When a person is an executor of another's estate, it is a lot of hard work. The task often puts the individual in an unpleasant position of conflict. In order to remunerate these individuals for the risks and efforts that they have undertaken, attorneys, executors and trustees may claim compensation for their work out of the assets which they administer.

Estate litigation can be costly, both financially and emotionally. Thankfully, there is another avenue besides the courtroom that can serve to reduce both types of stress: alternative dispute resolution. Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms allow for disputes to be dealt with outside of the courtroom and are often an attractive means for litigants wishing to push toward settlement.

Approximately one half of Canadians do not have a will. For those who do, many are in need of an update. While preparing a will is not a priority for many of us, the reality is that nobody lives forever. The need for valid, well-prepared wills has never been more pressing.

Even carefully drawn wills can become the subject of disputes and litigation. Having a poorly drafted will, or no will at all, increases those odds exponentially. Despite this, over 50 per cent of Canadians do not have their testamentary wishes written down in the form of a will.

LexisNexis and Microsoft have teamed up to offer a new solution called Quicklaw for Microsoft Office. They say it is designed to simplify legal research and ultimately save time for lawyers. I took it for a test drive to see if it's all they say it is.

Bowing to pressure from politicians and judges, we have encouraged people to be their own lawyer. Programs and clinics have been set up to assist the "self-rep." Our courts are now flooded with these would-be Perry Masons! The problems this has caused the judicial system are endless.

At very least, I suspect Google+ will emerge as a central social media hub for lawyers and businesses. Its video conferencing capability is certainly going to be extremely tempting. The virtual courtroom, for example, could be much closer to reality than we think.