 CBABC listservs are discussion groups that come to you through your email. They are provided and administered by CBA for the professional benefit of its members. CBABC listservs are intended to provide an effective and active vehicle for member communications respecting professional interests, including matters of law, practice and procedure, legislative developments, and the like.
Listservs are a convenient way for CBA members to share information, and ask and answer questions. CBABC listservs allow members to communicate with hundreds of other participating lawyers via email. Any email message sent to a listserv is automatically delivered to all participating members of that listserv. Although membership in WLF and Section listservs is based on CBABC Section membership, the nature of email traffic requires that these communications be treated as public and not confidential. These communications must accordingly reflect appropriate content and standards of professionalism. Please consult the links below to learn more:
Who can join?
How do I leave a listserv?
How do I use my listserv?
CBABC Listservs
CBA National Section Listservs
How do I reply to messages?
What is the CBA Code of Conduct for CBABC Listservs?
What is the CBABC Women Lawyers Forum Code of Conduct?
Can I send a document to the listserv?
How do I get help with listserv-related problems that are not covered by another question?
Listserv Tips
CBA Code of Conduct for CBABC Listservs
How to Create Rules in Microsoft Outlook
Who can join?
All CBA members are welcome to participate in their Section’s listserv and the WLF listserv. All CBA members who are articling/law students are welcome to participate in the Articling/Law Student listserv. CBABC listservs are intended for lawyers only. Send an email to webmaster@bccba.org to join your Section's listserv, the WLF listserv or the Articling/Law Student listserv. You are welcome to join at any time.
How do I leave a listserv?
You can leave at any time. To unsubscribe send a blank email to webmaster@bccba.org and type "Unsubscribe from BC [insert your Section’s name, Women Lawyers Forum or Articling/Law Student] Listserv" in the subject header.
How do I use my listserv?
Participation is easy, simply send an email to your listserv or respond to an email you receive through the listserv. An email from the listserv can be identified by the footer at the bottom of the listserv email.
CBABC Listservs
Send an email to webmaster@bccba.org to join your Section's listserv, the WLF listserv or the Articling/Law Student listserv.
CBA National Section Listservs
National Sections represent thirty-one groups of CBA members, organized according to specific areas of law, which provide communication services and facilitate coordination among Branch Sections and members on issues of national concern. Several National Sections have listservs that provide an effective and active vehicle for member communications respecting professional interests, including matters of law, practice and procedure, legislative developments, and the like. You must be a CBA member and a member of a corresponding Branch Section to join a National Section listserv. Please consult the links below to learn more.
National Alternate Dispute Resolution Section
National Citizenship & Immigration Law Section
National Elder Law Section
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference
How do I reply to messages?
If you want to reply to everyone on the listserv, the easiest thing to do is click on the “Reply to All” button. This method has the added feature of keeping the subject or topic and replies together forming a thread. Your message is connected to all other replies for a specific original message. If you want to reply only to the sender, send a separate, private email. Always think before sending any message. Ask yourself a few simple questions: - Who is getting the message?
- Do you want it to go to the entire group?
- Should I just send a private email to one or two people?
What is the CBA Code of Conduct for CBABC Listservs?
Listserv participants are expected to conduct themselves in a courteous, civil and respectful manner, consistent with the CBA Code of Professional Conduct. By using CBABC listservs, you agree that you have read and will follow the “CBA Code of Conduct for CBABC Listservs.”
What is the CBABC Women Lawyers Forum Listserv Code of Conduct?
The purpose of the Women Lawyers Forum (WLF) is to address the need for long term programs, plans and systems to achieve the broad mandate of promoting and supporting the enhancement of the stature and influence of women in the legal profession. Only content that supports this purpose will be permitted on the listserv. The WLF Listserv Code of Conduct serves as a supplement to, not a replacement of, the CBA Code of Conduct for CBABC Listservs.
Can I send a document to the listserv?
Please note that for reasons of your security (viruses), we ask that you send any document you wish to share with listserv participants to the webmaster, and we will send you back a link to use in your posting to the other participants. Attachments are a significant security concern and therefore prohibited. However, we are very willing to assist you in sharing important information through web links.
How do I get help with listserv-related problems that are not covered by another question?
The listserv administrator is the CBABC staff member responsible for supporting your listserv and answering questions from members. The listserv administrator also advises the CBABC Executive Director of any breach of the Rules of Conduct in the “CBA Code of Conduct for CBABC Listservs.”
To contact the listserv administrator, send an email to webmaster@bccba.org and identify the listserv in the subject line. In the body of the email provide a detailed description of the problem and a copy of any error message you have received.
Listserv Tips - When sending a message, use a meaningful subject line. This is a time-saving mechanism for listserv participants, as they can readily see if the email can wait or, if they are not interested in the topic, they can delete the message. If you subscribe to several listservs with a high volume of messages, you'll appreciate those messages with clear, meaningful subject lines.
- When responding to a message, keep your message brief and include the previous message.
- Stick to the topics intended for discussion on the listserv. If you deviate from the intended discussion topics, someone may object or people may unsubscribe if they consider the messages to be unhelpful.
- Identify yourself, include your first and last name and place of business. Many email addresses do not clearly indicate the identity of an individual.
- Don't use all upper case when writing. This is thought of as shouting and is considered rude.
- CBA policy forbids sending attachments through listservs, as there is significant concern about computer viruses. If you have some sort of media that you believe will help others, make an announcement and offer to send the media to them through private email.
- Don't send meaningless messages with no content, such as "I agree!"
- Don't be critical of people's queries. Many people are "newbies" to listservs. If you think it would be helpful, send them a private message and "gently" make suggestions.
- Have an opening and closing to your message. Not only is this considered polite, it also assures the person that the entire message is included. It can be as simple as "Dear Group" or "Hi" for a greeting and "Bye for now" or "Thanks" for a conclusion.
CBA Code of Conduct for CBABC Listservs
Listserv participants are expected to conduct themselves in a courteous, civil and respectful manner, consistent with the CBA Code of Professional Conduct.
CBABC listservs are provided and administered by CBA for the professional benefit of its members. Listservs are intended to provide an effective and active vehicle for member communications respecting professional interests, including matters of law, practice and procedure, legislative developments, and the like. Although membership in the Women Lawyers Forum listserv and Section listservs is based on CBABC Section membership, the nature of Internet or email traffic requires that these communications be treated as public and not confidential. These communications must accordingly reflect appropriate content and standards of professionalism.
By using CBABC listservs, you agree that you have read and will follow this Code of Conduct.
Rules of Conduct - For the listserv, your last name and CBA ID number identify you as a member on the system. You are responsible for services that are obtained under that identity;
- The online services are meant to stimulate discussion – do not make personal attacks on others;
- Members can participate in either official language. However, translation is not provided;
- Use caution when discussing products. Information posted through listservs is available for all to see, and comments are subject to defamation and competition law;
- Do not post commercial messages;
- Do not engage in persistent off-topic comments, postings or statements;
- Do not incite others to violate this Code of Conduct or to participate in unlawful activities;
- “Spamming” (the sending of unsolicited or junk email on the Internet) is prohibited;
- Do not post any files or programs containing destructive features such as:
- Viruses;
- Trojan horses; or
- Bots (programs that operate as agents for a user or other programs. On the Internet, the most ubiquitous bots are the programs, also called spiders or crawlers, that access websites and gather their content for search engine indexes);
- Do not publish, post, distribute or disseminate defamatory, abusive, profane, obscene, threatening or other unlawful materials or information;
- Do not utilize language that is not in keeping with the CBA Code of Conduct;
- Do not upload files or post messages that contain photos, software or other material protected by intellectual property laws, rights of privacy or publicity or any other applicable law, unless you own or control the rights thereto or have obtained all necessary consents;
- Do not post attachments;
- By posting material, the posting party represents and warrants that s/he owns copyright on such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants CBA and users of listservs the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print and use such information or other material;
- Do not post messages that encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement or understanding that, if carried into effect, would be likely to lessen competition to a significant extent among or between members in any market for legal services;
- Falsely impersonating anyone is forbidden.
Prohibited Conduct
The CBA reserves the right to terminate access to listservs by any member who does not abide by this Code of Conduct, and to do so without prior notice.
The CBA also reserves the right to revoke a member’s participation privileges in any CBABC listserv for any postings deemed by the CBA to be offensive or otherwise in contravention of the CBA Code of Professional Conduct, including but not limited to: - Postings that may be libelous or defamatory;
- Postings that are threatening, injurious or which may constitute or further any criminal offence;
- Posting in furtherance of price-fixing or collusion among legal services providers, which may be in violation of competition law or any other offence under Canadian law;
- Postings that principally further selling or marketing;
- Postings that are inappropriate to the professional objectives of listservs;
- Postings that could be harmful to the reputation of the CBA.
Suspension of Listserv Privileges
The CBA may, in its discretion, suspend or give a member notice of suspension of any member’s privileges for breach of the Rules of Conduct and provide the member the opportunity to show good reason why privileges should not be suspended or reinstated as the case may be. A decision regarding the temporary or permanent suspension of a member’s privileges shall be made by the CBABC Executive Director, who acts in his/her discretion with such consultation with CBA staff as he/she sees fit.
If the offending member disagrees with the decision of the Executive Director, then he/she shall have the right to have the decision reviewed, upon request in writing, by the President of the CBABC or designate. The decision of the President is final.
Disclaimer
CBABC listservs are provided as a service to CBA members. CBA will not be liable or responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by CBA members or third parties. The opinions expressed in listservs do not necessarily represent the policies or views of the CBA. CBA shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever, including damages for indirect or consequential loss, or loss of use, data or profits, arising out of or in connection with the posting, availability, non-availability or use of any information or opinions. |