CLEBC Update
7th Biennial Family Law Conference July 5th And 6th
Mark your calendar for the 7th Biennial Family Law Conference on July 5th and 6th at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Chairs Barbara Nelson, Jeffrey Rose and James Schuman are hard at work poring over timely topics and inviting top-notch speakers to provide you with an informative conference. Last year we discussed the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, mobility and section 15 reports, and dispute resolution techniques. This year’s conference will bring you the latest in practical solutions to real family law problems.

Online Access to CLEBC Practice Manuals
Subscribers to many of CLEBC’s most popular practice manuals now receive online access with their annual subscriptions. The online manuals include links to full text legislation, case law, and related CLEBC publications, keyword searching, and downloadable forms and precedents. Call Customer Service at 604-893-2121 (or toll free 1-800-663-0437) for your password if you subscribe to: B.C. Company Law Practice Manual, Conveyancing Deskbook, Desk Order Divorce – An Annotated Guide, Family Law Agreements – Annotated Precedents, Family Law Sourcebook for British Columbia, B.C. Family Practice Manual, B.C. Mortgages Practice Manual, B.C. Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Practice Manual, Practice Before the Registrar, B.C. Probate and Estate Administration Practice Manual, or B.C. Real Estate Practice Manual.

Pro Bono Practice 2007
On April 27, 2007 in Vancouver, the Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C. will hold a full-credit CLE on pro bono practice skills and resources. Entitled Pro Bono Practice 2007, it will look at soft skills such as interviewing and problem solving for clients, as well as “nuts and bolts” law in traditional poverty law areas.

Registration is open at www.cle.bc.ca for a reduced price of $125 for lawyers and $75 for students. Pro Bono Law of B.C. is pleased to offer a limited number of full bursaries for lawyers and students involved in pro bono work. Please contact Jamie Maclaren, Pro Bono Law of B.C.’s Executive Director, at 604-893-8932 or jmaclaren@probononet.bc.ca for more details.


The Law Foundation of British Columbia
Grants Approved
The Board of Governors of the Law Foundation of B.C. met on November 25, 2006 and approved funding for a number of continuing programs and projects. Chair Warren Wilson, QC is pleased to announce that funding totalling $17,150,680 was approved for the following 35 new project grants under the 2006 Funding Initiative:

UNIVERSITY OF B.C., FACULTY OF LAW, $6,000,000 Law School Building Fund and $300,000 Law Foundation Awards

UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA, FACULTY OF LAW, $3,000,000 Faculty of Law Library Project and Program Development Project and $150,000 Law Foundation Awards

$1,000,000, B.C. COURTHOUSE LIBRARIES, Public Library Program Grant

$554,000, GREATER VANCOUVER LAW STUDENTS’ LEGAL ADVICE SOCIETY, Family Law Project

LEGAL SERVICES SOCIETY, $483,600 Family Law Website Enhancement and $240,000 Poverty Law Services Project

$450,000, LAW COURTS EDUCATION SOCIETY, Expanded Core Services

$450,000, PRO BONO LAW B.C., Operating Expenses

$360,000, PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETY, Low-Income Housing Tenant Strategic Advocacy Project

$250,000, ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTRE, Building the Environmental Law Centre Clinic’s Capacity to Serve a Province-wide Clientele

$250,000, COMMUNITY LEGAL ASSISTANCE SOCIETY, Poverty Law Services Project – Extension

$225,000, CANADIAN FORUM ON CIVIL JUSTICE, Civil Justice Research Project: Creating, Sharing and Transforming Knowledge into Action

$225,000, WESTERN CANADIAN SOCIETY TO ACCESS JUSTICE, Access Justice Pro Bono Clinic Enhancement Project

$225,000, CHILLIWACK COMMUNITY SERVICES, Poverty Law Advocacy Initiative

$225,000, CHIMO CRISIS SERVICES, Outreach and Advocacy in Richmond

$225,000, FORT ST. JOHN WOMEN’S RESOURCE SOCIETY, Poverty Law Advocate Project

$225,000, NEWTON ADVOCACY GROUP SOCIETY, Legal Advocacy Project

$225,000, NORTH SHORE COMMUNITY RESOURCES SOCIETY, Legal Advocacy Project

$225,000, POWELL RIVER COMMUNITY SERVICES, Poverty Law Advocate

$210,000, B.C. PUBLIC INTEREST ADVOCACY CENTRE, Poverty Law Services Project

$186,000, NATIVE COURTWORKER AND COUNSELLING ASSOCIATION, Aboriginal Family Advocate Project

$175,000, DZE L’KANT FRIENDSHIP CENTRE SOCIETY, Legal Education and Advocacy Project

$150,000, MS SOCIETY, Volunteer Legal Advocacy Program

$150,000, SALVATION ARMY, Pro Bono Program

$150,000, ATIRA WOMEN’S RESOURCE SOCIETY, Legal Advocacy Services in the Downtown Eastside

$150,000, HAIDA GWAII LEGAL PROJECT SOCIETY, Legal Education and Advocacy Project

$150,000, KAMLOOPS AND DISTRICT ELIZABETH FRY SOCIETY, Poverty Law Advocacy Project

$140,000, QUESNEL TILLICUM SOCIETY, Poverty Law Information Worker

$120,000, NICOLA VALLEY FAMILY JUSTICE SERVICES SOCIETY, Legal Advocacy Project

$99,000, SPARC B.C., Community Consultation on Family Relations Act Review

$73,080, PRO BONO STUDENTS CANADA – UBC, Community Placement Project

$56,000, PRO BONO STUDENTS CANADA – UVIC, Student Placement Program

$54,000, PRINCE RUPERT UNEMPLOYED CENTRE SOCIETY, Advocacy Initiative

For full details please visit www.lawfoundationbc.org.

New Agreement with Prospera Credit Union
Law Foundation Chair, Warren Wilson, QC, commends Prospera Credit Union for valuing the relationship it has with members of the legal profession in its commitment to paying a competitive rate of return on lawyers’ pooled trust accounts.

A new interest rate agreement on the lawyers’ pooled trust accounts this year will pay a return of prime less 3.00 per cent. Thanks go to Bruce Howell, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Prospera Credit Union, for the leadership shown in making this new agreement possible.

Increased revenues enable the Law Foundation to fund programs that make the justice system accessible to British Columbians, particularly those people who have the greatest access problems as a result of their economic, social, physical or mental special needs. The funded programs include professional legal education, public legal education, law reform, legal research, legal aid, and law libraries.

The Canadian Bar Association (B.C. Branch), the Law Society and the Law Foundation encourage lawyers to consider which financial institutions provide the best support to the Law Foundation when deciding where to place their trust accounts.

These articles were published in the April 2007 issue of BarTalk. © 2007 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.