EDMONTON OFFICE MOVE
The Edmonton office of the Canadian Bar Association is moving effective August 3, 2016. The new address is:
1501 Scotia Place, Tower 2
10060 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, AB T5J 3R8
P: 780-428-1230 | F: 780-426-6803
The Edmonton phone numbers, fax number and emails will all remain the same. Please note that the location of the Calgary office has not changed.
We look forward to welcoming our members to the new office when we resume meetings in September.
NATIONAL MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
Renewals for 2016-17 National Memberships are now due. Members will have received renewal notices by mail or email already. You can also renew your membership online at www.cba.org/membership by clicking on the “Join/Renew” link.
When you renew your membership, be sure to take a moment to review the Portfolio and Portfolio Plus packages. These packages are ideal for those CBA members who regularly participate in sections, PD activities or CBA conferences. When you purchase a Portfolio or Portfolio Plus package, you will receive CBA education credits, free materials level membership in a section of your choice, rebates on all CBA purchases and more.
If you have any questions about these offerings or your CBA membership, please call your local CBA Alberta office, or the CBA National office at 1-800-267-8860.
SECTION REGISTRATION
Registration for the 2016-17 section year will open online for all members in mid-August. Keep an eye on your emails and our website at www.cba-alberta.org, as you will be receiving a notice as soon as registration is available.
New for members this year are the new South Food & Agribusiness and Internationally Trained Lawyers Sections; both of which will be available via webcast for all members. See below for more details.
If you plan on purchasing a Portfolio or Portfolio Plus package, a reminder that you should do so before you register for your section. We are not able to retroactively apply education credits or free section memberships after you have registered.
NEW CBA ALBERTA SECTIONS
The Food & Agribusiness Section will hold 6 meetings throughout the year, on the first Friday of the month. The section will explore topics of interest to producers and companies involved in inputs, storage, handling, trading, transportation and logistics, processing and distribution, and retail within the food and agribusiness sector.
The Internationally Trained Lawyers Section will hold 5 meetings throughout the year. The section aims to help connect legal practitioners from various backgrounds and to help facilitate integration into the Canadian legal market. The section will also provide insight into the qualification process, the requirements, the challenges and the opportunities of working in the Canadian legal marketplace and to assist in providing networking and mentorship opportunities.
NEW WEBSITE
By the time this issue of Law Matters is published, we will have launched the new CBA Alberta website. Our new website reflects changes to the CBA that have been made as a result of the Re-Think project, and the results of consultations with members. While our web address will remain www.cba-alberta.org, the URLs of pages on the website will change. Please remember to update any bookmarks you may have saved.
CBA ALBERTA LEGAL DIRECTORIES
Due to declining interest by our membership, CBA Alberta will no longer be producing the printed legal directories, effective immediately. The online legal directory will now be available at no charge for all CBA Alberta members. Members can access this directory online at www.cba-alberta.org.
E-FILING IS COMING TO THE COURT OF APPEAL
E-filing systems are coming on stream in many jurisdictions driven by the business need of providing more effective and cost-efficient service. Recent events, such as the wildfire emergency in Fort McMurray, have underscored the need for electronic court records. In conjunction with the call for an e-court document management system in Nancy Irving’s bail review report, there are a variety of forces pushing for this modernizing initiative.
The Court of Appeal recently launched an initiative to adopt e-filing. Following a review of e-filing systems in other jurisdictions, and a robust RFP process, Journal Technologies Inc (JTI) was awarded a contract to develop a customised e-filing system for the Court. Once completed, registered users will be able to initiate an appeal and file materials electronically. The program will include comprehensive case and document management systems.
Implementing an e-filing system provides advantages for both the Court and the Bar. For the Court there will be a more efficient workflow with easier file management and storage. Members of the Bar (and the public) will be able to initiate appeals and file materials electronically without having to travel to the courthouse to do the filing. Documents filed electronically will still to have to be reviewed and accepted for filing by the Registry. All applicable fees will also be payable online.
Currently, JTI is working with the Court to develop the customized system. The work will continue over the next few months and once there is a basic platform to test, we will be consulting with and seeking input from the Bar. You will hear more about the demonstration/test sessions from the Case Management Officers, Bobbi Jo McDevitt and Jo-Anna Cowen. Donna Beaton, the Project Manager, is always available to address any questions or to receive any feedback you might have.