BarTalk June 1999
Volume 11, Number 3

Calendar and Books

CLE Calendar
Last year there was a new Builders Lien Act; CLE now presents an analysis of the effects and issues of that Act. Leading authorities in the field will explain the key issues involved, strategies and tactics for handling them, and how to resolve disputes. They will also cover the new areas of potential lawyer liability and the judicial interpretations of the legislation. This one-day seminar on June 25 will provide you with the answers you need to effectively practice in this area.

For the third time, CLE presents the two-day Family Law Conference beginning July 15, 1999. As in past years, crucial developments will be examined in topics such as custody, spouse and child support, property, procedure, mediation, spousal torts, non-traditional families, and ethics.

Canada’s top public speaking coach will visit Vancouver from August 17-21, to offer several training workshops at CLE. John Plank’s workshops for lawyers in Toronto are consistently sold out. Now you can attend A Commanding Presence and immediately improve your ability to deliver informative, entertaining, and persuasive presentations. In his one-day workshop limited to 12 participants, or the full three-day workshop limited to eight participants, John Plank will help you discover your full potential for communicating with confidence and authority. Limited enrolment - register early!

CLE is as close as your telephone. Once again, practitioners who need short, inexpensive, and convenient updates should check out CLE’s phone-in series in June. Dial in to the four one-hour sessions from any BC location, and listen to presentations on the latest cases, developments, and practice issues in Wills & Estates (took place June 2); Civil Litigation (took place June 9); Business and Commercial (June 16); Family Law (June 23). And if you can’t make those dates, you can dial in later, at your convenience until the end of July, to listen to digital recordings of each session.

CLE Books
This spring sees the publication of two comprehensive new CLE practice manuals, plus the third edition of an essential family law resource.

Our first new practice manual, Discovery Practice in British Columbia, was launched at the June 4, 1999 course of the same name. The manual, by Lyle Harris of Harris & Brun, features outstanding commentary, strategies, and practice points on how to get the most out of the discovery process, and includes forms and precedents dealing with discovery, checklists of issues to cover in specific examinations, and the text of the discovery rules.

Last year the new Builders Lien Act completely changed the system of builders liens in BC. With the new Act came new principles and procedures, fresh areas of dispute, and many unexpected problems. Since the new Act came into force, a team of expert practitioners prepared a definitive guide to the new statute. The British Columbia Builders Liens Practice Manual will be launched on June 25, 1999 at the CLE course “Practice Under the Builders Lien Act”. The book, which covers practice and procedure under the new Act, contains the legislation, and a set of forms and precedents (included on disk).

CLE had planned to publish a partial update to the British Columbia Family Practice Manual in February, but the developments were so extensive that a complete revision of the book was required. This third edition, to be published in June, will feature entirely rewritten chapters on commencing proceedings and desk order divorces, a new chapter on strategically using the options available to resolve a dispute, enhanced coverage of negotiation and mediation, and all forms under the new Rule 60 and the new Provincial Court (Family) Rules on disk.

This article was published in the June 1999 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.