The Ottawa Flash Mob in action!



CBA NATIONAL NEWS

CBA Holds Law Day and Charter Celebrations Across Canada

From B.C. to Newfoundland and the territories, the CBA held numerous events throughout April to recognize Law Day and the 30th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Activities included mock trials, career panels, citizenship courts, flag-raisings, exhibits and canine unit demonstrations, among many others.

To celebrate the Charter’s birthday, flash mobs were held in Winnipeg, Ottawa, and London,
Ontario on April 17th. “We decided to do a dance flash mob to celebrate and bring awareness of this special anniversary of the Charter in a fun and contemporary way,” explained John Hoyles, CEO of the CBA.

Check out photos and videos of Law Day events – including the flash mobs – on the CBA’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CanadianBarAssociation. Be sure to “like” us and keep us in your newsfeed!

Protecting Solicitor-Client Privilege Ron Skolrood of Vancouver, a member of the CBA’s Working Group on Proceeds of Crime, recently appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce to speak out on behalf of the CBA in defence of solicitor-client privilege during the Committee’s five-year review of the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act.
Skolrood explained that while the CBA supports the government’s attempts to combat money laundering, these efforts must not interfere with the public’s right to consult a lawyer in confidence.

Read the submission
http://goo.gl/dDc6a

CCCA World Summit and Spring Conference

From April 13-17, some 300 registrants gathered in Montreal to attend the CCCA’s back-to-back World Summit and Spring Conference. These events featured top speakers Richard Susskind, Lucien Bouchard, Trevor Faure, and Calin Rovinescu, among others.

During the World Summit, Robert Patzelt, QC, of Halifax was named the 2012 winner of the Robert V.A. Jones Award, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the in-house counsel community. “Over the past decades, Robert has volunteered in a multitude of capacities within the CBA and CCCA – including as head of CCCA – always giving 100 per cent for the benefit of the organization and the in-house counsel community,” said Geoff Creighton, CCCA Chair, of Robert.

Other highlights from the conferences included PD sessions on the unique needs of in-house counsel for achieving success in today’s global business environment, and the release of the results of the 2012 In-House Counsel Barometer Survey.
Visit the CBA Facebook page to browse photos from the events.
www.facebook.com/CanadianBarAssociation

Connect @ Vancouver for a National Legal Experience

ONTARIO COURT DECISION HIGHLIGHTS CONCERNS WITH MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES 
The only national gathering of Canada’s legal community, the Canadian Legal Conference (CLC), takes place in Vancouver August 12-14, 2012. Whether you’re in a firm, or are a sole practitioner, in-house, or government lawyer, there are many reasons to attend – here are just a few.

• Take networking to a national level. Connect with 1,000+ legal professionals from across Canada at breakfasts, lunches, receptions, entertainment events, late night parties, and the ever-popular at-home dinners.

• Have your voice heard by the federal Minister of Justice. The federal Justice Minister hosts a yearly dialogue at the CLC, touching on current justice issues and allowing members to raise concerns and questions.

• Earn professional development credits. Some of Canada’s top legal minds are presenters at the CLC’s PD sessions. With 15 PD programs and 12 corporate counsel workshops offered over a two-day period, attending the CLC is an excellent way to meet CPD requirements.

•  Hear from thought-provoking speakers. During the CLC, you’ll hear from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Canadian diplomat and author Robert Fowler, and critically acclaimed science writer Jonah Lehrer.

• Enjoy top musical entertainment. Rock out at the Monday night concert with headliner and Canadian legend Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and BTO fame. Opening for Bachman will be this year’s winner of CBABC’s Battle of the Bar Bands fundraiser.

• Stay connected with the CLC through social media, using hashtag #CLCVancouver on Twitter and liking the CBA on Facebook. Take advantage of early bird rates by registering before June 29 – visit www.cba.org/Vancouver2012 for all the details.

Young Lawyers International Program

A group of nine young lawyers recently visited the CBA National Office in Ottawa after completing six-month internships with the CBA’s Young Lawyers International Program (YLIP).

The group was in town to debrief and share its experiences in the program. With funding from the Canadian International Development Agency, YLIP last year sent 19 young lawyers to legal organizations in South Africa, Kenya, Namibia, Colombia, and Guyana with the overall goal of expanding human rights in these developing nations.

 
CBA YLIP interns, L to R: Mathieu Delorme, Heather Wojcik, Erin Riley, Gloria Song, Joseph Chedrawe,
Allison Thomas, Hart Shouldice, Eleonora Dimitrova, Alison Hopkins


While the YLIP links international human rights organizations with talented young lawyers looking to make meaningful contributions abroad, it also gives new lawyers a chance to gain unparalleled work experience in the human rights field.

To learn more about the program and view photos from the lawyers’ trips, visit www.cba.org/CBA/IDP/yiip/.

FAMILY LAW ACT PLANS

CLEBC staff is continuing to work hard to provide the B.C. legal profession with a full range of courses and information to support the transition to the new Family Law Act. They are planning courses and CLE-TVs, publishing a transition guide, and updating their many CLEBC family law publications. All lawyers who need to know about these sweeping changes should plan to attend their overview course on September 21, 2012. They will also launch their new Family Law Transition Guide at the course.

DOCUMENT BUILDER IN CLEBC ONLINE PUBLICATIONS

They have added some useful new functionality to CLEBC online manuals. Subscribers to two of their most popular manuals – Wills Precedents: An Annotated Guide and Family Law Agreements: Annotated Precedents – will notice a new “Document Builder” feature. This feature helps users easily and conveniently select sample clauses to build a complete document (e.g., will, separation agreement, or marriage agreement). The online version of these manuals also has the chapters containing the clauses and annotations with links to case law and legislation, downloadable forms and precedents, case and legislation tables, and index.

Contact CLEBC customer service at www.cle.bc.ca or 604-893-2121 for more information about their products and features.

Legislative Update is provided as part of the CBABC legislative and law reform program. It is a service funded by CBA membership fees, and is, therefore, provided as a benefit of CBA membership. The full version of Legislative Update is now only published online and available to CBA members exclusively at www.cba.org/bc.

AUDITOR GENERAL FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, S.B.C. 2012, C. 5 (BILL 20)
Act is in force April 25, 2012
FAMILY LAW ACT, S.B.C. 2011, C. 25 (BILL 16)
Sections 473, 475 and 478 are in force March 1, 2012
FINANCE STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2010, S.B.C. 2010, C. 4 (BILL 6)
Sections 54, 59, 60 and 62 to 64 are in force April 20, 2012
FINANCE STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2011, S.B.C. 2011, C. 29 (BILL 17)
Sections 136 to 141 are in force April 30, 2012
FORESTRY SERVICE PROVIDERS PROTECTION ACT, S.B.C. 2010, C. 16 (BILL 21)
Sections 25, 26, 27(5)(a), 29(1)(b), 31, 32, 33, 34, 35(1) and (3)(e), (j) and (k) are in force March 30, 2012
FORESTS, LANDS AND NATURAL RESOURCE OPERATIONS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2011, S.B.C. 2011, C. 18 (BILL 6)
Sections 3 and 4 are in force March 9, 2012
NATURAL RESOURCE COMPLIANCE ACT, S.B.C. 2011, C. 21 (BILL 9)
Act is in force March 8, 2012
MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT (NO. 3), 2010, S.B.C. 2010, C. 21 (BILL 20)
Sections 61, 65 and 69 are in force July 1, 2012
MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT (NO. 3), 2011, S.B.C. 2011, C. 27 (BILL 19)
Sections 25, 31, 32 and 36 are in force April 1, 2012
MOTOR VEHICLE AMENDMENT ACT, 2010, S.B.C. 2010, C. 14 (BILL 14)
Section 5 is in force June 1, 2012
YALE FIRST NATION FINAL AGREEMENT ACT, S.B.C. 2011, C. 11 (BILL 11)
Sections 26 to 29, 32(b) and (c) and 33 are in force April 1, 2012


SERVICE

Lawyer Referral Service (LRS)
The Lawyer Referral Service operators were recently asked the question, “Why should lawyers sign up for the Lawyer Referral Service?” and they replied, “Why wouldn’t they? The program is free to join and provides lawyers with client referrals in their specific area of law. The CBABC promotes this public service year-round to residents throughout B.C. There are more than 2090 lawyers participating in the program resulting in more than 35,000 referrals a year. Be part of the movement and get involved! Call the Lawyer Referral Program at 604-687-3221 or 1-800-663-1919.”

These articles were published in the June 2012 issue of BarTalk. © 2012 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.