Animal Law – New CBABC Section
On December 6, 2008, the CBABC Provincial Council unanimously approved a new CBABC Section called Animal Law. It will be chaired by Rebeka Breder of Boughton Law Corporation in Vancouver, British Columbia.Animal Law is a relatively new and evolving area of law that intersects traditional legal practices, including property law, product liability, wills and estates (who hasn’t heard of Leona Helmsley’s $12 million dollar trust fund for her pooch?), criminal law, environmental law, municipal law, tort law, etc.

The American Bar Association has created several Animal Law Sections throughout the United States since the early 2000s. The CBABC should be proud of creating the first Animal Law Section in Canada, as it provides an avenue to lead the way in developing an organized and formally recognized area of the law (although “animal law” has already existed in many different forms in Canada).

Please email sections@bccba.org for more information or to enrol in the Section.


CBABC Offers Exceptional Professional Development
As of January 2009, the Law Society of B.C.’s Continuing Professional Development program has been implemented. All B.C. lawyers are now required to complete 12 hours of professional development activities each year, 2 hours of which must be on ethics or practice management. The Canadian Bar Association B.C. Branch (CBABC) is partnering with Local and County Bar Associations to provide an easy, enjoyable way to meet this requirement.

CBABC is recognized by the Law Society of B.C. as an approved provider of professional development activities, and CBABC membership provides the simplest and most cost-effective way to obtain your mandatory professional development hours.

CBABC also provides yearly conferences and workshops which offer specialized resources and networking opportunities to advance your career, your practice and your business.

International Assistance Section
The International Assistance Section gratefully acknowledges the generosity of Thomson Carswell, Canada Law Book, and LexisNexis in assisting the work of the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in South Africa. The LRC has been defending the rights of the poor, vulnerable and historically disadvantaged in South Africa since the apartheid years. With the new Constitution in 1996, the LRC started a constitutional unit that was assisted for a number of years by the Canadian Bar Association through a CIDA-funded program. That unit has argued a number of significant cases before South Africa’s Constitutional Court and has used Canadian law to support its arguments. Canadian resources are of key importance to the work of the LRC as the Constitutional Court in South Africa has followed much of the Supreme Court of Canada’s jurisprudence. These publishers have agreed to donate constitutional materials to the LRC so that it can continue to use Canadian jurisprudence in its valuable work in South Africa. The lawyers at the LRC were overwhelmed by the generosity of these publishers and grateful that Canadians appreciate the value of the work they are doing and the need for them to look abroad for ideas and guidance as they develop their own constitutional jurisprudence.


CBABC Women Lawyers Forum Update
The CBABC Women Lawyers Forum held a series of successful networking events in October and November of last year. Our first Senior Women Lawyers Dinner was organized by Margaret Ostrowski, QC and had such a high response that we will be holding the next one in the spring.

In order to include women lawyers who practise outside the downtown core, Kathy Sainty and Rebecca Darnell continued a successful tradition of Christmas lunches in Langley at the Coza Restaurant that was also well-attended and a great deal of fun.

Anna Fung, QC kindly hosted our annual Fall Potluck Dinner in her home which allows networking in a more informal setting than the usual law firm boardroom or hotel.

And finally, our Mentoring Program held its annual Celebration at the end of November, celebrating the close of our fifth year of mentoring women lawyers.

All of these events were great networking opportunities for women at all stages of their careers to get to know lawyers from other firms and other practices.


Call for Nominations
You are encouraged to honour a colleague and fellow CBABC member through their nomination for one of the following prestigious awards:

• The Equality and Diversity Award celebrates the accomplishments of a CBABC member who has succeeded in advancing equality in the legal profession or generally in British Columbia.
• The Harry Rankin, QC Pro Bono Award was established in recognition of the immense contribution of Harry Rankin, QC in supporting access to justice for the poor. The Award recognizes outstanding contributions by a member of the CBABC in the area of pro bono work.
• The Work Life Balance Award recognizes a CBABC member, law firm or organization who demonstrates leadership in promoting work life balance within the practice of law.

Additional information on these awards and nomination forms are available on the home page at cba.org/bc under “Call for Nominations.”

PST on Settlement Amounts
The Government Relations Committee of the CBABC is collecting personal stories and experiences to put a personal face to the impact of PST on the people of British Columbia. We believe there is a great deal of anecdotal evidence regarding contingency settlements, but few statistics or actual personal impact statements. Please note client consent must first be obtained before any personal information” (as defined by the Personal Information Protection Act) is disclosed.

Send your submissions to: Chair, Government Relations Committee, Canadian Bar Association – B.C. Branch, 10th Floor, 845 Cambie Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5T3

Or email them to jrsilver@bccba.org with “PST on settlement amounts” in the subject line.


New British Columbia Superior Courts Website
The B.C. Superior Courts are pleased to announce the forthcoming launch of their new website. The website address is the same: www.courts.gov.bc.ca. The new website’s features include:

• improved look and feel
• improved navigation bars
• improved judgment search template
• improved hearing lists for both Court of Appeal and Supreme Court matters
• online access to Supreme Court scheduling information without requiring recourse to Scheduling staff
• enhanced practice resources, e.g., Practice Directions, court forms, reference to self-help resources, links to other useful websites
• easier access to court registry and location information

The website launched in January 2009.


Electronic Filing
The Land Title and Survey Authority has enabled more than 80 new transaction types to be offered through its Electronic Filing System. Transactions now offered include the ability to submit Power of Attorney, Certificates of Pending Litigation, Caveats and Survey Plans. With these additions, practically all land title transactions can now be submitted electronically. For EFS training, please call 1-800-663-6102.

These articles were published in the February 2009 issue of BarTalk. © 2009 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.