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 Keep Current: A review of provincial Section meetings.
by Trisha Jewison
Section News
For enrolled CBA members, more detailed information and available minutes from the Section meetings are online at www.cba.org/bc in Sections under Professional Development.
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 Section Chairs Spotlight
Eric Gottardi, Criminal Justice-Vancouver
Eric Gottardi practises primarily in the area of criminal defence. He has represented clients in some of British Columbia’s recent well-known cases, including the Air India trial and the Hollyburn Country Club murder trial. He has appeared as counsel in all levels of court in British Columbia and in the Supreme Court of Canada. He was recently called to the Bar in Ontario as a special prosecutor.
Earlier in his career, Eric clerked at the Court of Appeal for Ontario. After being called to the Bar in 2003, he joined the firm of Peck and Company, where he soon focused on appellate and extradition work. He has been the Chair of the Criminal Justice – Vancouver Section for the past two years.
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Legal Research
Meeting: September 23, 2010
Speaker: Fred Irvine
Topic: Legal Research and the New Civil Rules
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Alternate Dispute Resolution-Vancouver / Family Law-Vancouver
Meeting: December 14, 2010
Speaker: Professor Patrick N. Parkinson, Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, Australia (centre) with Nicole Garton-Jones (left) and Stephanie Fabbro (right)
Topic: The Voice of the Child
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Air Law
Meeting: October 18, 2010
Speaker: Richard Hall
Topic: Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada – Trends in Enforcement Actions in Aviation Matters
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CBABC Women Lawyers Forum-Kamloops
Meeting: December 4, 2010
Speakers: Michelle Stanford (photo) and The Honourable Judge Donegan
Topic: Dealing with Difficult Clients
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Legal Research
Mr. Irvine spoke about legal research and the new civil rules.
In particular, Mr. Irvine reviewed the object of the rules, which remains the same, as well as the addition of the “proportionality rule” outlined in Rule 1-3(2). The Table of Concordance in the Queen’s Printer’s versions of the rules will be of assistance, as will text sources normally consulted and now updated to refer to the current rules.
He further outlined the following changes found in the new civil rules: responding to civil claims; case planning orders; revival of the fixed date system for interlocutory applications; summary judgment; duty of expert witnesses; appointment of court’s own expert; pre-trial conference on experts; discovery of documents; examinations for discovery; and interrogatories.
Mr. Irvine further confirmed that case law decided under Rules of Court (SCR 1976, SCR 1990 and, where applicable, SCR 1961) will remain relevant and helpful.
Alternate Dispute Resolution-Vancouver / Family Law-Vancouver
Professor Patrick Parkinson, Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, Australia spoke on the Voices of Children in Family Law Disputes.
Over the last decade or so there has been increasing recognition of the need to take into account the views of children on various issues in relation to decisions that directly affect them. Increasingly, children have been recognized as active constructors of their own experience and as persons in their own right whose perspectives and interests may not necessarily coincide with those of their parents or other adults responsible for making decisions.
Judicial interviews with children in contested parenting proceedings are an uncommon and contentious practice in Australia and many other common law jurisdictions. While there has been some debate about the merits and risks of such a practice among professionals and academic commentators, there is little research on the views of children and parents.
Air Law
Richard Hall presented on the organization, function and activities of the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada (“TATC”). It’s interesting to note that 70 per cent of cases are aviation while 30 per cent of cases are marine, with marine fines being much larger than aviation fines.
Review Hearings take place in the area where the enforcement took place. There is to be full disclosure by both sides in respect to any hearing. Once full disclosure has taken place, a date is set and usually the Review Hearings take place in federal court courtrooms where possible or hotel rooms.
The procedure for a hearing is that Transport Canada’s Case Presentation Officer gives an opening submission and then the Applicant can give a statement. Then Transport Canada calls its witnesses. All of the witnesses are sworn and a witness may be subject to cross-examination. The Applicant then presents his case and witnesses.
Decisions are usually given in writing 120 to 130 days after a hearing, and there is a 30-day time period to appeal after a decision is made. Appeals are heard by a three-person panel and take an average of 120 days to render a decision. TTAC decisions and procedural rules are posted on the TATC website, which is www.tatc.gc.ca.
CBABC Women Lawyers Forum-Kamloops
The topic of the meeting was “Dealing with Difficult Clients.” Guest presenters provided two distinct views on the topic: The Honourable Judge Donegan provided a view from the bench, and practising lawyer, Michelle Stanford, who has a background in nursing, provided a medical/legal perspective with a focus on clients with mental health issues.
The Honourable Judge Donegan’s presentation discussed the challenges that both judges and court staff face in these situations, as well as provided pointers for finding the right balance, particularly when dealing with self-represented litigants.
Michelle Stanford covered issues specific to clients who are not criminally responsible and the process involved in review panel hearings.
Ms. Stanford also discussed techniques for communicating with mentally ill clients, including non-verbal cues, as well as the ethical issues faced by legal counsel when dealing with mentally ill clients.
This article was published in the February 2011 issue of BarTalk. © 2011 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.
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