Keep Current: A review of provincial Section meetings.

by Fran Hodgkins

Section News
New Section in the Valley
At the September 26th Provincial Council meeting a resolution was passed to form a Family Law Section in the Fraser Valley to promote education and networking in the field of family law and to create a stronger community of family law lawyers in the Fraser Valley. Topics for upcoming meetings include: New Family Law Court Rules Part 1 and Part 2 presented by Co-Chairs Cristen Gleeson and John Lee, QC; current issues in spousal maintenance; and common-law property claims and unjust enrichment. Enrol today! Download a form at www.cba.org/BC.

Do You Have 12 Hours?
Attendance at CBA Section presentations, either in-person, by teleconference or webinar, counts toward your mandatory reportable Professional Development requirement of 12 hours by the Law Society. Check your hours online at www.cba.org/bc under Professional Development.

Chatter with Chairs April Gilliland Women Rainmakers-Vancouver Island, Chair 08/09 “Many of our meetings are held during lunch hour to allow lawyers with families and other commitments the chance to attend. It is especially valuable for those who live outside of Vancouver and who find it too expensive or time consuming to take CLE’s on the mainland. Sections provide an economical way to gain professional development hours that do not take you out of the office for too long a time.”

Insurance Law Meeting: September 22, 2009 Speaker: Tony Saunders, Guild Yule LLP Topic: “Insurance 101”		Family Law-Vancouver Meeting: October 8, 2009 Speakers: Jonathan Lazar, Watson Goepel Maledy LLP; Lisa Hamilton, Hamilton Fabbro; John-Paul (JP) Boyd, Aaron Gordon & Daykin Topic: Highlights of the new Supreme Court Family Rules
Construction Law Meeting: October 2, 2009 Speaker: Bill Aujla, Project Manager Southeast False Creek & Olympic & Paralympic Village, Vancouver Topic: Olympic & Paralympic Village Project Tour – Working Construction Site		Elder Law Meeting: September 16, 2009 Speaker: Allan A. Garber of Parlee McLaws LLP Topic: Challenging Government Health Delivery Decisions

Insurance Law
Anthony Saunders of Guild Yule LLP presented “Insurance 101” before nearly fifty members of the Insurance Law Section. The well-received seminar broached various topics including insurance policy structure, insurance contract interpretation and research resources. Mr. Saunders, an Adjunct Professor of the UBC Law School, also introduced basic insurance principles, such as indemnity, statutory conditions, and tripartite relationships, and he discussed changes in the law with respect to these and other areas. Included in the presentation were historical and pragmatic insights into practising in the area of insurance law.

Construction Law
Wearing mandatory protective equipment for an active construction site, several members of the Construction Law Section went on a “field” trip to the Olympic and Paralympic Village instead of their traditional Section meeting. Project Manager, Bill Aujla gave an informative two-hour tour of the site in Southeast False Creek, the last remaining large tract of undeveloped waterfront land near downtown Vancouver. The City selected Millennium Southeast False Creek Properties Ltd. to develop and construct the buildings that comprise the Olympic and Paralympic Village. Millennium’s development is branded “Millennium Water,” and it comprises approximately 730 market condominiums, 120 rental units and retail/commercial spaces. Millennium is also developing approximately 250 housing units for the City as part of the Olympic and Paralympic Village; these are currently proposed as affordable housing. The City also renovated its heritage Salt Building which will be used as retail/commercial space after the Games. VANOC will return this development back to the City and the City will turn over the Millennium Water portion of the development to Millennium to retrofit and sell or lease (as applicable) after the Olympics and Paralympics.

Family Law-Vancouver
A trio of Vancouver family law lawyers entertained, as well as enlightened, some 80 colleagues in a well-prepared presentation on the upcoming rules changes for family law proceedings in the Supreme Court coming into effect July 1, 2010. Some of the main changes that will affect family law lawyers and that were discussed included: Family Law Cases, a new defined term, will begin with filing of a Notice of Family Claim, which is replied to with a Response to Family Claim – gone are the Writ of Summons, Statement of Claim and Statement of Defence; plaintiff and defendant will become claimant and respondent; whenever practical, the same judge or master is to preside over all judicial case conferences, interlocutory applications and the trial of a given family law case; and chambers proceedings will now be initiated with the filing of an all-encompassing chambers brief called a Notice of Application, including a date for the hearing – this notice to be served on the application respondent at least seven days before the hearing. In short, the time-honoured principles and practices of litigation remain unchanged, all the practical details will change, all the forms will be different, and family law cases will receive different treatment from the courts than will non-family law cases.

Elder Law
Mr. Garber is the lead counsel on the class action Elder Advocates of Alberta Society v. Alberta, [2008] A.J. No. 909 (Alta.Q.B.), which is breaking new ground by challenging the government’s delivery of health services to elders based on the duty of care, fiduciary duties, and s.15 Charter rights. He reviewed the background of the Elder Advocates of Alberta Society (“EAAS”) case and the causes of action that were confirmed (or denied) at the class action certification hearing. While many causes were confirmed, the claim of a fiduciary duty was denied at the hearing but has been cross-appealed. Mr. Garber noted that class actions are designed to serve three goals: ensure access to justice, create judicial economy, and influence behaviour modification. The vulnerability of the members, whose average age is 85, with chronic disabilities is a strong indicator in favour of the first goal of access to justice. He discussed that the Society was able to act as the representative member under the Alberta class action legislation and would also be able to do so under the B.C. legislation.

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