Meeting PD requirements can be easy.

by Caroline Nevin

There are days when the sheer volume of demands from work, friends, children, spouses, parents, volunteer agencies and others is too much. If we’re very lucky, the summer gives us some time to catch our breath. But these days the fast pace of life is hard to escape, and it’s easy to feel isolated and overwhelmed by our inability to deliver on all fronts at once. The lawyers and staff of the CBA know this well, and we are committed to helping to relieve that pressure wherever we can.

People sometimes ask me why the CBA matters. From my perspective, it’s not hard to answer: we matter because lawyers working to make life easier for other lawyers matters. We aren’t a big bureaucracy; we are a grand total of about 150 staff spread across ten provinces and three territories. That’s the equivalent of the Law Society of B.C. staff size, except we serve lawyers all across this huge country. We can do this because we run primarily on the goodwill and energy of lawyers who volunteer their time to contribute on behalf of the whole profession. Others do their part by supporting us financially. And in return, we run programs and services designed to make life in law better, and to deliver on our collective belief that lawyers can and do make a positive difference in our world.

A very clear example of the CBA’s value is our commitment to making Professional Development as easy and enjoyable as humanly possible. Our internal theme (not our external marketing theme!) is “Happy PD for Smart People.” Our goal is to develop programs and services that people want to engage in; programs you enjoy, not endure, and that you consider a great value as part of CBA membership.

We all know that the Law Society has made it mandatory to take at least 12 hours of professional development, including a specific two hours of professionalism/ethics/practice management content. The deadline is December 31, and it’s fast approaching. For some people, the PD requirement is easily met; for many others it can be more challenging, especially when self-study doesn’t count. We’re all busy, not all of us live in the Lower Mainland, and while we may enjoy PD when we can make time for it, there isn’t always something available for a good price at a good time in the right location. The CBA has been working to change that, by creating programs that can be delivered in-person and shared across the province, and by being completely open to any ideas that local lawyers have for relevant PD for their area.

Sections – all 72 of them – are one of the smartest, most productive and accessible ways to rack up PD hours. And lots of people are taking advantage of our PD programs like the Los Angeles Conference in November (which provides the complete 12 hours in one great package!) and our fabulous online programs for bite-sized PD close to home. CBA members have an exceptional “edge” over non-members too, in being able to access CBA programs in every jurisdiction in Canada. This is particularly important if your practice involves areas of law that are trans-jurisdictional or related to federal legislation. When you join the CBA, you join a truly National organization that gives you benefits across the country.

In addition to creating and delivering great PD, we also automatically record your attendance at CBA PD, so you have an online record you can print out (or copy and paste electronically) when it’s time to fill-in your report to the Law Society. The CBA is committed to making life easier for you, and that includes making the task of meeting – and recording – your PD requirements easy as well. Feel free to let us know if you have suggestions for how we can do even better.

This article was published in the August 2009 issue of BarTalk. © 2009 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.