Law Girl Makes the "Move", Survival of the Fittest

Technological advancement requires small businesses to adapt to the use of artificial intelligence and virtual employees or risk obsolescence.

February 19, 2025

By Jasmine Daya

During lunch at a delicious Italian restaurant in midtown Toronto last summer, I told my staff, "We need to discuss a few imminent changes at the office because what we are witnessing in the world right now requires adaptation" (or the alternative would be our demise). At this point, anyone that works with me is well aware that the only constant at my office is change and as I often remind them, this means they will never be bored.

For years, my office has housed my law firm as well as my head office to my entrepreneurial pursuits and property management for my real estate portfolio. It's never been uncommon within the same hour to hear me discussing the liquor order being short on vodka, to book the belly dancer for the group coming on Saturday night, to ensure snow removal is booked at the Muskoka property and to vent to anyone that will listen about the Toronto court rejecting my motion material again for some trivial detail causing us to lose the date and push the case back by 8 months and then for me to stop my rant midsentence because my phone lights up with "Serena DAUGHTER" who tells me she has forgot her running shoes and has a basketball tournament starting in an hour (to be clear, all three kids call for randomness, I just chose one as an example and yes my kids names are labelled like this so people can see why I rudely stop what I'm doing to answer and understand it's not me being rude).

Note: In case any lawyers are raising an eyebrow right now, rest assured that client documents are contained in an area both physically and electronically separate from everything else because yes, I'm well aware of my ethical obligations and I abide by them.

As I recount how I opened that discussion last summer, I realize it perhaps sounded somewhat anxiety inducing. All eyes were on me, the spaghetti twirling and pizza devouring had ceased as they waited to hear what rapid fire ideas of craziness were about to spew out of my mouth and then require immediate execution which first required us to create a "to do list" right then and there because that happens at least once a week, if not more. Instead, the reality check my staff received that day was far worse, from their perspective.

"Artificial Intelligence" is now commonplace daily parlance whereas just last year, it was novel amongst the professional crowd. If you think you can avoid it, think again. Could you avoid email? If you're over 40, you may want to take a solid two weeks, like I did and spend evenings and weekends getting up to speed on AI. I'm confident that you will be blown away by the awesomeness of technology but then as the excitement subsides, have the immediate realization that the way we have done things has again, forever changed.

When the internet rolled out, we started with dial up. I will never forget the annoying high pitched static sound on the hardwired phone, that we had to endure for what seemed like forever before finally connecting, only to have my mom pick up the phone to call her sister or someone, causing the internet to drop. My 15 year old easily irritated self would yell from my bedroom, loud enough for the entire house to hear, "Maaaa!" She would reply, "Sorry sweets!" before hanging up, leaving me to go through the annoying high pitched static sound routine all over again.

Next came the blue ethernet cord stretched across rooms, clearly creating a trip hazard that nobody seemed to care about because highspeed internet far outweighed any potential injury. Then the wireless modem that we would jam into the side of our laptop in law school that overnight replaced those blue cords that we carried around with our laptop and books.

Within a year of commencing work as a lawyer, my eyes lit up as I was handed a shiny, new Blackberry, something that would have strained me financially in those days if I had to pay for it myself which made the "gift" that much more exciting. It was incredibly helpful while I was waiting around at trial scheduling court all day in Newmarket or Brampton but also not helpful because it meant that my boss was able to ask me random questions all day while I was at court and I couldn't answer them because again, I was at court which he failed to recognize.

Then the iPhone rolled out. I held back on making the switch until I was the only one of 14 lawyers at my law firm with a Blackberry which was causing IT issues, but who could type messages quickly, without a keyboard?! As a partner and one of the biggest billers at the firm, I had gotten away with it, but there are limits and I had reached it. As I sat in his office, James Fireman politely requested in his extremely calm, kind voice, "Jasmine, please try it. If you hate it, we'll let you have the Blackberry back." It took me until right now to realize, that man knew damn well what the outcome would be lol. Nonetheless, I appreciate him letting me think that I was making the decision. The iPhone has become an extension of my arm, a necessity for daily life and I LOVE it. Yes James, you were right. Perhaps the first time he's heard me say that :)

I told my staff that I missed pre pandemic days when we had a bustling office within a busy office building, the chaos of rushing from court in downtown Toronto, to the next day being at discovery in St. Catharine's and then to sign a client in Whitby. I recall waking up and being excited about not knowing who I would meet or where I might be. I loved Thursday night drinks after work in Yorkville or King West, Raps games with colleagues who I would met during half time at Platinum and making new friends solely by going to work.

Like the Blackberry, I was the hold out on working at the office, insisting that everyone needed to be there. I held out for as long as I could, hoping that things would get back to "normal". I believed that in-person interaction was necessary for mentorship, collaboration, innovation, client relationships and getting out of the house for sanity’s sake. The reality however is that I was not recognizing that change had already occurred because like most people, in ways, I too apparently, don't like change. We cling on to familiarity because it gives us comfort and something different means time and effort to learn and fear of the unknown. Time and time again however, embracing change proves to have positive outcomes if we accept it as opposed to fight it. The change would not have occurred if it were a regression from where we were. It's called evolution.

Last year, I attended a conference held by the Entrepreneurs' Organization in Calgary. During a break from listening to a speaker, I stepped out of the conference room to get a cup of coffee and as I was walking I heard a voice saying "Hey, how are you?" I turned back and didn't see anyone, I continued walking and heard a friendly voice saying "Why are you walking away?" The only thing behind me was a conference table with a computer monitor. I realized that the person in the monitor was talking to me. "Was he real?" I thought to myself. I smiled and walked up to the monitor and struck up a conversation with this individual who was working in the Philippines as a remote virtual assistant.

The next day, I met Anthony Geraci , a lawyer from Orange County, California. We became friends instantly as he shared the same energy, drive and passion for life that I did. Although we come from completely different backgrounds, somehow we have both travelled the same route in life, particularly with respect to our professional pursuits. Months later, he was heading to a conference for Move Your Business, Virtual Employment Agency , one of his companies as they were a sponsor. I asked him more about it and then I said "Wait a second, was that guy on the computer screen in Calgary your employee?" He looked at me confused and said "You didn't know why I was at that conference in Calgary?" I thought as one of the two Americans at that conference, he was just a very keen member of the Entrepreneur's Organization which yes, is still hilarious to this day, especially if you meet him.

I was skeptical about virtual employees. How could these people from around the world possibly work for me? How could I trust them? How were they able to work during my hours, particularly when they were in a completely different time zone? Did they speak English fluently?

What I did know is that the cost of labour had increased, the cost of virtually everything had increased since the pandemic, except the profits. What I knew is that I needed to make changes or face consequences that I did not want to think about. Generally, people don't want to discuss their struggles when it comes to costs or losses, perhaps due to embarrassment, stress or hoping that by ignoring it, maybe it will go away but I knew that it wasn't going away, it was going to get worse. Anthony told me that if it didn't work out, he would cover the month. I had nothing to lose.

Fast forward, Kezia, my Executive Assistant, who is located in the Philippines is with me to this day and somehow is able to stay on top of the chaos that is my life. She's polite, respectful, has never complained, hard working and genuinely tries her best to make my days easier.

In addition to implementation of artificial intelligence to increase efficiency, adding virtual staff has proven to be a key component in significantly decreasing costs and increasing productivity which means that I'm boosting profits double-time and loving every minute.

I have made the "Move".