What is BC Law Sage?
BC Law Sage is a modern lexicon of law and legal professionals in British Columbia. The purpose of BC Law Sage is to help users understand the legal landscape in British Columbia by providing the necessary resources to both know and identify legal professionals in British Columbia. Currently, BC Law Sage lists both law firms and lawyers who are law society licensed to practice law in British Columbia.
Law firms have their own dedicated pages including both their contact details and indivual lawyers at the firm. Please note the law firms and lawyers listed on BC Law Sage are not affiliated with BC Law Sage in any manner. BC Law Sage simply provides concise information about law firms and lawyers in British Columbia, Canada so those seeking legal expertise may readily find a professional with the appropriate skill set for their case .
The history of BC Law Sage is a short one, as it really only came to exist in the early months of 2019. BC Law Sage was created to serve a very specific and fundamental purpose in the law and legal profession in British Columbia. It is an independent database that allows users to get smart about the law and legal professionals in the province. Instead of getting lost reading about legal professionals on outdated or incomplete Wikipedia articles, practice area rankings on peer ranking networks, and/or personal websites, you can forgo the gory details and just turn to BC Law Sage, a future-ready resource that focuses on concise information, instead.
The Key Features of a BC Law Sage
BC Law Sage is powered by artificial intelligence and employs machine learning algorithms which leverage a wide-audience crowdsourcing model of legal content creation. When you search online, you get a well-structured answer backed by hundreds of vetted subject-matter experts who write the content themselves in their respective fields of expertise. This is the equivalent of searching legal information on Google in 2018… versus searching in a 1970s bank of law books. The FLIPgroup crowdsourcing model leaves you with well-written short-form, narrow-focused legal information and insights from the jurisdiction’s leading experts that are practical and actionable; instead of endless books, pages of text or lots of pages of results in a search. In addition to being able to access expert legal information, users can submit legal documents to BC Law Sage for review and have these documents reviewed by one of the FLIPgroup’s vetted professionals before being submitted to a BC law firm. Customers are able to quickly match their needs to one of the over 300 pre-defined document templates that the FLIPgroup have created from their real life experience doing legal drafting.
How a BC Law Sage Improves Your Practice
BC Law Sage plays a vital role in supporting the legal ecosystem in British Columbia. It is a repository of knowledge and a guide for lawyers and law firms throughout the province.
Research: Staying Ahead of the Game
Lawyers are expected to stay abreast of the latest developments in the law. Readers need to understand what the law says and how the court is applying the law to new factual scenarios, including those outside of BC. When it comes to precedent, BC Law Sage is an invaluable resource. It provides access to case law that is more current than anywhere else.
Case Management: BC In Your Pocket
Imagine being able to access case law directly from your mobile phone. BC Law Sage is designed for mobile users. BC Law Sage has a free website and mobile app that includes search results, case summaries, and practice area expertise. Users can browse published reasons for judgment, keeping on top of the current jurisprudence. Free alerts notify users to decisions in their practice areas. The website also allows lawyers to post requests for information regarding particular cases.
Every lawyer requires unique resources to clarify or understand the law. BC Law Sage allows users to interview experts, locate other lawyers, and request expert evidence. These resources are provided by members of the BC Law Sage community.
Precedent and the Law: Changes at Warp Speed
The law evolves almost daily. Lawyers are supposed to know what the law is and where it is headed. Lawyers can no longer rely upon one official source for the law, and even the law in black letter is inaccurate. It is possible that the law has changed since the "official version" of the law was posted.
Just as lawyers need a variety of resources, the law needs to be accessible on many platforms. BC Law Sage is organized with today’s technology in mind. Social media posts, video, and podcasts are easily transformed into searchable legal resources. In fact, BC Law Sage aggregates legal materials from various sources and synthesizes and organizes the information into logical groups for easy navigation. BC Law Sage is even examining the use of artificial intelligence to provide users with even more efficient access to the law.
Advantages of Being a Client of a BC Law Sage
Clients of lawyers who subscribe to Gardner Roberts’ legal research service BC Law Sage have the added benefit of access to their lawyer’s case law reports through their BC Law Sage account. We email the case law reports to the client and they can also be downloaded, if desired, from their lawyer’s account. When a new case law report is uploaded to their lawyer’s BC Law Sage account , the client receives an email with a link to find it. They can also log into their BC Law Sage account and see their lawyer’s uploaded client files in a list so they can access them easily. This is in addition to the BC Law Sage Search and Research capabilities which are available to all subscribers. BC Law Sage subscribers can search and book mark all case law and non-case law reports. Lawyers who subscribe can login and see their client files, email them to clients, and download them. Of course, lawyers manually add cases, statutes, regulations, and even emails to their clients BC Law Sage file if they are working on or researching something important to their client or that relates to their file. Clients get these articles and precedents along with the case law reports.
BC Law Sage Success Stories
BC Law Sage has been used in numerous legal situations across British Columbia, proving its versatility and depth of understanding of the complexities of the province’s legal landscape. One such case involved a family law matter where the use of BC Law Sage allowed for a more affordable and efficient resolution. A family court lawyer was tasked with drafting a separation agreement for a client who had limited funds. The lawyer used the information from BC Law Sage to draft a well-informed agreement without having to spend hours researching and preparing the file.
Another example of the success of BC Law Sage is in a corporate law context, where the tool was used by a new small business startup to assist with the incorporation process. The startup incorporated in a day after gaining guidance and information on the type of business structure best suited for their circumstances, as well as guidance on the documents and fees associated with the incorporation of a new business in British Columbia.
A third success story involves the application of BC Law Sage in a litigation context. A personal injury lawyer used BC Law Sage to obtain information on the current personal injury judicial roster in order to select a judge that would be appropriate for the nature of their case. The lawyer made an informed decision from BC Law Sage’s analysis of the judge’s history and experience, leading to a more favorable outcome for the client.
These case studies illustrate the power of BC Law Sage in providing access to accurate and pertinent legal information to those in need. Whether in family, corporate, or litigation law, BC Law Sage has served as a valuable resource for its users in a variety of different circumstances.
The Future of BC Law Sage
As BC Law Sage continues to grow, both in the number of lawyers and firms who use it, as well as the level of queries submitted, it is inevitable that the trends and demands from clients will influence its future direction. We expect that the platform will evolve to better serve the changing regulatory environment that lawyers must navigate, especially in the context of anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorism financing (ATF) initiatives. As governments worldwide, including the Canadian federal government and the British Columbia provincial government, continue to implement new requirements for lawyers, we expect the BC Law Sage platform to adapt and provide still more robust checks, such as tracking and monitoring to ensure compliance.
Going hand-in-hand with these regulatory changes is the growing availability of portable communications devices. Now, no matter where lawyers are, they have access to many more ways of communicating. This has improved referral business , as lawyers can now refer their clients on the spot, upon meeting other lawyers who can assist them. We believe BC Law Sage will adapt to meet this trend, allowing lawyers to refer clients electronically to other lawyers and/or firms almost anywhere.
As more and more changes and technological trends come into play, BC Law Sage will need to continue evolving. A fewer number of lawyers will be managing a ever-increasing number of clients. BC Law Sage will need to automate, keeping in mind the personal touch that many clients still prefer. Moreover, as online methods of bill payment become more common, the firms that are able to adapt and accommodate this will be at an advantage. While legal fees are not the sole factor in hiring a law firm, they are certainly one consideration. The more quickly and easily clients can pay their bills, the more likely they are to work with the firm. We think BC Law Sage will need to evolve to take part in this trend, making it easier to electronically pay bills.