New Articling Registry
The new Articling Registry was presented at the Bencher’s meeting on October 3rd by CBABC’s Joanne Silver. There are only 14 firms registered in B.C. so far but 96 students are looking for articling positions. Law firms in every county are encouraged to make use of the online Registry on the home pages of the CBABC and LSBC websites.


We’ve Got You Covered!
Beginning in January 2009 you will be able to download your attended Professional Development and CLE hours from the CBABC using a tool on our CBA website. Section attendance, conference, workshop, webinar and group learning hours that you need to report will all be tallied using your CBA ID number and printed whenever you want.


Used Legal Textbooks Needed for the Developing World
The International Assistance Section of the CBABC is accepting donations of used legal textbooks and treaties to send to legal clinics, advocacy centres, and publicly accessible law libraries in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the developing world.

Textbooks and treaties, but not case-reporters, published within the last 10 years, on all areas of law are needed. Anyone interested in donating please call or send a list of your available books to Robin Bajer (604-643-1295) rbajer@millerthomson.com or Delia Jane Ramsbotham (604-331-6017) dramsbotham@mbalawyers.ca.


The Court Services (CSO) e-File Service
The Court Services Online (CSO) e-File service allows users to submit electronic court documents in civil actions to Supreme Court and Provincial Court registries. Electronic filing is a key component of the Integrated Electronic Court, a joint vision of the Court Services Branch of the Ministry of Attorney General and the British Columbia Judiciary to use new technology to improve access to justice.

B.C. is the first province in Canada to introduce a comprehensive e-Filing system including the storage and maintenance of court files in an electronic format.

Legislation to facilitate e-Filing came into effect in 2005. Today, CSO e-Filing is available in thirteen court locations, and more than 26,000 Supreme Court Civil, and Provincial Court Small Claims documents have been e-filed. E-Filing will be available in all 43 court locations in December 2008.

E-Filing is available for most Supreme Court Civil and Provincial Court Small Claims documents. For e-Filing restrictions refer to Supreme Court Rule 69 (5) and Small Claims Rule 22.

E-Filing is simple and can take less than three minutes to complete. Once a document is e-Filed, an electronic copy can be retrieved via the CSO account. Statutory filing fees and CSO transaction fees can be paid with a credit card or with a BC OnLine deposit account.

Feedback from law firms has been very positive. They like the ease and convenience, and the efficiencies gained. E-Filing allows users to file, retrieve and electronically search files from their office or home.

For more information about e-Filing or to view a demonstration, please visit Court Services Online at www.courtservicesonline.gov.bc.ca.

Questions can be emailed to Courts.CSO@gov.bc.ca.

These articles were published in the December 2008 issue of BarTalk. © 2008 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.