BC Law Institute to Study ‘Family Status’ in Human Rights

The BC Law Institute recently announced a new research project to study the scope and meaning of  “family status” under the BC Human Rights Code.

Acknowledging the “recent confusing jurisprudence and the changing landscape of the family”, the BC Family Status Legal Research Project will produce a discussion paper that reviews legislation and jurisprudence relating to family status ground (a project backgrounder is available). The paper will be published in June 2012, with the opportunity to comment on the draft paper in late fall 2011.

The project is being funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia and supported by volunteer project advisors from the legal community.

BC to Share Civil Forfeiture Case Info

Courthouse Libraries BC reports that British Columbia has signed an agreement with six other provinces to share information on civil forfeiture cases. From the government press release:

“While information-sharing between provinces is common in criminal matters, no formal agreement has existed for civil forfeiture programs, most of which have been operating for less than five years. The detailed agreement sets out the process for the provinces to share records as well as personal and other information that could assist in civil forfeiture cases. The agreement recognizes the need to respect each province’s privacy obligations.”

Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are the agreement’s other signatories.

More Social Media CPD

The legal profession’s interest in social media just keeps growing. Here’s another opportunity for lawyers and legal staff to learn about social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, in a hands-on, full-day workshop.

Social Media 101 –  presented by the Law Courts Center & Canadian Paralegal Institute

Date: June 14th, 2011
Location: SFU Harbour Centre Campus, 515 Hastings St W, Vancouver BC
Cost: $548.80 (single seat rate) or $521.36 (multi-seat rate)
Facilitator: Tara Cain, Legal Technology Trainer, Clark Wilson LLP

The 7-hour workshop qualifies for 2.0 credit hours of CPD for professional responsibility and ethics, client care and relations, and/or practice management. Lawyers may register online at lawcourtscenter.com; staff at canadianparalegalinstitute.com.

(via VALL)

Draft Code of Professional Conduct: Invitation to Comment on Conflicts Rules

As noted previously, BC’s current Professional Conduct Handbook is under revision, and is expected to be replaced by a new BC Code of Conduct. The new code is based on the Federation of Law Societies-recommended Model Code. After consultation with the profession, the portions of the code which do not deal with conflicts were recently adopted by the Benchers.

Lawyers are now invited to comment on the conflicts portion of the draft code. Views and opinions should be submitted to the Ethics Committee by letter or email by August 22, 2011, to:

Jack Olsen
Staff Lawyer – Ethics
Law Society of BC
845 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 4Z9
Tel. direct: (604) 443-5711
Toll free from in BC: 1-800-903-5300
Email: jolsen@lsbc.org

For more information, see the Law Society website.

Upcoming Webinar: Supreme Court Civil Rules Update 2011

Dye & Durham invites you to register for its upcoming webinar, Supreme Court Civil Rules Update 2011 . The one-hour session will include tips and hints on current practice directions, administrative notices, and filing requirements. Participants will earn 1.o credit hours of Law Society-approved CPD.

Date: May 26, 2011 (registration deadline is May 24)
Time: 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Roshni Reddy, Business Development Specialist
Cost: $129.95 (per license) — account holders discount applies
To register: email education@dyedurhambc.com, or call 778-312-0188

Handy Hints for Legal Reporting

Earlier this month, the Law Society of BC released Handy Hints for Legal Reporting, a guide for journalists covering legal stories. The guide provides information on:

• court accreditation
• publication bans
• audio recording and televising court proceedings
• getting information on court cases and involved parties
• levels of court within the BC system

On a related note, the Law Society and the Jack Webster Foundation jointly hold a free, annual Media and the Law workshop , designed to “help journalists boost or refresh their knowledge of law, as it relates to journalism.”

For more information, see the Law Society’s press release.

BCSC Issues Bankruptcy Administrative Notice

On May 4, Chief Justice Bauman of the BC Supreme Court issued Administrative Notice 9 – Bankruptcy Proceedings Before the Registrar. The goal of AN-9 is to standardize hearing practices throughout British Columbia. The notice includes directions on:

• Original/copied documents
• Scheduling trustee opposed discharge applications
• Requests to attend by telephone
• Materials to be provided to Registrar in Bankruptcy
• Scheduling multiple applications
• Scheduling matters with time estimates in excess of 15 minutes

AN-9 comes into effect on August 1, 2011.

Upcoming CBA Webinar: Social Media

Lawyers wanting to learn more about the ins and outs of social media will be interested in an upcoming webinar from the CBA-BC Branch.

Is Social Media Right For My Practice and My Firm? will be a discussion-oriented webinar, moderated by local legal marker Doug Jasinski and featuring speakers Chris Bennett (Davis LLP), Chilwin Cheng (Legal Process Solutions) and Nicole Garton-Jones (Lawyer and Mediator) [speaker/moderator bios].

“Areas covered will include implementing social media in variable contexts, value of specific media platforms, target audience and lawyer or firm objectives. One size does not fit all: emphasis placed on the fact that not all forms of social media will meet the needs of every lawyer or firm.”

Date: June 7th, 2011 (Registration deadline is June 3rd)
Time: 11:30am-1:00pm Pacific
Cost: $95.00 for CBA members (+HST)
$199.00 for Non-CBA members (+HST)
*group rates for 5+ available

The webinar will count as 1.5 hrs of CPD in professional responsibility and ethics, client care and relations, and practice management.

BCLMA Topics – Spring 2011 Issue Now Available

The Spring 2011 issue of BCLMA’s newsletter, Topics, has just been published. It’s full of interesting and informative articles written by local law firm administrative staff, covering such topics as:

• Android, apps, and the smartphone industry
• The Sedona Principles and electronically stored information
• Lawyer coaching
• Strategies for law firm trainers
• Saving money in central services
• Performance improvement planning

To read back issues of Topics, visit the newsletters area of the BCLMA website.

Dye & Durham Acquires Pacific Coast Total Solutions

Dye & Durham is pleased to announce today’s completed acquisition of Pacific Coast Total Solutions Inc., a New Westminster-based legal support service provider. PCTS also maintains a branch office in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Founded in 2000, Pacific Coast is recognized for its highly personalized consultation search and registration services to the legal and business communities for Real Property, Litigation and Corporate/Commercial transactions.

For further information, please see our news release on the Dye & Durham website.

BC Lawyers Support CPD

According to a recent survey and stats from the Law Society of BC, the province’s lawyers “strongly support a recently introduced program that requires them to fulfill continuing educational requirements.”

The April 2011 surveyed over 1400 practising BC lawyers. Some highlights of the survey:

• 78% are in general agreement that continuing professional development (CPD) should be mandatory for lawyers
• 54% think that the current requirement of 12 hours of CPD per year is “about right”
• 51%  strongly or somewhat agree that the annual CPD requirement is likely to strengthen the quality of legal services that BC lawyers provide to clients

Statistics the Law Society has been collecting since 2009 show high compliance rates: “by mid-April, only nine of the province’s more than 10,300 practising lawyers remained suspended after failing to log the required number of hours for the past year.”

The Law Society of BC was the first law society in Canada to institute the annual 12-hour CPD requirement for its member lawyers.

2011 Lawyer Show Opens Tonight

2011′s Lawyer Show is Stephen Sondheim’s comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and it opens tonight!

Featuring the talents of more than 20 local lawyers, this production is a fundraiser for two cherished Vancouver theatre institutions: Carousel Theatre for Young People and Touchstone Theatre.

“This hit musical is inspired by the farces of the ancient Rome and tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door.

A hilarious comedy, the show features many classic elements of farce – disguise, mistaken identity and of course a lot of door slamming! Stephen Sondheim’s hummable songs pepper the action with witty social satire. Forum is an ensemble play that’s sure to please!”

The show runs from May 4-7 at 8pm, at Granville Island’s Waterfront Theatre. Tickets are $75 (a $45 tax receipt is included) and are available to purchase online.

VBA Announces Barristers’ Lounge Open House May 30-June 3

The Vancouver Bar Association announced plans to celebrate the nearly-complete refurbishment of the Barristers’ Lounge at the Smithe Street Courthouse.

The VBA will hold an open house from May 30th through June 3rd, 2011o with complimentary coffee and doughnuts.

And on Thursday, June 2, 2011 between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., a celebratory evening reception will be held.

Full details and thank-yous to the sponsors of the refurbishment are given in the event invitations linked above.