Article by Walter W. Kubitz, KC, a personal injury lawyer in Calgary, Alberta.

Presented to:
ACTLA Plaintiff’s Only Seminar
April 29, 2025 (Edmonton) and May 1, 2025 (Calgary)

Overview

An effective precedent system:

• Saves you hours of work on each file. This makes you more profitable and saves your client money. A happy client is a “good thing”.
• Motivates you to draft a court application that you otherwise would not draft.
• Ensures that you don’t miss something important.

On the other hand, a significant percentage of any precedent system becomes out-of-date every year, and at times of upheaval in your practice area, can become mostly obsolete. It can trap you into doing the same old thing over and over again instead of doing something new or creative.

This paper will review how our precedent system came into being and how it grew.

History

When I joined Stengl Everard in 1991, the firm consisted of Rolf Stengl, Ron Everard KC, and Doug Moe KC. Rolf had a German heritage, and was exceedingly organized and efficient. His desk was always aligned 90 degrees to the wall, and Ron, with his British heritage, took perverse pleasure in moving it a few degrees off perpendicular before Rolf showed up for work in the morning.

Rolf would say things like, “Why do things twice when you can do them once?”

Rolf started the firm’s precedent system, and Ron built it out. Over the decades, this original precedent system has grown and has been updated numerous times.

Growing and Maintaining a Precedent System

The best and most effective precedent system is the one that works for you and your practice area. If more than one lawyer has access to it, you will have to negotiate who is in charge of it, and who can add to or revise it.

The key is to organize the precedent system by practice area first, and then by function and the typical life-flow of a file.

You may have precedent systems for Wills, Personal Injury, Civil Litigation, and Family Law. Some of the precedents may be used in two or more systems, so a “Common” area makes sense for those common precedents, and individual precedents for each area.

The starting point is that if you do something new, if there is any chance you may need to do it again in the future, then draft two versions:

1. One final version for this file.
2. A “blank” version that you add to your precedent system for future use.

The nice thing about a precedent system is that if, for example, you need to get your file moving, instead of thinking, “Oh crap, now I have to hunt for a precedent on a prior file, then draft an Application, an Affidavit, and an Order from scratch,” you now think, “Well, I have a precedent Application, Affidavit, and Order where, although I still have to think and draft, the bones are there and I just need to add the tendons, ligament, and flesh, and breathe some life into it. (Ezekiel ch. 37).

Instead of taking 2 to 3 hours it only takes 1 to 2 hours.

Each precedent system is organized by the type of document and is indexed according to the “lifetime flow” of the typical file.

As I only practice in the area of Personal Injury and Wrongful Death, I only have one precedent system to worry about.

My precedent system can broadly be divided into three parts:

1. Forms.
   a. This includes Checklists.
   b. This system follows the normal life course of a file from the client’s first contact to judgment or appeal.
2. Letters.
   a. This system is organized by whom the letter is addressed to, and then by function.
3. Excel Precedents.
   a. This system consists of Excel Spreadsheets with embedded formulas.

The key is to make a precedent system that you will actually use. A good tip is to ask your assistant for input into what precedents they would like to see.

Other Comments

Remember your law school “Can”? Over the years I have created a “Legal Chestnuts” document that is now about 500 pages long. When I come across a case that relates to my practice area, I add the key paragraphs or a summary of that case to this “Can”. It has come in very handy over the years when I know a principle of law exists and need to find it quickly. The Index from that document is in the attachments to provide an idea of its usefulness. Yes, it is a mess, but I am not seeking perfection, just a quick resource.

I have a virtual “Quantum Cases” file to which I save any quantum cases I come across when assessing the value of a claim. A highlit version of that case goes on this file, so that I do not have to re-read and re-highlight the same case ten times over three years. There are only so many quantum cases.

I have a Research Memo file where I save prior research memos using key word descriptors in the name so that I can use the “Find” feature to find (for example) all memos dealing with a “concussion.”

We have an “Office Precedents” system that contains our Employee Policy Manual and other documents that my office manager and staff use regularly for administrative matters.

I have a separate “Precedents Bank” file where I “dump” one-off precedents from other lawyers that I may never need but want to keep handy just in case.

Conclusion

I have been told I am “anal retentive, obsessive compulsive, and concrete sequential”, and that those are my good points. I dispute that characterization primarily because the descriptors are not organized alphabetically, but submit that organization is the key to an effective precedent system.

The best system in the world has no value if you don’t use it, so create something that works for you.