President's M essage
Knowing the concerns - meeting the challenge The B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association faces unique CANADIAN BAR challenges to adequately serve ASSOCIATION, the needs and properly repreB.C . BRANCH sent the interest of over 7,500 members drawn from the ranks of lawyers, law students and JULY/AUG. judges, especially in the rapidly 1993 changing environment of the mid 1990s and into the twentyfirst century. Although potentially daunting, the task is manageable and we can achieve our goals if they are properly recognized, responsive to the needs of our membership, and placed in priority. NEWSLETIER
OF THE
Committed to this proposition, thirteen participants, including Branch Executive Committee members from last year and this year, a past Branch presiVOLUME 5/j dent, two senior staff members NUMBER,.s' [,; r ' "'--'
New publication .................. 2 SectionTalk ......................... 3 :;;;;;:;;;..;.;;~''''''''''''' 1
Spelling Bee buzz ............... 5 Literacy tips ........................ 6 Small claims rules .............. 8 AmEx Travel endorsed ...... 9 Legislative Update ... 10 to 16 Your 1992/93 CBA (B.C. Branch) AnnuaiReport is included with this mailing of BarTalk
from our Branch office and our Legislative and Law Reform Officer gathered for a two day facili tated planning session in late June. Happily, but after much dis.::ussion, we were able to reaffirm the mission of the B.C. Branch, identified at the first extended formal planning session held in February of 1991, namely to "Provide a means for
/a;;_-yers to work together to identify and promote the interest of the
legal profession and to advance the administration of justice." Preparing for the Planning Session was in itself instructive. We learned that the B.C. Branch has grown from membership in 1988 of approximately 6,000 members, with 37 Sections and a budget of $800,000 to a projected membership this year of 7,600 with 54 active Sections and a budget of $2,000,000. Our myriad of background papers assembled for the session confirmed for the participants tha t we were not simply imagining that in the last few years there has been a significantly greater number of people entering into the profession, a drama tic change in the demographics of the Bar, ever growing demands being placed on an increasingly complex legal systems and its stewards, and harsh realities in the practice of lav,路 everywhere, whether it be in Vanderhoof or Vancouver. These are among some of the issues that all of our members face in one form or another on a dailv basis and which a credible professional organization must address. Preceding the Planning Session,
f. Parker MacCarthy President 1993/94 we prepared a survey that was sent to Section Chairs and the elected members who serve on our Provincial Coundl, the highest policy making body of our organization. The responses provided by the elected leaders of the Bar were extremely interesting and will be of tremendous use to the Executive Committee in our ongoing planning process. In response to the open-ended question, "What do you believe are the most important issues fadng the legal profession in the next five years?", the top ten responses from the respondents can be categorized under the following headings and in the following order: 1) image- public relations 2) economic pressures (cost of practice) 3) growth of the profession (number of lawyers) 4) quality of life (stress, bumout etc.) Please tum to page 2