BarTalk February 2001
Volume 13, Number 1

Lawyers Care Initiative (LCI)

The LCI, a multi-phased campaign to improve the public perception of lawyers and encourage better lawyer-client relationships, is busily motoring along. Following on the heels of the advertising campaign that was test-marketed in BC and used across Canada, a new poster campaign begins this spring.

In addition, the CBA and the Canadian Bar Insurance Association are producing a client care booklet titled Seven Keys to Great Client Service, which was distributed to all members with the January/February 2001 edition of National. Produced under the auspices of the LCI, the “Seven Keys” booklet was based largely on the superb Client Care Kit produced by the BC Branch Communications Committee. All members across the country will benefit from the BC volunteers’ excellent contribution to this project.

Finally, the LCI will be co-sponsoring, along with the National Communications Committee, a presentation at the CBA Annual Conference and Trade Show in August in Saskatoon. The seminar is titled “Profit and Prosper by Delivering Outstanding Client Service,” and will feature practical strategies for improving lawyer-client relations that benefit practitioners’ enjoyment of practice as well as the bottom line.

Legal Ethics

The CBA is embarking on the first stage of a project to revise its Model Code of Professional Conduct. The Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Issues, chaired by Kathryn Berge, QC, of Victoria, has commenced a review of emerging issues in professional conduct. In this first stage, the committee hopes to identify areas where the Code needs revision, and then consult with the legal profession on how those emerging issues should be treated. The second and third stages of the project will involve drafting and publication.

In mid-January, the Committee met with representatives of four law societies which have recently revised their codes of professional conduct: the Law Society of BC, the Law Society of Alberta, the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Chambre des notaires in Quebec. These representatives discussed developing issues that must be considered in Code of Conduct revisions. These included lawyers’ obligations when in possession of real evidence, advertising and solicitation, new technologies, and the disclosure of solicitor-client confidences in situations of harm or imminent harm to others.

Second Vice-President

Two Saskatchewan-based candidates for the position of CBA Second Vice-President (who will become President in 2003) addressed CBA Council at the Mid-Winter Meeting in Mont Sainte Anne in mid-February. Ronald Miller, QC of McDougall Ready in Saskatoon and Bill Johnson, QC of Gerrand Rath Johnson in Regina, spoke about their candidacies for the second vice-presidency. Details of each candidate’s position will appear in the March/April 2001 edition of National.

Technology Survey

Plans for the CBA’s Canadian Legal Technology Survey are proceeding apace. The association is gathering information on how its members use technology, primarily through a special Web site designed solely for this project. The survey is designed for easy access by both novice tech users and full-scale tech experts. Even lawyers whose practices make little use of technology can fill out the survey and supply helpful information.

The answers to these and numerous other questions in the Canadian Legal Technology Survey will help the CBA craft its ongoing technology strategy. By understanding Canadian lawyers’ current technology needs and their short-term plans to add new technology, the CBA can chart a strategic direction that will help all its members use technology better in the future. The survey will be available May 1 at www.cbasurvey.com.

These articles were published in the February 2001 issue of BarTalk and are subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.