Dear CBA members,
It is hard to believe that we have passed the two-month mark since COVID-19 disrupted our daily routines. We have had to quickly adapt to working from home and the term physical distancing has become part of our daily lexicon. For many of us, it’s been a challenge adopting to the new “normal,”, but I hope that you’ve been able to find healthy ways to cope with the changes in physical and social activities, and developed a manageable routine for working from home while juggling family life and personal time.
At the time of writing governments across Canada are beginning to discuss a slow, staggered re-opening of the economy to avoid a second wave of Coronavirus infections crippling our medical system.
Through this period of uncertainty, the CBA’s goal is to continue to provide information that is relevant and helpful to our members through a variety of platforms.
At the end of April, the CBA Task Force on Justice Issues Arising from COVID-19 held its first meeting with all 19 members, including CBA representatives and key partners in the federal justice system. I’m excited about the work the task force will undertake. If nothing else the pandemic has shown us that we can no longer delay taking much-needed steps to modernize the legal and justice systems.
Our Professional Development departments at the National and Branch levels are planning for the fall on the assumption that in-person conferences will not be possible. We’re looking at the best ways to hold conferences remotely. In the meantime, we continue to create both COVID-19 and substantive programming to keep our members up to date. There is a schedule of COVID-19-related webinars from across the country on our resource hub at cba.org, where you can also find updates on the legal and justice systems, as well as articles and information lawyers need to know in order to serve their clients. You will also find information about government relief programs for businesses and employees.
The CBA is also thinking ahead to the time when we return to the office in the new normal. The CBA is exchanging information with our colleagues in bar associations around the world, with a view to sharing with you the best practices for back-to-the-office operations as COVID-19 restrictions are gradually lifted.
This month our podcast channels, The Every Lawyer and Juriste Branché, will feature several podcasts aimed at small and solo practitioners, with advice about managing change. In my May 21 episode of Conversations with the President I will speak with Martine Boucher, Chair of the CBA Legal Futures Subcommittee and a member of the COVID-19 task force, about how technology can help us pivot in times of crisis.
Also in May, CBA National will launch a bonus series of podcasts that look at how the justice system came to be caught unprepared by the social distancing measures adopted to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Managing Editor Yves Faguy will host panel discussions with people from the legal and justice systems focusing on how the current crisis can be leveraged to identify systemic problems in the delivery of justice, as well as the path forward. The podcasts will be accompanied by feature articles in CBA National magazine.
Our Advocacy Department, along with Sections and Committees leaders, continue to work with officials from government agencies, courts and tribunals to solve problems in different areas of practice.
As always, if there is anything you’d like us to address that we’ve missed, please contact info@cba.org and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Take care, stay strong, and remember better days are ahead.