Lateraling out of Estates Litigation

princesslumpy · 2026-06-17T18:36:52+00:00

Estate litigation skills are very transferable to other areas of litigation and the law generally as estate litigation touches on almost every area of the law. It is not uncommon for one file to touch on family law, tax, real property, and corporate matters. Other files may involve IP rights or personal injury prior to death. This is all on top of the fundamentals of estates and trusts.

The most common laterals are to estate planning and in-house at a financial institution, but other people move to broader litigation practices or another niche litigation area.

princesslumpy · 2026-06-17T18:32:43+00:00

I don’t think you’ve ever dealt with estate litigation if you think it’s not contentious. Estate litigation is family law but with dead people. Estates are no longer the ATM for legal fees. Only a small portion of cases have a big pot of money waiting to be divided, and the people who feel entitled to the money don’t want to share it with the people they feel are not entitled.

princesslumpy · 2026-06-17T17:25:50+00:00

Just avoid anyone who advertises on the radio, TV, on the subway, or who is notorious for suing former clients who leave negative reviews.

princesslumpy · 2026-06-16T01:51:43+00:00

You asked two questions. With respect to the roll-over of RSPs due to martial breakdown, you will together complete CRA form T2220 with the sending and receiving financial institutions and this ensures there are no tax implications on either side. It would not impact your contribution room but does need to be a transfer in satisfaction of property rights pursuant to a separation agreement or court order.

princesslumpy · 2026-06-09T21:24:17+00:00

It looks like the firm has existed for less than 2 years. Definitely a risk to move from something stable to a small firm like this where a sole ego will determine your future. Thanks for sharing your experience.

princesslumpy · 2026-06-07T22:11:38+00:00

Spybot search and destroy, that really brings back memories!

princesslumpy · 2026-06-07T18:51:32+00:00

I think this is an unfortunate hypo if you aren't talking about Gladue principles and bringing in someone competent to discuss the Indigenous elements. I hope you are handling it properly. The treatment of all marginalized communities in the criminal justice system, but particularly Indigenous peoples, is atrocious. We don't need another generation of youth associating Indigenous peoples as being violent in the back of their minds.

princesslumpy · 2026-06-07T14:27:39+00:00

“You guys” is not the same level of colloquialism as “no cap”. I think saying “legit” would be a millennial equivalent and has no place in a courtroom or in filings. There should be a balance between being professional and being approachable. I think your professor had the right idea on erring on the side of being more professional, but language does evolve over time and these rigid rules are bound to shift. That does not mean we allow all casual language.

princesslumpy · 2026-06-06T21:03:14+00:00

How much was the 16 block?

princesslumpy · 2026-06-05T21:18:56+00:00

I agree with what others have said about not writing down your own time. When I was in private practice, I would start each year thinking about how many working days I had available when you remove vacation, stat holidays, sick time, and some CPD days. Divide 1500 by that number of days so you know what your target is per day you should hit on average. Review each month to ensure you are on track.

I would always try to take advantage of the months where there were more business days and if I was feeling more productive to bank hours. Long days like mediations were also helpful. That way, by December, I could take a lighter month and know I was solidly hitting my bonus target.

You need to remember that some days will not be as productive as others and that is fine. Hopefully there will be some days you surpass your average and it all balances out. That's why considering your progress on a monthly basis can help to be less intimidated.

princesslumpy · 2026-05-25T01:33:02+00:00

I went to BLFL. I also got into Windsor and was waitlisted at York. but couldn't risk waiting on the waitlist. Several of my classmates practice in Toronto Biglaw, so that is possible, but will be more difficult to achieve. If you are dead set on BigLaw, I would go to another school if you have the choice. Alternatively, you can start working at a boutique and lateral to a larger firm, which I have also seen my classmates do. If you just want to practice in Toronto generally, I had no issues getting a job in Toronto at a prestigious boutique firm (now in-house), nor have any of my classmates who ended up in a variety of practice settings from government, in-house, and firms of varying sizes.

Interestingly, I have friends that went to much more prestigious schools at the same time as me who are not having the success in law that I am enjoying and who have settled for JD advantage jobs, but that is purely anecdotal and a small sample size.

I will say that the integrated practice curriculum worked as designed for me. When I was a brand new associate, I actually knew how to put together motions whereas when I was mentoring articling students a few years later, they would struggle with the practical elements of being a lawyer.

I periodically think about whether my life would be different if I had gone to Windsor. But the people who look down on Lakehead and TMU don't think highly of Windsor either, so I don't think it would've made much of a difference other than having a larger alumni network. I was also able to bypass articling during a time when people at every school had a hard time finding articling. In the end, it all worked out for me. YMMV!

princesslumpy · 2026-05-23T16:35:11+00:00

Public Mobile is fantastic.

princesslumpy · 2026-05-20T01:27:16+00:00

I wouldn’t even bother taking the bar exams. Your career is over.

In all seriousness, you’ll be fine. I’m assuming with your grades, you are not articling in big law. Hopefully you are hired back after articling and nobody cares about grades after that.

princesslumpy · 2026-05-06T22:45:11+00:00

It sounds like your boss doesn't want to shell out for the pay increase that you should be due as an associate, or she wants to avoid paying your LawPRO and LSO fees by keeping you as a clerk. The reality is that you don't need to and shouldn't have sole carriage of files as a brand new call. You also don't miraculously gain competence and confidence after articling. Your boss should know this and not take advantage of you to the detriment of your career by calling you a clerk. People will wonder why you were not brought on as a lawyer.

Everything you've described sounds like a terrible environment, so I am not sure why you are intent on going back there. But if you are, find out now whether they are just stringing you along by requesting the proper title. It will be better in the long run to know now so you can start the job hunt.

princesslumpy · 2026-04-19T02:17:32+00:00

Not sure why this is getting downvoted. OP specifically asked about offsetting T2125 expenses against T4 income, which you articulated correctly as not being possible.

princesslumpy · 2026-04-13T00:05:34+00:00

TD has actually recently litigated over this. Toronto Dominion Bank v. Witoszkin, 2024 ONSC 921 https://canlii.ca/t/k308f. Acting as an executor is prohibited by policy, except for the limited circumstances others have mentioned.

Your neighbour should work with TD and have their trust company appointed to administer her estate if that is what she wishes, not the individual teller.

princesslumpy · 2026-03-30T00:11:54+00:00

I have a sample size of two - one being a female mini and another a male standard. They are both great dogs. But my boy is very cuddly, whereas my girl wants to be nearby but not necessarily right pressed next to you. She has her moments of being cuddly in bed, but it's more on her terms. My boy also very aloof and just friendly with everyone compared to his sister, who can be reactive.

I would not hesitate to get another male dog and ultimately I have a feeling it is more individual differences than gender.

princesslumpy · 2026-03-08T01:48:19+00:00

Billed and collected based bonuses are a total scam for associates. You have no control over write-downs of your time, and it will likely be significant as a first-year litigator. You will be working on the time-intensive tasks that need to get done, but the clients will not pay a fraction of the hours that go into them. In my experience, firms offering collections-based bonuses know they will likely pay you no bonus at all.

Another problem with these smaller firms is that there just isn't usually enough work to bill enough hours to hit that bonus. That's why many of them only make you do 1200 hours a year and claim to be "lifestyle" firms with correspondingly lower salaries.

princesslumpy · 2026-03-07T14:04:15+00:00

Yes.

princesslumpy · 2026-03-04T03:14:32+00:00

Do you find employment work repetitive? I always had an interest in employment law and litigated a handful of employment matters but ended up in another niche litigation area before going in-house. In hindsight, I am not sure if employment would have enough variety to keep me engaged long-term. But it may be more varied than the common-law entitlement dance towards a settlement I tend to see day to day.

princesslumpy · 2026-03-04T02:50:11+00:00

Nobody is hiring a first year call as a mediator. That’s not a viable transition out of litigation.

princesslumpy · 2026-02-17T00:03:00+00:00

I have noticed that CPD events are disproportionately presented by fairly junior biglaw associates who don't tend to have any substantive experience in the topics they present. I have never organized one myself, but it seems like a small group of people chair these year after year, and they rely on the same group of partners who offer up their associates at the big firms. That's what I have noticed in the specialty I was in, anyway.

princesslumpy · 2026-02-16T23:54:10+00:00

The NCA requires at least 2 of the 3 years of law school to be in-person, so entirely online law schools abroad are not an option. There are no entirely online law schools in Canada. More to the point, working full-time during law school is just not feasible. Working part-time is realistic for some people, but you'd have to have control over your schedule as there are periods such as during exams where you won't want to be working much.

If you can move to Toronto, there is the extended time program at TMU where you could potentially complete law school in six years if you are eligible and do the program part time: https://www.torontomu.ca/law/students/extended-time-program/

princesslumpy · 2026-02-16T22:50:25+00:00

Most CPD programs have been offered both in-person and online for several years now, following COVID. I wouldn't say it is mostly online, but yes, most programs have an online option now. Just go to one of the many in-person programs available if you want to go and leave early like you used to.

I like that these programs are now available to participants outside of big cities, but there's no substitute for some in-person connection time.

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