Access to Justice
Law Day is a national event originated by the CBA celebrating the signing of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Held every April, Law Day provides an important opportunity to help Canadians learn about their justice system and to project a positive image of the legal profession. In many B.C. communities, Law Day has expanded into week long activities.

This year’s theme for Law Week is “Access to Justice.” Law Week 2007 marks the 25th Anniversary of the signing of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and to celebrate this we are hoping to make this year’s events particularly memorable.

The following provides an overview of some of the Law Week events that will be held across the province. Additional information about these events can be found at www.bclawweek.org. We hope you will come out and join the events in your community.

Open Houses and Other Events in Local Communities
Open Houses will be held in the following communities and will include a variety of fun and educational activities such as mock trials, free law classes, citizenship ceremonies, courthouse tours, displays and demonstrations from a variety of justice and social service providers, Q & A sessions with senior justice system representatives, and police seminars:

• Dawson Creek – April 19th
• Fort St. John – April 18th
• Kamloops – April 21st
• New Westminster – April 19th
• Port Coquitlam – April 20th
• Vancouver – April 21st
• Victoria – April 21st

A well attended Law Day seminar was held in Nanaimo on March 5th at Malaspina University-College.

During the week of April 16th free law classes, hosted by the People’s Law School, will be held throughout the Greater Vancouver area.

Dial-A-Lawyer
On April 21, 2007, CBABC will hold its province-wide “Dial-A-Lawyer” program between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. During that time, members of the public are invited to call and speak with a lawyer for up to 15 minutes on the following topics: Business Law, Wills, Estates & Trusts Law, Criminal Law, Tort and Motor Vehicle Law, and Family Law.

• English speaking lawyers:
  • 604-687-4680 or 604-687-3221
  • 1-800-663-1919 or 1-800-565-5297 (toll-free in B.C.)
• Chinese speaking lawyers:
  • 604-687-3404 or 1-888-687-3404 (toll-free in B.C.)

Student Contests
The following events provide valuable opportunities for both elementary and secondary school students to improve their understanding about the law and the legal system.

• Barry Sullivan Law Cup Public Speaking Contest – This annual event is one of the cornerstone events held in B.C. during Law Week. Open to students enrolled in grades 11 and 12, this year’s event will be held on April 19th at the Vancouver Law Courts. The Law Cup is named in memory of Barry Sullivan for his contributions to both the legal and educational professions.
• Essay Contest – This contest is open to students in grades 8 to 12 from across the province.
• Poster Contest – Students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 3 in a British Columbia school are invited to participate in this event.

Fun Run/Walk
Members of the legal community and their families and friends are invited to come out and participate in the fourth annual Fun Run/Walk that will be held on April 1st at Locarno Beach Park.

Student Mentor Program
Grade 11 and 12 students in Greater Vancouver are matched with lawyers to spend a half-day in their workplace. In addition, lawyers are matched to attend high school classes. Both provide a valuable learning opportunity for students who have an interest in pursuing a legal career.

Law Week 2007 Sponsors and Partners
We would like to thank our sponsors of this year’s Law Week events:

• The Law Foundation of B.C. – Sustaining Sponsor
• Vancouver Bar Association – Sustaining Sponsor
• Kamloops Bar Association
• Victoria Bar Association
• Lang Michener LLP – Platinum Sponsor
• Stikeman Elliott – Gold Sponsor
• Fasken Martineau DuMoulin – Silver Sponsor
• Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP – Bronze Sponsor
• B.C. Courthouse Library Society
• Canadian Springs
• Citizenship and Immigration Canada
• Dye & Durham
• Miller Thompson LLP
• Vancouver Public Library

In addition, we would also like to thank our partner organizations for their contributions to this year’s events:

• The People’s Law School
• The Law Courts Education Society
• Northern Lights College
• Malaspina University-College

Finally, we would also like to thank the many lawyers and others for volunteering their valuable time to make these events a huge success.


Consider Taking an Articling Student This Year
Have you ever considered bringing an articling student into your firm? If so, now might be the time. The Career Services Offices of the UVic and UBC Faculties of Law would like B.C. lawyers to know that a number of high calibre third-year law students are still seeking 2007-2008 articling positions.

For a law student, articling is a critical stage of legal training, and a mandatory step on the path to call and admission. Students are eager to put their skills to work and to experience the practice of law under expert guidance. Articles offer that opportunity.

Students can perform useful and billable work that benefits a firm or legal department. For a lawyer who serves as principal to a student, that assistance is valuable. But principals can also draw satisfaction from the important contribution they make. Principals help develop their students into good lawyers through guidance, training and mentorship. This benefits not only those students, but the profession as a whole.

The CBABC website now contains a Shared Articles Registry developed jointly by the Career Services Offices of the UBC and UVic Faculties of Law, the CBABC Branch, and the Law Society of B.C. The Registry offers new and innovative opportunities for firms who either cannot provide a full articling program or who do not have the financial resources to hire an articling student for the whole articling period. Firms and organizations can use the Registry to advertise their need for an articling student, specifying length of articles available and practice areas covered. Students can then search for available articles and take steps to contact firms and organizations and work out a shared articles program that meets the requirements of the Law Society Admission Program.

To become a principal, you must be a practising lawyer in good standing with the Law Society with seven years practice experience. For more on the qualifications of principals and the articling relationship, please see Law Society Rules 2-27 through 2-46. See also background information – including the current articling agreement and checklist – in the “Licensing & Membership” section of the Society’s website at www.lawsociety.bc.ca. If you are not certain if you qualify as a principal, please contact Lesley Small, Manager, Credentials & Licensing at the Law Society of B.C. at 604-669-2533 or lsmall@lsbc.org.

The UBC and UVic Career Services offices are ready to assist lawyers that can offer articling positions by answering questions, posting positions and advertising to students.

Please contact:

UBC – Kaila Mikkelsen, Co-Director, Career Services at mikkelsen@law.ubc.ca, 604-822-6350, fax: 604-822-9486 or Nadia Myerthall, Co-Director, Career Services at myerthall@law.ubc.ca, 604-827-5052, fax: 604-822-9486.

UVic – Jennifer Moroskat, Career Development Officer at moroskat@uvic.ca, 250-472-4719, fax: 250-721-6390.

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