The Importance of Scheduling

As Jasmine’s senior legal assistant, I am generally responsible for managing Jasmine’s work calendar. This entails ensuring that her day to day appointments run seamlessly and that there are no conflicting appointments. Balancing client meetings, calls with counsel and court proceedings can be challenging when all of these appointments are important.  This is where prioritizing plays a huge factor. I am tasked with determining what appointments are most time-sensitive and these appointments will generally be scheduled first.

Scheduling also helps to keep Jasmine and myself organized. It tells us what appointments are occurring on a specific date and time, who will be in attendance, where it is occurring and the duration. Jasmine also likes to keep her appointments colour-coded. For example, her meetings are in blue, telephone calls are in yellow, and court proceedings are in orange. This may seem like an unnecessary step but it is actually very useful in creating a visual of how the day and week will look. It is also helpful for staff members who need to review her calendar to see where she is. At a quick glance, we are able to tell that she will be at court proceedings for most of the week.

Scheduling is not always simple however, as it can become a bit more complex when there are multiple parties involved. When scheduling court proceedings such as Examinations for Discovery or Mediation, I must canvass dates with the defence lawyers’ assistants to determine everyone’s availability. The more lawyers and clients involved, the further the dates get pushed into the future. This occurs because it can be difficult to find a single date that everyone is available on.  We must also coordinate an appropriate location which should be a reasonable distance for everyone to attend at, especially for our clients. It is also common for urgent matters to arise unexpectedly. This can entail moving appointments around, cancelling and rescheduling court proceedings, and booking in last minute meetings.

Overall, scheduling can be tricky but it is a vital step in the litigation process for both the lawyers and our clients. It forces a necessary order in an often hectic environment.

If you would like to connect with the team at Jasmine Daya & Co. to discuss your legal options, you can call us at 416-967-9100 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.