December

The CBA has launched a new toolkit on preventive legal health to help lawyers develop the skills of preventive lawyering. A little preventive legal health can keep small legal issues from growing into huge legal problems.

The fall editions of the Canadian Competition Law Review and the Canadian International Lawyer Journal are now available, and both publications are seeking submissions for their next issues.

You’re invited! The National Section on International Law invites you to join us for a speaker session and cocktail reception to kick off the ABA Section of International Law Fall Meeting in Montreal.

If you are, or if you know, a law student with an idea for a paper, we have essay contests looking for winners.

Immigration Section lawyers stepped up in the midst of the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis, offering their pro bono services to help refugees, and working with the University of Ottawa’s refugee hub to help families and sponsors navigate the red tape standing between refugees and safety.

After an historically long election campaign, we’re just four days from voting day. The CBA’s own #whataboutalex campaign was a good version 1.0 of this type of outreach, providing us with a baseline of where we can take similar debates in the future. For now, remember to get out and vote on Oct. 19.

If your section, committee or forum is resolved to present a resolution at the 2016 Mid-Winter Council meeting, now’s the time to start gathering your arguments. The deadline for submitting a resolution is Dec. 7, 2015.

ubmissions and letters to government since August have run the gamut from comments on proposed intellectual property guidelines to remediation of hazards related to shipwrecks, to an offer to provide emergency pro bono services if the government agrees to expedite the processing of Syrian refugee claims.

Every fall a new executive lineup takes the helm at most of the CBA’s 31 sections and 10 forums. Here’s a little primer on what sections and forums are, what they do, and why you should get involved.

The Intervention Policy Review Committee tabled its report in June and the CBA Board has approved an interim policy based on its recommendations which will serve until Council gets a chance to officially adopt it in February.