A Successful Repositioning

by Michael C Woodward

With over 5,600 members in British Columbia having “re-upped” as voluntary members of the CBA, the B.C. Branch remains in the upper part of the class, in its membership rate. With the transition to voluntary membership, even that good news has left a significant reduction in income for the Branch. Through careful financial stewardship, the Branch has not only continued all of its on-going programs and initiatives, it has added meaningful new initiatives at the same time. To name just a few:

• With financing provided by all Branches, we have commenced a test case on the constitutional entitlement to legal aid.
• We have reduced Section fees – this year, your first Section enrolment is included with your membership.
• The Women Lawyers Forum, pioneered in B.C., has been created as a national conference.
• The B.C. Branch campaign to eliminate the arbitrary, unfair, discriminatory, and partially unconstitutional social services tax on legal services is moving forward, with real traction.

As I told Provincial Council at its meeting in June:

In general, I am satisfied with what the Branch has achieved during 2004-2005. While we have many issues before us (such as the SST campaign, legal aid funding, membership fee questions, and public statements by National) we are methodically and effectively working through these. From what I am seeing and from what I am hearing, the Branch is held in high regard in the profession, and is impressing many.

All of this is attributable to the effective work of the volunteers who people our Executive, our Provincial Council, our Sections and Committees, and to the diligent efforts of our committed staff. This group, with careful use of the resources that your membership fees provide, does a tremendous amount of heavy lifting on our behalf. We are, all of us, deeply in their debt.

Our 5,600 members also continue as the CBA’s second largest branch. That is important, as it gives us a strong springboard for advancement of the “BC message.” Over my service on the National Board of Directors, I have seen that room exists for improvement in relations between National and the large branches. I believe that there are further gains for the Branch in that area.

In my first President’s column, I observed that voluntary CBA membership brings with it the opportunity for differential positioning of the Branch with respect to other organizations in our legal system. Over this past year, the Branch has taken positions on selected Law Society issues, as a matter of advancement of CBA member interests. This has been done and will continue to be done with civility and with respect. The CBABC and the Law Society will not always agree on appropriate approaches, given the Law Society’s primary mandate to act in the public interest, and given the primary mandate of the CBA is to act in the interest of lawyers. Having separate bodies to serve these separate mandates favours the continuation of a self-regulating, independent profession. The CBABC, having independent views in fact, enhances the distinction between the two organizations.

In the course of this year, I have had the opportunity to meet with members in each of our seven counties, and with the leaders of the courts, ministries, and organizations that constitute our legal system. In my case, familiarity has not bred skepticism – precisely the opposite. I have been in many cases awed and in all cases impressed, by the intelligence, insight, drive, and dedication to mission of all of these men and women. I believe our system is in capable hands. I believe our CBA, as our advocate, plays an important role in that system. It has a fundamental and well executed check and balance function in that system. I think that the current climate presents unprecedented opportunities to demonstrate our worth and significance to our members and to the public who engage them each and every day.

I am confident that the already high effectiveness of the Branch will only increase in time. We have, with voluntary membership, successfully repositioned the good ship CBABC. I thank you for the opportunity to have served as your President during this most fascinating of years.

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