November 2005 grades but for one notable exception, Introverts tend to do 3. Are you an optimistic person (high) or a pessimistic better in academic subjects. They are 2 1/2 times more person (low)? likely to get a first class degree than Extroverts. 4. Are you a thick skinned individual (high) or thin If we look back at the early learning patterns of the two skinned person (low)? groups, the Extravert peaks in his or her learning style in Kindergarten. This is the last year this group is permitted 5. Are you a blunt and straight forward communicator to be engaged in the learning process. In Grade 1, the (high) or rather more diplomatically sensitive in the Introverts start winning the academic race. Dr. Little says way you communicate, perhaps overly sensitive the Introverts can be heard singing “I can sit still, I’m going (low)? to be an Accountant” as they pull ahead in the learning 6. Do you have a high need for excitement (high) or a style that our schools best excel at teaching. low need for excitement (low)? Is this because Extroverts are less intelligent? No, it is most 7. Are you a fast paced person (high) or a slow paced likely to do with the learning styles of the two groups. In a person (low)? format, such as listening to a lecturer, an Introvert is able to sit and listen. An Extrovert must be actively engaged or 8. Do you have a high need for social contact (high) or they get bored. This shows up in the office when a new a low need for social contact (low) – not necessarily piece of equipment is introduced. An Extrovert will antagonistic or enmity? immediately start playing with it. In fact the word most often heard from an Extravert is “Whoops”. The Introvert 9. Are you a spontaneous person (high) or more will be busily reading the Manual. They like structure, planful /circumspect person, think before you act (low)? clarity and good order. It is best to give an Introvert the material in advance so they can anticipate what is going to 10. Would you rate yourself as an Extrovert (high) or take place. Introvert (low)?
The Extroverts bottom out at Grade 10 and are frequently Now add up your score. It should range between 0 and 100. labeled stupid. Being an Extrovert does not make them (Or, as Dr. Little says, you need to add it again!) This will stupid, however, they are much more likely to be bored in assess your dimension of extroversion. The higher number school than the Introverts. When they are not kept fully you score, the higher your personal level of extroversion. engaged they simply zone out.
We were asked to complete a short questionnaire. This was Continued on page 8 both tactical and strategic. It kept us engaged and interested in his talk. The Extroverts even stayed awake! -OISTURE #ONTROL 3ERVICES You can complete the Questionnaire yourself. Rate the $/#5-%.4!4)/. -%$)! 2%34/2!4)/. 3%26)#%3 following 10 questions with either a high score or a low score. High being 7 – 10 marks and low being 0-3. If you feel you are in -ATERIALS $AMAGED BY 7ATER s &IRE s 3MOKE s -OULD -ILDEW the middle you score the question given between 4 and 6. s #RITICAL $OCUMENTS s "OOKS s 0APERS s 8 RAYS 1. Do you see yourself as an s "LUE 0RINTS s 0HOTOGRAPHS outgoing person (high s .EGATIVES s &ILM ETC score) or on the reserved side (low scores)? HOURS DAYS 2. Are you an easily bored person (high if you are or -5.4%23 low if you are not)? WWWMUNTERSMCSCOM
www.tloma.com 7 November 2005 Scores within the appropriate norms are – 60 or more you goals. Contrary to those advocating notions of fixed are on the extroverted side. If you scored 54 or less think traits…ones we cannot change or break away from, Dr. of yourself as more introverted. If you scored 55 to 59 you Little concludes that personalities at work are still adaptive. are an Ambivert – depending on the situation or context you can go either way. He has been voted one of the favorite lecturers at Harvard and I think TLOMA attendees would agree. His own Dr. Little then explored the popular notion that professional aspiration, at a height of approximately 5’ 9”, personalities are composed of “fixed traits” (such as remains to play point guard for the Toronto Raptors. If a extraversion or neuroticism). He shows how there are, sense of humour makes points, Jose Calderon better indeed, certain stable aspects of personality that predict watch out. intriguing differences in how we communicate, perform tasks and engage in social activities. But he also showed Jennifer Norman HR Manager that personalities don’t always work that way. People often Fogler, Rubinoff LLP act “out of character” by engaging in “free traits”. For example, introverts can be “pseudo-extraverts” and (vice- versa). We often act against our “first natures” in order to WHAT’S PLAY GOT TO DO WITH IT? advance projects that are essential to our own or others’ THE RIGHT TO INFECT? well-being. Such behaviour can be motivated by professionalism and by love. But it can also extract a cost. Unless we are afforded the opportunity to find “restorative Protecting your systems from music CD based rootkits niches” in which to reclaim our first natures, our Charles Bennett - MBA, Principal Consultant, Triella psychological and physical health may suffer. Consequently we need a Free Trait Agreement with those Rootkits are the newest form of malware affecting we love and with whom we work in which we are able to computer systems. They have the capacity to render a be ourselves at the same time as we advance our common system completely useless and can remain undetected by antivirus and antispyware programs. Imagine for a minute that a tooth is representative of the Windows operating system. Following that analogy, malware represents Thinking Digital Dictation? different types of decay that can happen to a tooth. Thinking Speech Recognition? Think of Canada’s Leading Dictation Distributor!
Choose from: • Philips Digital Dictation Viruses, like bacteria, attack the surface of the tooth – or the • Olympus Digital Dictation outer layers of Windows. They are easy to spot and • Dragon NaturallySpeaking relatively easy to remove and prevent. Spyware attacks at a deeper level within the tooth, often leaving the surface Buy Direct & Save untouched even though there is decay in the lower levels. Call, Email or Shop Online! Your Windows computer may perform just fine, but its 800-518-2552, Ext 320 security is compromised by a hidden program which is [email protected] www.talk2me.com transferring confidential information to an external source.
Continued on page 9
www.tloma.com 8 November 2005 Rootkits are the worst. For a tooth, fixing this kind of However, other CD’s from Sony/BMG may also contain decay would require a root canal. The rootkit also has the rootkit so look for the web site cp.sonybmg.com/xcp on access to the very life of the tooth and could cause the back of the CD. irreparable damage. For Windows, a rootkit operates at the lowest level in the operating system and is able to perform HOW DO YOU REMOVE THE ROOTKIT? any function without restriction. Rootkits are very difficult If you go to the following site, http://cp.sonybmg.com/ to detect as they can shield themselves from programs that xcp/english/updates.html, you can find a patch to remove the operate at a higher level – such as antivirus and antispyware cloaking technology from your computer. This does not software. remove the rootkit, it only exposes the rootkit to other software. To completely uninstall the rootkit, you must Sony has developed a rootkit and placed in on their music make a request at the following site: CD’s to protect their CD’s from being copied. The rootkit http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/form14.html. Sony will hides any file or function which includes the character then send you detailed instructions for removing the $sys$ at the beginning of its name. It also sends rootkit. Once removed, you will not be able to play Sony information about where the music CD is being played music CD’s on your computer. back to Sony. The problem is, the rootkit is poorly written and opens the door allowing virus writers to cloak their IT’S TIME TO TAKE ACTION! viruses from antivirus and antispyware software. Perhaps it is time to prohibit the use of original music CD’s in the workplace. Software that can make a system so See the sidebar “Chronology of a Viral Exploit Based on vulnerable is a threat to the integrity and privacy of data XCP” (pages 10 and 11) for more information on the within any organization. XCP was available for 8 months impact of this rootkit. before any antivirus company detected it – likely because it HOW ARE YOU INFECTED? was music CD based and specific to one vendor. What if a virus writer had detected it first? The potential damage An infection happens whenever a Sony music CD with could have been greater. XCP technology is loaded. You will be asked to accept a license agreement (which makes no mention of the rootkit). The response time for antivirus vendors was just one day Upon acceptance, the rootkit is installed and your system is short of the response time of those creating a virus to compromised. This can happen on a home PC as easily as exploit the XCP rootkit. In practical terms, considering the it happens on a corporate PC. time that it takes to distribute an update, the antivirus solution may not have been soon enough for some users. WHICH MUSIC CD’S ARE AFFECTED? The following CD’s are known to contain the rootkit XCP. We can all agree that Sony has the write to protect its intellectually property but I don’t think they have the right • Trey Anastasio, Shine (Columbia) to steal computer resources with underlying programs or • Celine Dion, On ne Change Pas (Epic) compromise the security of a computer in their quest to • Neil Diamond, 12 Songs (Columbia) protect their assets, particularly in such a covert manner. • Our Lady Peace, Healthy in Paranoid Times (Columbia) • Chris Botti, To Love Again (Columbia) • Van Zant, Get Right with the Man (Columbia) Continued on page 10 • Switchfoot, Nothing is Sound (Columbia) • The Coral, The Invisible Invasion (Columbia) • Acceptance, Phantoms (Columbia) • Susie Suh, Susie Suh (Epic) • Amerie, Touch (Columbia) • Life of Agony, Broken Valley (Epic) • Horace Silver Quintet, Silver’s Blue (Epic Legacy) For comprehensive file storage, management and services, • Gerry Mulligan, Jeru (Columbia Legacy) call the experts at Iron Mountain. • Dexter Gordon, Manhattan Symphonie (Columbia Legacy) www.ironmountain.com • The Bad Plus, Suspicious Activity (Columbia) 1-800-899-IRON • The Dead 60s, The Dead 60s (Epic) • Dion, The Essential Dion (Columbia Legacy) © 2004 Iron Mountain Canada Corporation. All rights reserved. Iron Mountain and the design of the mountain are trademarks of Iron Mountain Incorporated. • Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten (Epic)
www.tloma.com 9 November 2005 CHRONOLOGY OF A VIRAL EXPLOIT BASED ON XCP
March 2005 – XCP Created The company First 4 Internet creates a program to protect Sony’s music CD’s from copying and then cloaks the program using a rootkit. This is a part of Sony’s digital rights program – the right to protect their products from piracy. The rootkit is called XCP. New music CD’s are released with XCP as a part of the CD. The rootkit prevents the music from being copied to a hard disk or MP3 player and sends information back to Sony about where the CD is being played. There is no disclosure concerning XCP in the End User License Agreement.
November 2, 2005 – Rootkit Discovered
XCP installs, without your permission, whenever you play specific Sony music CD’s on your computer. But, XCP is poorly written. When a user attempts to manually remove XCP from a computer, it renders the CD ROM drive inoperable. The software also caused instabilities in Windows sometimes causing systems to freeze altogether. The only way to recover is to reinstall Windows from scratch. There is no uninstallation tool for XCP.
November 6, 2005 – Rootkit Exploited by Gamers
Blizzard, a company that makes the computer game World of WarCraft introduced a piece of spyware called The Warden, designed to sniff out cheaters using their online gaming service. Because the Sony rootkit was so poorly written, gamers discovered that by just renaming a single file, they could employ Sony’s rootkit to mask their cheating efforts.
November 7, 2005 – Law Suit
Italy files a law suit against Sony as certain music CD’s install a rootkit on a computer – an act which in and off itself is not illegal but which has significant ramifications for the security of a system.
November 8, 2005 – No Concern
Sony’s president, Thomas Hesse, downplays the rootkit as being of no concern. “Most people, I think, don’t even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?” he said. At the same time Sony releases a service pack that uncloaks the rootkit.
Continued on page 11
www.tloma.com 10 November 2005 November 10, 2005 – Antivirus Vendors Respond November 14, 2005 – Microsoft Steps Up the Campaign Two of the many anti virus vendors officially declare Sony’s rootkit as a threat to systems and design removal Microsoft announces that in addition to removing the tools to deal with it. rootkit with AntiSpyware, it will also include the removal technology in the Malicious Software Removal November 11, 2005 – Sony Rootkit Exploited Tool and in Windows Defender, the antispyware software to be included in Longhorn, the next Two Trojan virus programs take advantage of the Sony commercially available version of Windows. rootkit to hide and distribute themselves from computer to computer over the Internet.
Sony announces that it is suspending the use of XCP Charles Bennett is the President of Triella, a technology consulting technology on its music CD’s. company specializing in providing technology audits, planning advice, project management and other CIO related services to small and November 12, 2005 – US Class Action Lawsuit medium sized firms. He can be reached at [email protected] or Launched 416.269.4368. For additional articles, go to www.triella.com. © 2005, by Triella. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is New York and California join Italy in launching a class prohibited. action law suit against Sony.
November 13, 2005 – More Antivirus Companies Come on Board
Microsoft announces that it will incorporate technology to remove the rootkit into their AntiSpyware software.
www.tloma.com 11 November 2005 Michael L. Cooper & Group Four Management
would like to congratulate
Carol Nichol
of
Thornton Grout Finnigan LLP for 10 Yrs of client loyalty on the eve of her retirement.
We wish Carol happy travels, relaxing days, and tranquil nights to come.
GROUP FOUR MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS Legal Secretaries, Law Clerks, Financial, Marketing Human Resources, Management
126 Hazelton Ave M5R 2E5 416.961.4555
www.tloma.com 12 November 2005 Michael L. Cooper & Group Four Management
would like to congratulate
Charlene Stanway
Upon her appointment as
Administrator Thornton Grout Finnigan LLP Insolvency & Litigation Boutique
We represented TGF LLP in this search and are proud and confident in the appointment of Charlene.
We wish her many years of success!
GROUP FOUR MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS Legal Secretaries, Law Clerks, Financial, Marketing Human Resources, Management
126 Hazelton Ave M5R 2E5 416.961.4555
www.tloma.com 13 November 2005 17TH ANNUAL TLOMA CONFERENCE
www.tloma.com 14 November 2005 17TH ANNUAL TLOMA CONFERENCE
www.tloma.com 15 November 2005
www.tloma.com 16 November 2005
www.tloma.com 17 November 2005 Gift, Prize & Service Contributors
TLOMA 17th Annual Educational Conference
Adelaide Floral & Gift Baskets National Therapy Products All Canadian Courier Oxford Properties Group Inc. Allure Event Planning Panasonic Canada Inc. Amago Restaurants Parador Interactive Inc. Assman Dictating Systems of Canada Philips Speech Processing/ Barbara A. Schwartz & Associates Ltd. Talk 2 Me Technology Inc. Bella Caramella Pitney Bowes Management Services Canada, Inc. Bond Street Collections Incorporated Print Infinity Brown Consulting Group Randstad Canada Canadian Bar Insurance Association Robarts Graphics Canadian Process Serving Robert Half International Inc. Cell-A-Net Inc. Rogers AT&T Wireless Compass Group Canada Ronen Systems Ltd. Congruent IP Communications Running Room Canada Inc. Corporate Logoed Products Ltd. Safeguard Business Printing and Promotional Products Craftwell Canada Inc. Salumatics Inc. Duocom SCI Interiors EnterActive Team Solutions Sesame Networks First Canadian Title Southwest Binding Systems Flavia Beverage Systems/Imperial Coffee Souvenir Canada Gilmore Staffing St. Andrews Club & Conference Centre Global Personnel Stewart Title Guaranty Company Grand & Toy Limited Sumptuous Catering by Eric Rogers Group Four PartnersManagement Ltd. Consultants Supon Enterprises Limited Hilton Toronto Susan P Elliot Inc. Hofstetter Business Technologies Tandberg Canada Inc. Hummingbird Telus Mobility Inn on the Twenty The Adelaide Club International Custom Products The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited Investors Group - Barry Hughes The Coaching Clinic Jarvis & Associates The Printing House Lasercorp The Promotional Specialists Legal Personnel Consultants Inc. The Sports Clubs of Canada Lexmark Canada Inc. The Writing Consultants Lighthouse Legal Software Title Plus Linds & Associates Toronto Marriott Eaton Centre Lyreco Office Products Triella Mainline Services Inc. United Messengers Ltd. Maxium Financial Services Inc. White Oakes Conference Resort & Spa Metropolitan Hotel Toronto Xenex Media Corp. MHW Communications ZSA Legal Recruitment Mr. Case National Presentation Products
Continued on page 18 www.tloma.com 18 November 2005 www.tloma.com 19 November 2005 WHAT’SVOICE OVER PLAY INTERNET GOT TO DO PROTOCOL WITH IT?
Submitted by David Komaromi
Many businesses are considering VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) technology without fully understanding what it takes to ensure a stable environment. Cost is the single most prohibitive factor that leads to cutting corners. There are many obstacles that get overlooked, or simply taken for granted when implementing this technology. Mostly people do not appreciate the full capabilities of the technology and as a result may not fully benefit from what VoIP offers. anywhere in the world that has high speed internet available. Focus on these four key areas in your business: Infrastructure, Integration, Mobility and Productivity. Productivity is the area where this technology can have a significant return on investment. Just saving 10 minutes a Infrastructure is the single most important component you day for 100 lawyers, at an average rate of $300/hr is need to address before implementing VoIP and often $5000/day, generates numbers that are staggering. By difficult to justify due to costs. When moving into VoIP, the increasing productivity, the hope is that this time can be goal is to consolidate your voice, data and video traffic over reinvested into a lawyer’s practice. Add on components a single wiring infrastructure. By combining all of these such as CISCO IPCC (IP Contact Center) – can be used for services into one infrastructure you leverage on your your IT Support Desk to increase their overall efficiency. investment, but that does not go without challenges. A Better capabilities on the phone can facilitate secretarial good design begins by not cutting corners, buying the right sharing, such as distinctive rings, intercoms, or even equipment will only pay off for future enhancements. messaging between lawyers and assistants. Many businesses now understand the importance of a good infrastructure and are making significant progress building There are many other ways this technology can improve it. However, many times electrical systems get overlooked productivity within the business. For more resources on or simply underrated. Battery backup for edge switches is various development tools, applications surf to costly and typically not necessary during a long power www.hotsitpatch.com. There are all kinds of applications outage in a pre-VoIP environment. It is absolutely critical out there that are not suited for large corporate now! Power quality, power distribution, battery backup deployments, so be careful… and runtime are critical for VoIP. With PoE (Power Over In summary, this technology is here to stay. The next three Ethernet), you need to ensure your edge switches that to five years VoIP will truly be mainstream. If you are in provide power to your phones don’t go down. Do not the position where you are considering this technology, take overlook this! some time to do it right. Use strong partners to help address Integration can be achieved only by truly understanding the the issues described in this article. Educate yourself about capabilities of the technology. Just about anything can be the technology and the capabilities. Keep your existing integrated. A corporate telephone directory is system healthy and invest in infrastructure. a simple example of how an interface on the Dave Komaromi telephone could enhance the experience for Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP the end user. Or integrate a CRM system to provide client Email: [email protected] information on the phone, powerful yet simple to implement. Storage for TLOMA Mobility is one of the most noticeable and enhancing aspects. By allowing someone to take their office number provided by to other sites or even into their home, provides them with the ability to work seamlessly as if they were in their own office. Imagine the software version of the VoIP phone running on a laptop where you can have your phone
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www.tloma.com 21 November 2005 Comments: FINANCE SIG – - Six months with interest on declining balance ROUND TABLE - Over 4 years – no interest DISCUSSION SUMMARY - Over 5 years - Every quarter over 2 years with interest Submitted by Stephen Firth - Within 60 days no capital On September 27, 2005 the Finance section held a round - Over 8 years – no interest table discussion focusing primarily on Partner retirement - Over 12 months with interest until paid and disability issues. The meeting was well attended and a - 90% in 2 months - 10% on completion of audit - no very special thanks is extended to Dennis Nault interest. (Bereskin&Parr), Gerry Tipold (Lenczner, Slaght), and - Cap on amount paid out in capital each year. Could be Keith Cassidy (McMillan Binch), for their comments and immediate or over 2 years depending on extent of payouts expertise. The panel covered a wide range of ideas with that do not exceed 10% of income representatives from small, medium and large law firms. The session was very lively and I was certainly given the Question: sense that the information discussed was both practical and helpful to all those that attended. Do Partners on retirement receive any special payments – for WIP, annual or lump sum payment or a form of Prior to the meeting a form was circulated asking various pension? questions and I would like to thank the individuals that Does your firm have mandatory RSP contributions for completed the form. The form has been summarized below Partners? with the questions and answers received before, during and Comments: after the session. - How long do the payments continue after retirement? - 50% of WIP less wind down costs (severance of staff) Question: - set amount per year for 5 years – indexed – and partially Does your firm have mandatory retirement age for funded each year and held as capital. Partners? What age? - lump sum payment - determined by management for each Partner Comments: 4 no, 6 @65, 1 @70 with renewable 2 year contract Question: renewable year to year. 1 @75 Do you maintain disability insurance for Partners?
Question: Does the Partnership agreement have any criteria for the removal of Partners from the Partnership after a lengthy Do you have specific guidelines for Partners to stay on disability period? after reaching the mandatory retirement age? Can they stay on as Partners or Counsel? Comments: Most firms have LTD paid by the Partner due to tax Comments: considerations. Generally at least 50% of income covered. Generally all at discretion of Partnership if anything in One firm has a policy of treating Partner as a retired Partner place. if the Partner is unable to return to work within a one year Most firms have a business case model for Partners to stay period following the fiscal year in which the Partner on after the predetermined retirement age. became incapacitated. – treated as retired Partner. Generally a vote with 66-75% acceptance by voting Most firms indicated this is the weakest part of their Partners for Partner to stay on. Partnership agreement.
Question: On retirement how soon is Capital repaid to Partners? If payments spread out over time do they receive interest on their capital until fully paid?
Continued on page 22
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Question: Most set by points committee. How are monthly and quarterly draws to Partners set? Is it Some use 3 year billing average also Executive Committee a formula based on expected compensation? and Managing Partner to receive 10% more for their role compared to other Partners in the same category. Comments: Partner Accountability and Personal Performance Most by formula – based on draws but distribute around 60- agreements completed yearly giving overview of what the 70% of estimated income. Partner has done for the year. Monthly draw set – quarterly draw depending on cash flow. Some firms are using profitability model based on direct Some firms based on available cash flow. cost of running the practice taken into consideration. Also some firms give consideration to supervision and Question: training, involvement in Professional Associations, Firm Management. In determining Partner’s compensation what statistical information is used to assist in the evaluation? One firm has a "straight mathematical calculation based on cash receipts, net of disbursements written off – with credit Billings given to origination". Work origination Cash receipts Stephen Firth Director of Finance and Administration Associate Leverage Koskie Minsky LLP Comments: All items taken into consideration – main factors billings, origination and cash receipts and use of associates all play a factor.
www.tloma.com 23 November 2005 2004/052004/05 TLOMATLOMA Board Board ofof DirectorsDirectors President Bus: 416.595.2373 / Fax: 416.595.0567 Happy Holidays Susan Hodkinson Email: [email protected] Vice President Bus: 416.865.7743 / Fax: 416.863.1515 Georgia Rennick Email: [email protected] Secretary Bus: 416.367.6396 / Fax: 416.361.2793 Marsha Hempel Email: [email protected] Treasurer/Finance SIG Bus: 416.595.2124 / Fax: 416.977.3316 Stephen Firth Email: [email protected] Program Coordinator Bus: 416.364.6211 / Fax: 416.364.1697 Christl Mittendorfer Email: [email protected] Past President Bus: 416.777.2398 / Fax: 416.365.1398 Linda Ryan Email: [email protected] Facilities SIG Bus: 416.601.7625 / Fax: 416.868.0673 Lynn Joiner Email: [email protected] Human Resources SIG Bus: 416.216.2314 / Fax: 416.216.3930 Barbara Greene Email: [email protected] Technology SIG Bus: 416.367.6923 / Fax: 416.863.0871 Ivaylo Nikolov Email: [email protected] TLOMATLOMA Administration Administration Director of Administration Bus: 416.410.1979 / Fax: 905.472.5115 Liz Barrington Email: [email protected] 2004/05 Newsletter Committee Editor Bus: 416.367.6396 / Fax: 416.361.2793 Marsha Hempel Email: [email protected] Advertising Bus: 416.410.1979 / Fax: 905.472.5115 Liz Barrington Email: [email protected] DECEMBER 2005 DECEMBER 2005 2004/052004/05 Compensation/BenefitsCompensation/Benefits CommitteeCommittee Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 12 3 Small Firms
HR SIG Pam Kennedy Bus: 416.956.5633 [email protected] 45678910 Frances Wales Bus: 905.273.3300 TLOMA HOLIDAY SOCIAL [email protected]
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 TLOMA Mid Sized Firms BOARD OF DIRECTORS Christine McGiffin Bus: 416.957.1674 MEETING [email protected] 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Stella DiMauro Bus: 416.369.4153 [email protected] 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Large Firms Barbara Greene Bus: 416.216.2314 (Chair) [email protected] Lynda Stewart Dame Bus: 416.367.6924 [email protected] JANUARY 2006 Hannah Won Bus: 416.865.7390 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday [email protected] 1 234567 20052005 ConferenceConference CommitteeCommittee
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Christl Mittendorfer Bus: 416.364.6211 Chair [email protected] John Arcella Bus: 416.862.3446 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Speaker Liaison [email protected] Liz Barrington Bus: 416.410.1979 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Co-Chair/Administration [email protected] Teresa de Ocampo Bus: 416.601.4143 29 30 31 Social Liaison [email protected] Angela Duldhardt Bus: 416.203.4454 Hotel Liaison [email protected] Thomas Oakes Bus: 416.601.8900 Marketing Liaison [email protected] TLOMA Thanks Dye & Durham Barbara Russell Bus: 416.865.3557 for the production of this newsletter. Vendor Liaison [email protected]
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