LEGAL RESEARCH | Code of conduct | Boolean Search Operators | CanLII
APR IL 2013 | www.cba.org/bc
BarTal Readerk s ’ Sur vey see p. 25
The New, Anytime, Anywhere Law Library Page 12
KUDOS BarTalk Editor
Deborah Carfrae
Cover photo: Meghan Maddigan and Nate Russell, Legal Community Liaisons at Courthouse Libraries BC.
Editorial Board Chair
Michael Welsh Editorial Board Members
Candice Alderson Sandra Harper Ellen Hong Oana Hyatt David Madani Gail McKay Sarah Nelligan Clint Sadlemyer, QC Rose Shawlee
bartalk Senior Editor
Maureen Cameron Staff Contributors
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The B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 10th Floor, 845 Cambie St. Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5T3 Tel: 604-687-3404 Toll-free (in B.C.): 1-888-687-3404 bartalk@bccba.org
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KUDOS
Benchmark Canada Awards Dozens of Canada’s leading litigators, law firms, and in-house legal counsel celebrated their accomplishments at the first-ever Benchmark Canada Awards, held February 5 at the Park Hyatt in Toronto’s Yorkville neighbourhood. Below are B.C.’s Benchmark winners. B.C. Firm of the Year: Nathanson Schachter & Thompson
Energy/Resource Litigation Firm of the Year: Lawson Lundell
B.C. Litigator of the Year: Kenneth McEwan, QC, Hunter Litigation Chambers
Class Action Litigator of the Year: James Sullivan, Blake Cassels & Graydon
B.C. Female Litigator of the Year: Ludmila Herbst, Farris Vaughan Wills & Murphy
International Arbitration Counsel of the Year: Robert Deane, Borden Ladner Gervais
Aboriginal Law Litigator of the Year: Keith Bergner, Lawson Lundell
Insurance Litigator of the Year: Richard Berrow, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin
© Copyright the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association 2013. This publication is intended for information purposes only and the information herein should not be applied to specific fact circumstances without the advice of counsel.
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The British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association represents more than 6,700 B.C. members and is dedicated to improving and promoting access to justice, reviewing legislation, initiating law reform measures and advancing and improving the administration of justice.
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CBA National Aboriginal Law Conference April 11-12, 2013 Victoria, BC
www.cba.org/cbapd/ aboriginal.aspx 2 BarTalk / APRIL 2013
Note: BarTalk undertakes every effort to publish letters to the editor, subject to space and editorial discretion. Letters to the editor can also be found in BarTalk Online at www.cba.org/bc.
APRIL 2013
volume 25 / number 2
Contents
Departments
4 From the President An Agenda for Justice by Kerry L. Simmons 5
Executive Director What Does the Research Say? by Caroline Nevin
6
Practice Talk Searching for Answers by David J. Bilinsky
7 dave’s tech tips 8 Nothing Official Happiness is a Warm Gun by Tony Wilson
Sections
10 Section Update Legal Research International Law Labour Law Upcoming Section Meetings 11
SECTION NEWS Chatter with Chairs
Features 12 The New, Anytime, Anywhere Law Library by Nate Russell and Meghan Maddigan 13 When CanLII Is (or Is Not) Enough by Susan MacFarlane 14 New Ways to Use Boolean Search Operators by Ellen Vandergrift 15 New Ways of Doing Legal Research BarTalk QUIZ! by Christine Murray 19 LAW MONTH 2013
Guests
9
Freeing the Advocate’s Voice by Katrina Dunn
16 The Business of Law by the CBABC Business of Law Committee 17 Sketches of the New Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia by Lenore Rowntree 18 Equality and Diversity on the Bench, or Lack Thereof by Krystle Gill
Inside This Issue This issue focuses on tools and tips for legal research online. Learn which search engines and databases best suit your needs. Enter the Courthouse Libraries BC’s virtual reading room. Get going with Boolean operators. Then catch highlights of the new Professional Code of Conduct and look at the business of law and coaching for dazzling legal presentations.
News and Events 2 Benchmark Canada Awards 20 CBABC Eighth Annual Branch Conference View from the North by Clint Sadlemyer, QC 21 Courthouse Libraries BC Tips Kudos HST to PST 22 Lenczner Slaght/CBA Gale Cup Moot Upcoming Award Deadlines Envisioning Equal Justice Summit 23 A2J Committee Seeks Feedback on Latest Paper, and Prepares for Vancouver Summit Nominations Sought for 2013-14 National Standing Committees 2013 Canadian Legal Conference: Saskatoon, August 18-20 Resolutions Passed at Mid-Winter Meeting 24 CBA Welcomes Whatcott Decision Fine-Tuning of Accountability Urged for Federal Conflict of Interest Act The CBABC 12th Annual Battle of the Bar Bands CLEBC Update 25 B.C. Legislative Update Branch & Bar Calendar Participate in our BarTalk Readers’ Survey 26 CBABC WLF Update Judge Jane Auxier Retirement Celebration
Also In This Issue
11
Member Services
27 LAW FOUNDATION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 28 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 29 DISPLAY ADS 30 Bar Moves 31 New Members APRIL 2013 / BarTalk 3
From The President KERRY L. SIMMONS
An Agenda for Justice It’s About Time
F
The Agenda presents our ideas in accordance with four pillars: Stability for Families, Security for Communities, Certainty for Business, and Accountability to the Public.
those parties’ platforms to encourage their examination of the Agenda and seek a commitment to act on our recommendations. Our next step on this project is to keep the conversation going throughout the election campaign. We are calling on all candidates for election to outline what they and their party might do to protect the ability of families, communities and businesses to prevent and resolve legal issues in a fair, timely and effective way. Your representatives to Provincial Council are meeting with their local candidates to present the Agenda, and discuss why these issues are important. I hope that you will look at the Agenda and ask candidates in your community what solutions they want to see put in place. Justice issues have seen a lot of attention in 2012 and 2013. Politicians are paying attention. It is necessary that lawyers continue to ask questions, provide solutions, and call for action, so that the justice system, a fundamental part of a civil society, thrives rather than dies a slow death by funding cuts and lack of meaningful action.
I have been proud to present An Agenda for Justice to the public through media releases, interviews, radio and television shows. Our volunteers and staff have met with those in the NDP and Liberal parties responsible for developing
president@bccba.org
or years, our members have advocated for long-term, sustainable funding for legal aid. Our Branch has repeatedly called for appropriate funding of the justice system in all its component parts. Our Sections, Working Groups, and Legislative and Law Reform Committees have made submissions to government to improve our laws and court procedures. With our provincial election looming and increased media scrutiny of our justice system, we have an opportunity to raise awareness about our Branch’s ideas for improving justice and legislation, and to demand that our future members of the Legislative Assembly act constructively and positively on the Justice file. In February, the CBABC launched An Agenda for Justice, a platform document (cba.org/BC/Initiatives/pdf/cbabc_an_agenda_ for_justice.pdf) outlining recommendations for both short-term and long-term actions to increase the effectiveness of B.C.’s justice system and low or no-cost improvements of B.C. laws. It is the culmination of our past years of work and draws on the lessons we’ve learned about what is important to our clients and British Columbians. The Agenda presents our ideas in accordance with four pillars: Stability for Families, Security for Communities, Certainty for Business, and Accountability to the Public. Among the suggestions are the creation of a Franchise Act and Unincorporated Non-Profit Associations Act, amendments to ensure informed consent in residential health care, incremental and long-term funding for legal aid services, and establishing a fixed complement of judges in Provincial Court. The contents of the Agenda were developed in consultation with the Legislation and Law Reform, Government Relations, and Executive Committees, Sections, and Provincial Council and drew from 4 BarTalk / April 2013
not only the Branch’s work but the law reform work of other organizations. The Agenda has been applauded as an example of lawyers providing solutions, and demonstrating community leadership.
Kerry L. Simmons
executive director caroline nevin
What Does the Research Say? The data tells us that wellness matters
T
he B.C. Branch office is not often engaged in direct legal research (although we continuously benefit from exceptional work by our Legislation and Law Reform Committee and, most recently, our fantastic Vilardell counsel Sharon Matthews, QC and Dr. Melina Buckley). However, this month’s BarTalk theme gives me an opportunity to talk about other research we have been doing on a unique subject: lawyer wellness. In September 2012, the Executive Committee assigned a Task Force with a six-month deadline for recommending how CBABC can incorporate wellness principles, education and resources into existing CBABC programs, and practical ways in which CBABC can support wellness among members. Wellness is generally defined as overall health, vitality and resilience in dealing with stress. The profession has always, to greater or lesser degrees, understood that lawyer wellness is an important issue: first, lawyers who “bottom out” are more likely to get into trouble with the Law Society and their insurer; second, lawyers who have achieved a high degree of wellness are highly productive in the long term (as opposed to burning brightly and burning out); and third, the best business models rely on retaining good talent rather than constantly recruiting. The CBABC Wellness Task Force first talked with the Lawyers Assistance Program (LAP), PPC (formerly Interlock) and the Law Society’s Wellness Working Group, because we know that the profession will benefit if we all coordinate our efforts and share information. Then, the Task Force looked at relevant research. The first data reviewed was a national survey that examined the usage and awareness of Lawyers
Assistance Programs, under the CBA’s Legal Profession Assistance Conference (www.lpac. ca). We learned that B.C. lawyers are significantly more likely than lawyers elsewhere in the country to a) have high awareness of their local LAP, b) have referred someone to LAP for reasons other than addiction and drug abuse, and c) report having personally confronted stress or burnout. They were also very clear in their written comments that more needs to be done to increase awareness about the wellness-supporting services that are available to B.C. lawyers, and some expressed a strong view that wellness should be included as a Law Society-accredited CPD topic. Closer to home, the Wellness Task Force conducted its own 10-question survey on the topic of wellness (special thanks to prize donators Steve Nash Fitness World for three months of free access, and The Fish House at Stanley Park for their gift certificate!). This was a less
scientific survey than the national Ipsos Reid one – 93 lawyers participated, chosen randomly from our database. Here are the highlights: 54 per cent report that they are actively working on improving their wellness, 25 per cent report they are “just coping,” just over 5 per cent self-report as being “depleted” and 16 per cent report feeling “very well.” Survey participants said their most likely sources of support if wellness became an issue were: a) website information, b) member discounts on fitness or other services, c) professional help and d) a regular wellness column in BarTalk. The most interesting – and alarming – responses we got were to two questions: “Have you ever considered changing or actually changed law firms because you wanted to improve your wellness?” (Yes, 55 per cent), and “Have you ever considered leaving practice because you wanted to improve your wellness?”(Yes, 63 per cent). These two numbers more than any, explain why this issue is important to all of us. Watch future issues of BarTalk for news about the CBABC Wellness Task Force’s recommendations.
Caroline Nevin
cnevin@bccba.org April 2013 / BarTalk 5
practicetalk david J. bilinsky
Searching for Answers Finding a needle in an Internet haystack I’m searching When I’m lost and need to find myself Where this road will lead no one can tell... r r
I
– Simon Finn and Errol Reid, recorded by China Black.
t is hard to imagine but no search engine existed for the web until 1993. Of course, when it comes to doing research on the web, the one search site that everyone knows today is Google. But Google itself didn’t become prominent until 2000. Furthermore, Google is by no means the only or perhaps even the best search engine to use in every context. Compounding the problem, a web page of search hits may not display the research results that you are seeking – simply because so many websites are using SEO (Search Engine Optimization) factual information (not search to try to land their website within results based on popularity, which the first two pages of results. Acis what Google and Bing do). In cordingly, you need to know what terms of real research, this is a other search engines are out there great starting point. along with their attributes in order to carry out any real research over the Internet. No search engine These sites vary from searching existed for the websites to travel sites to medical information, books and scholarweb until 1993. ly articles. You can search to see There are search engines that what people are saying or search don’t just display lists of results news services. You can even search but also display a “Tag Cloud” sites that will post your question with the size of a word (search to live people (gasp!) and get back term) being larger or smaller by real answers. You can search items the number of hits relative to for sale, either by suppliers or by that term. You can see the results individuals. You can search for by “hovering” over the words in specialized knowledge (such as scithe tag cloud. Example: Quintura ence information), or even people. [http://quintura.com]. There are websites such as There are sites such as BiogFactBites [www.factbites.com] raphy.com that allow you to which search encyclopedias and search 25,000+ biographies by Wikipedia to provide you with
6 BarTalk / April 2013
name, keyword and profession. Or search LinkedIn [www.linkedin. com] for current information on 100 million people. You can search for sounds on FindSounds.com and find an amazing variety, from alligators to windshield wipers and zebras.
Quotations [www.quotationspage.com/search.php3] and famous speeches [www.wyzant.com/Help/ History/HPOL/] can be searched, read and heard. You can even search out search engines from other countries [www.searchenginecolossus.com]. When you are searching and lost and can’t seem to find yourself, there are any number of roads that you can take... who knows where they will lead you. The views expressed herein are strictly those of the author and may not be shared by the Law Society of British Columbia.
David J. Bilinsky is the Practice Management Advisor for the Law Society of British Columbia. Email: daveb@lsbc.org Blog: www.thoughtfullaw.com GO ONLINE FOR MORE INFORMATION
dave’s techtips
IP address. Unlike other search engines, your personal data is not shared with anyone, according to IXQuick (such as search terms, time of your visit and the links you chose).
WebMD
(www.webmd.com) Not only can you search a vast amount of medical information, you can sign in and track your vaccines, track your weight and fitness goals, sign up for more than 50 newsletters.
So when would you use one search engine over another? Here is a quick rundown on a few different ones.
Alibaba (www.alibaba.com) Alibaba claims to be the world’s largest database of suppliers. Based in China, it is an index of the world marketplace of export and import, offers search, company directory, catalog, trade leads and more.
eHow (www.ehow.com) An amazing site that has a huge collection of step-by-step instructions on how to do virtually anything.
Google (www.google.com)
Google Scholar
Yahoo! Answers
Google, the web’s largest and most preferred search engine, according to Entrepreneur magazine, provides more relevant information than Bing [www.entrepreneur.com/ blog/224639]. Google can separately search for images, maps and directions, news, YouTube videos, books (you won’t be able to see full text if the copyright is still active in Canada), places, blogs, flights, discussions, applications (apps) and patents.
Bing (www.bing.com)
Again, according to Entrepreneur magazine, Bing’s advantage is its integration with both Facebook and Twitter. This gives it access to more social data that Google. Bing can also search images, videos, maps, shopping, news and has a translator.
Metacrawler
(www.metacrawler.com) This is an aggregator search engine that blends the top searches from Google, Yahoo!, Live Search, Ask.com, About.com, MIVA, LookSmart and other search engines. Another one is Dog Pile [www.dogpile.com]. IXQuick [www.ixquick.com) IXQuick is the only search engine that does not record your
(http://scholar.google.ca) Google Scholar provides an easy way to search for scholarly literature. You can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other websites. Google Scholar helps you find relevant hits across the world of scholarly research. It also indexes U.S. case law.
Free Book Searchlist
(http://answers.yahoo.com) This is a community-based knowledge market. You can ask questions of other users and as well, answer questions. They state that they have more than 60 million users.
Kayak (www.kayak.com) This is a travel aggregator site that allows you to build itineraries (single trip, round trip and multiple cities) by searching more than 400 airlines worldwide. You can also search for hotel rooms, cars, deals and vacations. One of my absolute “go to” websites.
(www.freebooksearch.net) A comprehensive book searching portal with more than 30 search engines in its archive, the site searches hundreds of digital libraries and also scours the net for hidden books.
Shopzilla (www.shopzilla.com) This site helps you find, compare and buy anything from virtually anyone, anywhere. It also reviews stores and products.
eMail-Search.org
Plode.us (http://ex.plode.us)
(www.email-search.org) An incredible site that allows you to find someone by their name, company or old email address. You can trace an email and find out how to (legally?) hack or spoof someone’s email.
QUORA (www.quora.com) This site allows you to see what people are saying on any particular topic. Wonderful to find solutions to problems, ideas and personal opinions on things.
This is one incredible people search engine for finding people, public records and more.
Scirus (www.scirus.com) This website bills itself as the most comprehensive scientific research tool on the web. You can search for journal content, scientist’s homepages, courseware, patents and institutional repository and website information. © 2013 David J. Bilinsky
April 2013 / BarTalk 7
nothingofficial TONY WILSON
Happiness is a Warm Gun Has the NRA become a terrorist group in Canada?
L
et’s see if some of B.C.’s brightest legal minds can help me with a statutory interpretation issue I’m struggling with. Is someone else out there besides me crazy enough to argue that the National Rifle Association (NRA) has become a “Terrorist Group” under section 83 of the Criminal Code of Canada? If it were, all financial donations by Canadians to this organization would be barred. So let’s walk through the argument and you tell me if you think I’m wrong. As a nation, the U.S. can’t seem to do anything about gun murders other than permit the sale of more high-powered automatic weapons so more Americans can shoot each other in greater numbers. In 2010, there were 8,775 gun murders in the U.S., (and this doesn’t include suicides or shootings where the victims survived). In the same year, the UK had 58
gun murders and Canada had 170. Yet after every horrible shooting in a theatre, a school, a mall, a university, a post office, or in a home, the NRA is there to promote its ideological cause; namely, the right to buy, own, sell, manufacture and shoot handguns, military assault rifles and other high powered firearms that are used to terrorize, shoot and kill innocent children, shoppers, moviegoers, politicians, friends, spouses and relatives (as opposed to say, ducks or deer). The New York Times has described the NRA as a “protection racket” that uses intimidation tactics to facilitate its pro-gun political cause, doing everything possible to help elect pro-gun candidates (including funding their campaigns), but ensuring that if their well funded candidates stray from the NRA’s ideology: “we will load our weapons and direct everything in our arsenal at you in the next Republican primary.” It’s a lobby group for gun owners and manufactures with an 8 BarTalk / April 2013
ideological and political purpose to arm more citizens, and in the process, sell more guns. And unfortunately, every mass shooting facilitates an increase in sales, profiting its supporters in the gun industry. If you saw NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre’s press conference after that horrible shooting in December, or NRA gun nut Alex Jones’ bizarre shouting match with Piers Morgan shortly thereafter (or even NRA representatives Dana Loesch and Scottie Hughes defending the right to own tanks), everyone should be armed, including school teachers. So here’s my statutory interpretation question: Is the NRA directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, facilitating terrorist activities in the U.S.? If so, it’s a terrorist group in Canada. To paraphrase section 83 of the Criminal Code, the definition of “terrorist activity” is an “act or omission in or outside Canada... that is committed in whole or in
part for a political... or ideological purpose, objective or cause... in whole or in part with the intention of intimidating the public with regard to its security... or compelling a person, a government or... an organization to do or to refrain from doing any act... that intentionally causes death or serious bodily harm to a person by the use of violence, endangers a person’s life... and includes a conspiracy, ... or being an accessory after the fact or counseling in relation to any such act or omission.” A “terrorist group” is an entity that has as one of its purposes or activities facilitating or carrying out any terrorist activity (or it’s a “listed entity”). So, in light of the NRA’s ideological position on gun ownership, its political support for gun owners and manufacturers, its intimidation of politicians and others who believe in stricter gun laws, and the wording of section 83 (wording that was probably meant to catch organizations more like Hezbollah and al-Qaeda), has the NRA now become a group that indirectly facilitates terrorism? Cuba is still on the U.S. list of countries and organizations that support terrorist groups. Can section 83 be read in such a way that the NRA should be on ours? The views expressed herein are strictly those of Tony Wilson and do not reflect the opinions of the Law Society of British Columbia, CBABC, or their respective members.
guest KATRINA DUNN
Freeing the Advocate’s Voice
Unleashing your vocal power
M
any of us hate the sound of our own voice. Many of us have decided that we have an unattractive or weak voice and are plagued by those judgments every time we open our mouths to speak. In public or professional speaking situations, where lawyers often find themselves, the pressures and judgments are heightened, and can even be debilitating. Vocal training for actors is predicated on the belief that every individual has an expressive and potent vocal instrument that only has to be freed of restrictions to find its power. Your voice is not something you are born and stuck with, like the colour of your eyes or your height; it is something that evolves as a result of life experience, and it can continue to evolve should you choose to do some work on it. Instructors who work in this field routinely see the transformations that occur when actors de-program habitual patterns and free their natural voices. The changes are not only noticeable to the ear, they are psychologically empowering and can fuel other kinds of creative and personal growth. The legal profession is one of the few careers left that still rely heavily on the use of the voice. The digital age has done much to move the act of speaking
into the background of most jobs, but for many lawyers it is still a core activity and much of their success relies on it. In fact, the practice of some lawyers takes the act of speaking beyond a mundane or common use of the voice and into areas that realistically require years of vocal training to truly master. Is it any wonder, then, that given the demands on the voice and the lack of understanding and training for it, many lawyers speak frozen in fear, consumed by doubt about their vocal performance? This fear is not completely unfounded. The voice reveals the deepest parts of ourselves, including our fears and those things we
The legal profession is one of the few careers left that still rely heavily on the use of the voice. would choose to deny. Our voices are a byproduct of our background and reflective of it in every way. This not only includes dialect, class and education, but also personal trauma and choices we make about how to express things
like gender and status. It is a window into ourselves, even when sometimes we would prefer to keep the blinds shut. The same judgments we pass on ourselves we also extend to the voices of others. When someone begins to speak, we quickly form a picture – an instant profile based on all kinds of vocal markers like pitch, range, level of tension, articulation, energy and clarity. Deep below the level of conscious thought our voices have profound effects on each other. A voice can instantly relax, instantly engage, instantly irritate. All of us have the ability to speak unashamedly and communicate expressively. But most of us are riddled with vocal tensions that block effective communication, sometimes compounded by the handicap of self-judgment. Our responses to our life experiences create these tensions that can become afflictions of which we are hardly aware of. Acting-based vocal training works to release these afflictions and give us back the full use of our voices, with their enormous power to enlighten, persuade and entertain. Some vocal improvements are possible within a couple of days. Lasting change takes longer, but produces profound results for the whole person. Most important to remember is that it is not the voice that is bad – just the habits that suppress its freedom. Katrina Dunn is a Vancouver-based director and teaches presentation skills to lawyers through the CLEBC. www.touchstonetheatre.com/lawyers April 2013 / BarTalk 9
sections section update
Legal Research
Timothy Martiniuk of the Keep Current A review of uWorkers’ Compensation Tribunal (the “WCAT”) provincial Section meetings. Appeal provided an overview of legal
Legal Research Meeting: February 6, 2013 Speaker: Timothy Martiniuk Topic: Researching Workers’ Compensation Issues
International Law Upcoming Meeting: April 4, 2013 Speakers: Antonin I. Pribetic, Prof. Peter Mazzacano and James M. Klots Topic: The UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (The “CISG”)
research tools available to lawyers practising in the workers’ compensation area. Tim briefly explained the appeals process, including changes to the process since 2002, and the roles of the Workers’ Compensation Board, the WCAT, the Workers’ Advisor Office, and the Employers’ Advisors Office before moving on to practical tips on how to best use the WorkSafeBC website and WCAT website to research policy, regulations and decisions of the Review Division and WCAT. As Tim explained how to navigate the sites, the live webinar provided members of the Section attending remotely the same live view as those present in person. Tim’s presentation via webinar and meeting materials, including a comprehensive paper entitled “Workers’ Compensation Resources,” are available to CBABC members as a resource under Section Papers.
International Law The International Law Section
Labour Law Upcoming Meeting: April 8, 2013 Speakers: Brent Mullin, Labour Relations Board Chair; Allison Matacheskie, Associate Chair – Adjudication; Debbie Cameron, Director – Mediation; and Ken Saunders, Registrar Topic: The Annual “Bearpit”: Labour Relations Board Update
10 BarTalk / April 2013
urecognizes the opportunities
to bring engaging discussions with speakers across the country to their Section members by using new technology. At their April meeting, two speakers will present live from Davis LLP in Toronto, speaking to audiences in Davis LLP in Vancouver via an interactive videolink. For Section members in Victoria, a third location at the Sussex Building in Victoria will also be linked to both Davis branches.
Speakers Antonin I. Pribetic, Prof. Peter Mazzacano and James M. Klots will discuss the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods, a commercial treaty in force for Canada and implemented both in B.C. and federal law. The leading Canadian CISG practitioners and academics will provide invaluable information to International Law practitioners on the CISG and its importance to work in the drafting, interpretation and litigation of international sale of goods contracts.
Labour Law At the annual “Bearpit,”
uLabour Law Section members are joined by a panel of guest speakers from the Labour Relations Board to discuss recent issues and decisions of the board, and labour law in B.C. A regular feature of the Labour Law Section calendar, this event offers Section members a unique opportunity to listen, to hear from and pose questions to the Chair and Board members as they discuss the activities and challenges of
the previous year. This annual meeting can be counted on as an excellent source of information and upcoming trends as the Labour Law Section looks ahead to another year.
Upcoming Section Meetings May 2013 General
Practice, Solo and Small Firm – Lower Mainland: Family Law and Financial Advisors ADR-Vancouver: Administrative Tribunals and Their Struggle to Achieve Timely Dispute Resolution June 2013 Law – Vancouver: Wellness in the Legal Profession CBABC Women Lawyers Forum: Annual General Meeting Wills and Trusts – Vancouver: Annual General Meeting Family
For enrolled CBA members, more detailed information and available minutes from the Section meetings are online at www.cba.org/bc in CBABC Forums and Sections under Professional Development. GO ONLINE FOR MORE INFORMATION
Section News
Chatter with Chairs — Neil Hain, Chair Alternative Dispute Resolution – Vancouver The ADR Section is uniquely positioned to address issues of interest across a broad spectrum of law. Over the past two years, we have sought to capitalize on this by examining and exploring ADR opportunities in various practice areas and on a range of topics. We are very fortunate to have the support of the firm Borden Ladner Gervais, which has kindly donated logistical and administrative support from its Vancouver office. CBABC’s department of Professional Development and Sections has proven invaluable in its provision of tech support to facilitate online attendance and webinar presentations. We also wish to thank our Section members and members of other Sections, who have taken the time to attend our meetings (in person or remotely) and enhance our collective professional development through the exchange of their well-considered ideas and insightful commentary.
memberservices email: MEMBERS@bccba.org
Seasonal promotions and special offers to members are promoted weekly via CBABC News and Jobs. Visit the CBABC website for links to various activities and promotions on the Member Savings page from the drop down list under Membership. Still Creek Press: As the exclusive preferred supplier of print services to the B.C. Branch of the \\
Canadian Bar Association (CBABC), Still Creek Press is pleased to offer CBABC members preferential rates on all printing services.
meetingmax – Book B.C. Hotels Online: CBA members receive exclusive savings when they book \\
hotel rooms through meetingmax. Members can view room rates, amenities and photos of hotels in British Columbia offering members exclusive discounts.
April 2013 / BarTalk 11
features NatE Russell and Meghan Maddigan
The New, Anytime, Anywhere Law Library
What you didn’t know the library could do
W
hat if you woke up one day and discovered $10,000 worth of Canadian legal textbooks, 1,500 law journals and federal statutes from three centuries digitized and waiting patiently on your laptop or smartphone? Well, you can take the “what if” out of that last sentence; that hypothetical is the new reality. And as lawyers wake up to news about the Lawyers’ Reading Room, they’re experiencing Courthouse Libraries BC in new ways. More than 1,000 B.C. lawyers already benefit from the Lawyers’ Reading Room – and each day more sign up for Courthouse Libraries BC’s growing collection of digitized materials and legal information tools. For many, it’s changing the way they find legal information, as B.C. Law Society members get access to HeinOnline – a vast digital store of law journals and other legal sources, including the entire Supreme Court Reports, Canadian federal statutes, and back issues of the Advocate – as well as more than 150 titles from Irwin Law in eBook form. And the offerings continue to expand. Courthouse Libraries BC has built many services into its website over the past five years. You have long been able to create web accounts at www.courthouselibrary.ca to ask reference questions online, order books or request scanned cases or legal treatises.
12 BarTalk / April 2013
With every stage of digital growth, the library’s reach extends a little further beyond its physical walls. In January 2013, Courthouse Libraries BC’s added a clever sentencing tool called Rangefindr to the Lawyers’ Reading Room. It’s a central feature of the new Criminal Law Practice Portal (there are now six practice portals on www.courthouselibrary.ca). Rangefindr is capable of performing very fast sentencing range searches based on hundreds of possible criteria (relating to record, pre-sentence behaviour, particulars regarding the complainant, etc.). As Courthouse Libraries BC adds online resources and tools for free use by members of the Law So-
Courthouse Libraries BC is introducing lawyers to the latest tools. ciety of B.C., it also recognizes the importance of training so that B.C. lawyers realize the full potential of these services. The ever-expanding program offers options in-person, online or through partnerships with organizations like the CBABC and the CLE. Courthouse Libraries BC is introducing lawyers to the latest tools, showing them new
ways of accessing the old ones and bringing training that is practical and efficient. You can register for a number of these options at www. courthouselibrary.ca/training. For lawyers who need a quick refresher on an online tool, there’s also a series of short video tutorials that focus on how to solve an actual legal information need in six minutes or less. The training page also features the first of the CPD Study Kits, bringing lawyers around the province the opportunity to download a kit for use with a Bar association or just the lawyer down the hall.
Finally, this month marks the launch of a new feature in BarTalk: the CLBC Tips piece. Bringing the best of Courthouse Libraries BC’s in-house expertise, this piece will range from Courthouse Libraries BC’s favourite blogs to finding legal information, to making Google work for you. Don’t miss this month’s tip on using CanLII in some unexpected ways (see page 21). The ways to find legal information are evolving and so is your library. To find out more, contact one of the two authors of this article: Courthouse Libraries BC’s Legal Community Liaisons, Nate Russell and Meghan Maddigan. Nate Russell (nrussell@courthouselibrary.ca) and Meghan Maddigan (mmaddigan@courthouselibrary.ca).
SUSAN MACFARLANE
When CanLII Is (or Is Not) Enough A comparison of research databases CanLII
Quicklaw (LexisNexis) Westlaw (eCarswell)
less historical coverage strong
English coverage (extra $) no headnotes headnotes very limited noting up noting up distinguishes noting up now by treatment of a case noting up will tell you includes citation not only how many frequency times the case has been considered but how many times each of the cases considering it have been now includes links to statutes judicially judicial consideration considered searchable of statute sections by subsection historical statutes now historical statutes being maintained maintained in some comparing historical vercases back to 2000 sions of statutes is easy includes limited links to commentary commentary on from Halsbury’s Laws Charter and employof Canada now includes forms, ment issues precedents
no
search for terms judicially defined
T
search for words and
phrases judicially defined
oday a huge volume of Canadian contemporary case law, legislation, and commentary is free online. Older decisions and older versions of legislation are gradually accumulating in the free realm. Even some fee-based databases from Quicklaw and
strong
US coverage (extra $) headnotes noting up distinguishes by treatment of a case noting up will tell you not only how many times the case has been considered but how many times each of the cases considering it have been statutes judicially considered searchable by subsection historical statutes not as far back as Quicklaw; regulations are less complete and/or less current links to commentary from CED growing memo collection provides general memos tailored for western and eastern Canada search for words and phrases judicially defined
Westlaw are available free on computers in the Courthouse Library. But depending on your needs, you might actually be better off to pay for your research resources. For instance, if you really need to find a point-in-time version of a B.C. statute from 10 years ago, Quicklaw is the easiest (fastest) way
to get it. Or if you need an arbitration decision, you might find it in CanLII, but you will almost certainly find it in Quicklaw. Or if you need to note up an important case, you can try noting up in CanLII and maybe even searching for the case name as a keyword, but that’s not going to give you much comfort, no matter what you turn up. If it’s important, you should note it up in Quicklaw and in Westlaw too. If you’re looking for precedents, Quicklaw now has forms. If you’re looking for commentary, Westlaw’s new memo service provides topical research memos. Catherine Best’s comprehensive Best Guide to Legal Research (http://legalresearch.org/) provides many point-by-point comparisons of CanLII, Quicklaw and Westlaw, including identifying how current the statutory collections are on each of them (Westlaw always lags behind). The services change, but presently the chart on the left is a rough comparison. Basically, you will often start with CanLII because it’s free, but the skilled researcher knows his or her tools, and knows when another tool will do a better job. Although the range of free and paid electronic resources available to researchers is growing exponentially, in many ways the principles of legal research haven’t changed. A good researcher understands the task, knows the available tools, and uses good judgment in crafting the best way to achieve that task given the tools available. The best tools for a given job are not always free. Susan MacFarlane is a Vancouver research lawyer and editor providing research and writing services to lawyers and publishers. April 2013 / BarTalk 13
features Ellen Vandergrift
New Ways to Use Boolean Search Operators ((% – NOT – /n – * – !))
B
oolean search operators are certainly not new, but there may be some ways to use them that are familiar to research pros, but new to you! NOT This operator, which takes a different form in the three main search platforms, excludes search results that contain the search terms following the operator. This is a tricky search operator to use in ordinary searches as you may unintentionally exclude relevant documents from your search results. However, it is indispensible in running a second search if you think of a new search and you don’t want to re-review all the cases you reviewed in your first search. To exclude the results of the first search, simply place the entire first search in parentheses following the operator. Example: to use a simple example, initially you perform the following search and view the cases: vehicle /s gift then you realize that you should have used other terms for “vehicle.” Performing the following search will allow you to see only new cases: (automobile or car or truck or SUV) /s gift AND NOT (vehicle /s gift)
14 BarTalk / April 2013
(The above search uses AND NOT in Quicklaw. On Westlaw, the operator is % and on CanLII the operator is NOT.) PARENTHESES Rather than be concerned about the default order in which your terms will be evaluated, use parentheses to group your search terms and operators into segments. By doing this, you are controlling the order in which your search terms will be applied. Not only does this avoid any unintended results, it helps to organize your thinking. You will be more intentional about the search operators you use and identify segments where you may need to think of variants of your search terms. Example: defamation
and ((identif! or refer!) /s plaintiff) and ((class or group) /s (individual! or singl! or member or plaintiff or each or every))
Catherine Best, on her website Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research, suggests using parentheses as a way to standardize search queries and overcome variations in search syntax when using multiple platforms.
PROXIMITY OPERATORS Boolean searching is a “close but no cigar” endeavour: you get only what you request. In forming a search, you are essentially trying to guess what words any particular judge might have used – and judges can be particular! For this reason, you need to keep your thinking and searches as open as possible so you don’t unintentionally exclude relevant results. Rather than assuming that a phrase always appears as it first occurs to you, use proximity operators and wildcards to ensure that you catch that combination of search terms no matter how they appear. Ensuring proper positioning of the truncation symbol will allow you to locate all variants of a word. Example: “vicarious
liability” will not catch any of the following: “liable vicariously,” “vicariously liable,” “liability is vicarious” or “liability of the employer is vicarious” vicarious! /5 liab! will catch all of the above variations (The above search uses /n and ! which are the relevant operators on Quicklaw and Westlaw Canada. On CanLII the operators are /n and *.) Next time you conduct a search, give one of these tips a try! Ellen Vandergrift, a senior research lawyer with OnPoint Legal Research. OnPoint is a legal research firm that has been completing a variety of legal research and writing projects, including facta, for other lawyers in the private and public sector for more than 13 years.
CHRISTINE MURRAY
New Ways of Doing Legal Research BarTalk QUIZ! Are you faster than a legal researcher?
T
ake this quiz on obscure, arcane and trivial points of law and legal research to find out how you stack up. Submit your answers by April 30, 2013 (print this page, then fill in the blanks, noting [on a separate piece of paper] the time it took to find each answer and the sources you use, then email both to bartalk@bccba.org or fax to 604-669-9601 or 1-877-669-9601). Reporting is on the honour system – so make sure you play fairly. All participants will be entered into a random draw to receive a $50 iTunes gift card. Those who return 100 per cent correct answers will be mentioned in the next issue of BarTalk. 1. In this province ______________ selling a living _________ under the age of _____________ that is dyed or artificially colored is a summary conviction offence pursuant to the ______________ __________________________. 2. In accordance with section ____ of the Criminal Code of Canada everyone who publically advertises on a reward poster that __________________ is guilty of a summary conviction offense. 3. This section ___________ of the Criminal Code of Canada provides that a person is culpable of a homicide if they wilfully ____________ a human being, in the case of a child or sick person.
4. A cache of unreported British Columbia Supreme Court Decisions can be found here: ______ __________________________. 5. This Supreme Court of Canada decision is the first reported decision with the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, PC, Chief Justice of Canada as a member of the panel: ___ ________________. 6. This Supreme Court of Canada decision is the last decision of Honourable Right Chief Justice McLachlin, from her time on the British Columbia Court of Appeal, appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada before her appointment: ____________________________ __________________________. 7. According to this Tax Court of Canada Decision, penned by Justice ___________________ it doesn’t matter if you are selling pot or pots, you still have to pay tax: ______________________ . 8. The Supreme Court of this country’s ____________’s Rules of Court Order VIII state that “Where the deponent is a _________________ lady shall be identified by a person to whom
she is known and that person shall prove the identification by a separate affidavit.” 9. The City of ________________, British Columbia, Bylaw No. _______________ in Schedule A section 4 prohibits the use of this kind of animal ______________ in a performance or part of a performance with a maximum penalty of __________. 10. In this _____________________ ______________ reported decision the fact pattern includes: a salmon fishing boat catching a killer whale and selling it to the Vancouver Aquarium? 11. The X-Files is referenced in this Supreme Court of British Columbia decision as a reason for divorce: __________________ __________________ and in this Supreme Court of British Columbia decision to describe a crime: ___________________________ ____________. 12. The correct citation for Mr. Pat Martin’s (Winnipeg Centre, NDP) question in Parliament: “Is he working with his American counterparts to develop an international zombie strategy so that a zombie invasion does not turn into a zombie apocalypse?” is: _________________________ ____________________________ ___________________________.
Christine Murray, partner at Cassels Murray. April 2013 / BarTalk 15
guests THE CBABC BUSINESS OF LAW COMMITTEE
The Business of Law
Survey results on how B.C. lawyers approach business of law issues
I
n spring and autumn of 2012, the CBABC Business of Law Committee surveyed British Columbia lawyers about how they approach business of law issues. 101 lawyers responded to the survey. Respondents’ Focus The top four business of law issues identified by respondents are best practices for: (1) use of technology, (2) business planning, (3) service standards, and (4) alternative fee arrangements. Respondents’ Approach Ninety per cent of respondents considered that business of law issues were important, fairly important or very important to their practices. Seventy-five per cent of respondents spent at least one hour per month on each of (1) keeping informed about business of law issues, (2) planning ahead for such issues, and (3) addressing existing issues. One third of respondents spent at least three hours per month on each such task. Only one third of respondents dedicated a member of their firms to addressing business of law issues, and only 5 per cent dedicated a committee of their firms to such issues. Two thirds of respondents said their firms addressed business
16 BarTalk / April 2013
Responses by Firm Size
Responses by Practice
Responses by Region
of law issues on an ad hoc basis as they arise. Perhaps not surprisingly, the approaches to business of law issues appear to become more systematic with increasing firm size. Respondents’ Preferred Resources The most popular sources of information about business of law issues were: (1) other members of the respondents’ firms, (2) members of the profession outside the respondents’ firms, (3) continuing
professional development providers, (4) the CBA, and (5) the Law Society. The most popular CBA resources were the BarTalk newsletter, the CBA National magazine, the CBA.org website and CBABC webinars. More than 90 per cent of respondents would consider useful a CBA website focused specifically on business of law issues. The most desired features of such a website were (1) a library of articles and reports and (2) planning and practice tips and tools. Interestingly, there was significantly less interest in blog and fora features. Based on the foregoing responses, it was not clear whether respondents were unaware of the PracticeLink section of the CBA.org website or considered that it did not sufficiently address their needs. Eighty per cent of respondents had been unaware that CBABC had a committee dedicated to business of law issues, but wanted to be kept informed of its work on a regular basis. The Committee will use survey data to make recommendations to the CBABC Executive to meet member needs and expectations. The Business of Law Committee is a standing committee of CBABC with the mandate to identify issues and anticipated changes within the profession and society that impact lawyers in their ability to engage in the business of the practice of law; and to make recommendations to the Executive Committee and Council for such responses as may be required to take advantage of these issues or changes.
Lenore Rowntree
Sketches of the New Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia
Y
ou’ve just picked up a voicemail message from an annoying neighbour, who wants you to be her lawyer. Sigh. You know she’ll grind you on your fees. Also, her message says she wants you to represent her in her fight with the ratepayers association: the same association whose meetings you’ve just agreed to chair, although you’ve made it clear you are not the association lawyer and you’ll not be giving them legal advice. You want to show the neighbour something in black and white to dissuade her from being your client. You reach for the Law Society Member’s Manual and flip to the tab marked Professional Conduct Handbook. Wrong. As of January 1, 2013, the Handbook was retired, and it’s been replaced with the Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (“Code”). If you don’t have a copy, you can download and print a PDF version on the Law Society website. There’s a lot the same in the Code, but also some new. To begin with, the Code has a definition section that defines several important terms, including some that might help in this situation. You read with some enthusiasm that a “conflict of interest” can arise in any situation in which your duties conflict with your own interests or duties owed to
another client, a former client, or a third person. Perfect, your duty to the third person ratepayers association, even though they’re not a client, is going to conflict with you acting for your neighbour so that ends that. But you should have a read of all the conflicts rules under 3.4 of Chapter 3 to see the full picture. What else is new in this Code? The title to rule 3.2-8 draws your attention. It states “dishonesty, fraud when client an organization.” Nothing new there, you think; it’s always been wrong to help a
As of January 1, 2013, the Handbook was retired, and it’s been replaced with the Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia ("Code"). client be dishonest, but it turns out there is something new. The commentary says you must advise your client the behaviour has to stop, and if it does not, you have a duty to report the matter “up the ladder” of responsibility in
the organization. If the behaviour still doesn’t stop, even after you’ve taken it to the top, you must withdraw from acting. Okay, but what about the business of the practice? Anything new on the fee front? The commentary to rule 3.6-1 reminds that you need to tell your client soon into your representation as much as you can about the fees, disbursements and any interest you want to charge. And note to self: dust off those contingency agreements and update them, especially since the commentary to rule 3.6-2 only allows you to withdraw in a contingent fee situation in certain limited circumstances unless the contingency agreement says otherwise. Seems things are changing in this area, so as always be on the lookout for notices from the Law Society. Finally, what does the Code say about being an advocate? Oh my, there’s a whole chapter on it; better sit down and read Chapter 5 to understand the rules concerning disclosure of errors, lawyers as witnesses, communicating with witnesses and the like. And you should have a look at Chapter 6 and Appendix E of the Code, and Law Society Rule 2-9.2, to begin to understand how paralegals might help out, as well as look at the Practice, Support and Resources section of the Law Society website under the Practice Resources link to Paralegals to understand the limits during the Pilot Project.
Lenore Rowntree, Practice Advisor, Law Society of British Columbia. April 2013 / BarTalk 17
guest Krystle Gill
Equality and Diversity on the Bench, or Lack Thereof More work needs to be done
W
omen were first admitted to the Law Society of British Columbia on April 1, 1912, when Mabel Penery French challenged the beliefs of the benchers of that day by demonstrating that “modern Blackstones in petticoats” could practice law, and could practice it darn well. In the 101 years that have followed, women lawyers have experienced many firsts and advances, as well as challenges and setbacks. The most recent challenge has been the lack of women appointments to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The first woman appointed to the Supreme Court was Madam Justice Patricia Proudfoot in 1977. Since January 1, 2009, of the 33 appointments to the Bench (of which 31 remain), only five have been women. As of February 2013, out of the 105 sitting justices, there are 32 women (only 30 per cent), and 96 per cent of justices are Caucasian. There are five vacancies. The process for being appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia (BCSC) has received increased public scrutiny in the last few months. Before the Federal Minister of Justice will consider an appointment to the Bench, applicants must first be recommended by the Federal Judicial Advisory Committee: an eight-member panel that is presently composed
18 BarTalk / April 2013
entirely of men, most of whom are civil litigators from large firms. It is interesting to note that the typical appointment to the BCSC is a white male civil litigator from a large firm. The individuals that have been appointed to the Bench have demonstrated that they are qualified, competent and hardworking. However, it would be in the best interests of justice if the diversity of the members of the judiciary accurately reflects the diversity of the members of the Law Society of British Columbia as well as the public which it serves. For the past three decades, the number of women and men graduating from Canadian law schools has been approximately the same. Given the aging population, the main force behind population growth in British Columbia is immigration. Why is this not reflected in the ratio of women to men and the increased representation of minorities on the BCSC? On December 1, 2012, the CBABC Provincial Council unanimously passed a resolution to urge the Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to consider gender balance, ethnic diversity, visible minority status, disabilities and practice area diversity in making recommendations for appointments to the BCSC.
The resolution also highlights the importance of the Minister’s role in addressing the under-representation in the judiciary of women, ethnic minorities, visible minorities, persons with disabilities and those with experience in family law. In a recent letter to Robert Brun, QC, the President of the Canadian Bar Association, the Minister stated: “Achieving diversity on our Bench is an important goal that will ensure our laws and our justice system continue to reflect and respond to the society they serve. I am proud to say that, on the international stage, Canada is looked to as a leader in this regard.” How should this goal and the solution to the present imbalances be achieved? To begin, the Minister and the federal government should demonstrate their commitment to equality and diversity on our Bench, by seeking to appoint qualified women and ethnic minorities to the current vacancies, and continuing to do so in the future, aiming for equality in gender balance and increased representation of minorities. If the reputation of our Superior Courts is to be maintained, there is work to be done, as the statistics show there is clearly room for improvement. Krystle Gill is an associate lawyer practising family law, civil litigation and personal injury at HART Legal and is the Equality and Diversity Representative on the CBABC Executive Committee and the CBABC Women Lawyers Forum Vancouver Island Chair.
Law Month 2013
www.bclawweek.org
u 2013 Law Month’s theme, Access to Justice: The Role of Public Opinion is sure to entice big crowds. This year, there are many locations across British Columbia that are participating in celebrating the 31st Anniversary of the Charter of Rights. will recognize the performers, but they will be cast in different roles. The case will deal with the same murder victim and accused, but the facts will be very different. There is no charge for the event. Discussion with the audience follows the performance. See if you agree with the jury’s decision and discuss how you evaluated the evidence.
Province-Wide Activities Nanaimo Tuesday, April 23 Where: Nanaimo Courthouse Mock Trial: Regina v. The Big Bad Wolf exhibits/presenters courthouse tours, library tours Vancouver Month of April The 2013 Vancouver Law Week Open House will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on April 16 outside UBC Robson Square (street level and lower level). Events will include: citizenship ceremony video forum taping contests, games, interactive display booths tours of the courthouse People’s Law School Classes Other Vancouver Law Month Activities include: Wednesday, April 3rd: Live Forum with the three Chiefs and Ian Hanomansing at
a local Vancouver high school Sunday, April 7th: Catch Me if You Can – Law Week 5km Run and Obstacle Race Monday, April 15th: Barry Sullivan Speech Contest
KAMLOOPS Tuesday, April 23 Where: Kamloops Courthouse The following events and activities will take place: cell and vehicle tours by sheriffs RCMP police dogs community organization displays a mock trial based on Jack and the Beanstalk Cranbrook Thursday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m. Where: Key City Theatre Mock Trial: You Be The Jury A cast of local lawyers and court officials are presenting this funfilled educational demonstration of a mock jury trial. The jury will be selected at random from members of the audience. This year’s presentation will be a murder trial. Those of you who attended last year’s presentation
FORT ST. JOHN Saturday, April 27 Time: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Where: Fort St. John Courthouse displays mock trial
law week 2013
Partners and Sponsors PARTNERS
vancouver bar association
SPONSOR
April 2013 / BarTalk 19
news&events MARK YOUR CALENDAR! CBABC Eighth Annual Branch Conference The Westin San Diego San Diego, California November 15-17, 2013
This year’s conference is taking place in beautiful San Diego. Complete all 12 of your 2013 CPD credits, including the two hours required ethics, professional responsibility and practice management component. Don’t miss out!
SAN DIEGO
2013
For more information >>> www.cbabc-conference.org \\
View from the North FROM NORTHEASTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA TO YOU Here in the North, I have witnessed the beginning of the end of an era, one that is apparently happening at many, if not all, of our courthouse libraries: the books are leaving. I saw the books physically being carried and carted out of the building. I liked the books. I liked holding the books. I liked reading from the books. But I didn’t often take out the books, curl up with them and read them. I recall, in the latter part of the 1980s, when I struggled through the CEDs faithfully looking through all the many loose-leaf updates to find the answer to the legal research question at hand. It was a great system that ensured one found the answer if one followed the carefully set out procedures. Then I tried the new computer research company called Quicklaw. They were in their second year of being publicly available and were giving free contracts to all law students. I was ruined for the old school way as I found the same answer in a few minutes that took well over an hour using books. I recall finding cases I needed online and occasionally retrieving the book it was in so that I could read it from a book rather than gazing at the radiation king video display terminal. It somehow seemed more lawyerly to photocopy the pages of a book to include in my book of authorities. It just seemed more authoritative somehow, especially when the judge later referred to only the headnote. The expansion of the number of resources available online increases, and it would seem the profession’s use of books has been on the decline to the point where even the Fort St. John Law Library now has far fewer books and a new bank of research stations, a set up that will surely assist those in private practice to ensure their conversion back to the PST will proceed according to Hoyle. I still like books. My View from the North — Clint Sadlemyer, QC
20 BarTalk / April 2013
CLBC Tips
NEWS
Kudos
CanLII can do what? Using CanLII in unexpected ways CanLII’s utility and practical applications have grown leaps and bounds. While of course you can use it for the obvious tasks, CLBC is betting there are a few things you didn’t know it can do for you. Find Secondary Sources CanLII has launched a full employment law text and annotated Charter commentary and appears to just be getting started. This is one to keep an eye on; check it out on their left toolbar.
L-R: Simon Margolis, QC and Rod Snow, QC appointed Queen’s Counsel by the Attorney General of British Columbia.
Compare Point-in-Time Legislation CanLII’s comparative legislation feature may be limited to recent versions of laws but its functionality is unparalleled. It lines two beautiful versions of the law beside one another, tells you how many changes there are between the versions and then highlights them. Automatically Run Searches for You Through the power of RSS, CanLII can let you know if your key case has been overturned or if the legislation has changed, all without your ever having to visit their website. You can also customize a search for cases on point or even track an expert’s performance at trial. For more details, check out \\ CLBC’s Stream post at: www.courthouselibrary.ca
Barclay Johnson receives the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal from Senator Anne Cools in the Senate Chamber. Mr. Johnson was nominated for his work in helping unrepresented people with access to justice issues.
HST PST British Columbia’s provincial sales tax (PST) will be re-implemented effective April 1, 2013 at a general tax rate of 7 per cent.
\\ The information provided at www.cba.org/BC/Practice_
Resources/main/hst_to_pst.aspx will assist you in transitioning your law firm from HST to PST.
Flanked on the left by MLAs Steve Thomson and to the right by Norm Letnick and Ben Stewart, CBABC Past President Walley Lightbody, QC receives the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal at a ceremony in Kelowna.
April 2013 / BarTalk 21
news&events CBA NATIONAL NEWS
Upcoming Award Deadlines CBA National hands out numerous awards to recognize the contributions of members and supporters. These awards acknowledge excellence in equality and human rights, pro bono legal services, legal writing and scholarship, public sector service, law student participation, and more. L-R: Senator David Smith, Phi Nguyen, Lara Kinkartz, Ian Perry, Chris Kinnear Hunter, Justice Richard Wagner. Photo courtesy of Lenczner Slaght.
Deadlines for many of the \\ awards are fast approaching – for details, visit: www.cba.org/ CBA/Awards/Main/
CBA NATIONAL NEWS
Lenczner Slaght/CBA Gale Cup Moot The Lenczner Slaght/CBA Gale Cup Moot, Canada’s premier bilingual mooting competition, took place Feb. 22-23 in Toronto. Congratulations to this year’s winning team from Osgoode Hall Law School: Ian Perry, Chris Kinnear Hunter, Lara Kinkartz, Phi Nguyen, and coaches Kimberley Crosbie and Gillian
Roberts. Kudos also go out to Julie Anne Marinier from the Université du Québec à Montréal, who took home the McLachlin Prize for Best Female Mooter. Founded in 1974, the Gale Cup Moot gives law students the opportunity to hone their advocacy skills and experience what it’s like to appear before a court.
Judge Gary Cohen of Surrey accepts the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference (SOGIC) Hero Award at the 2012 Canadian Legal Conference in Vancouver.
Envisioning Equal Justice Summit: Building Justice for Everyone
Contribute your views to a practical vision of equal justice and take home new ideas to use in your own work. Register today!
www.cba.org/cbapd/justice.aspx
22 BarTalk / April 2013
VANCOUVER April 25-27, 2013
CBA NATIONAL NEWS
CBA NATIONAL NEWS
A2J Committee Seeks Feedback on Latest Paper, and Prepares for Vancouver Summit How can lawyers make their services more available and affordable in order to increase access to justice for Canadians? How can the CBA support lawyers who are seeking to increase access to justice for the middle class – while also focusing on the needs of society’s most vulnerable people? The Access to Justice Committee is seeking your input on its latest consultation paper, which examines underexplored justice alternatives for the middle class. Have a look at the paper and provide your comments: http://j.mp/YEGBEg
Meanwhile, the committee is also preparing for its Envisioning Equal Justice Summit, taking place April 25-27 in Vancouver. The Summit will bring together thought leaders and innovators to outline practical solutions to the access to justice crisis and provide delegates with ideas and tools to use in their own work. It will also deliver 12 hours of CPD credit. To learn more and register for \\ the Summit, visit: j.mp/equaljusticesummit.
2013 Canadian Legal Conference: Saskatoon, August 18-20
The 2013 Canadian Legal Conference takes place August 18-20 in sunny Saskatoon, SK. Attend to connect with colleagues from across Canada and participate in interactive, leadingedge PD sessions. Details are coming soon at: \\
www.cba.org/saskatoon2013 CBA NATIONAL NEWS
CBA NATIONAL NEWS
Nominations Sought for 2013-14 National Standing Committees The CBA is seeking candidates for its 2013-14 National Standing Committees. All members are eligible to apply for positions on the following committees: Access to Justice Awards Communications Equality Ethics and Professional Responsibility International Development Judicial Compensation and Benefits
Resolutions Passed at Mid-Winter Meeting
Legal Aid Liaison Legislation and Law Reform Professional Development Resolutions, Constitution
and Bylaws Supreme Court of Canada
Liaison The deadline for applications \\ is April 15. For further details on the mandate and time commitment for each committee, see: www.cba.org/CBA/ groups/committees
At the 2013 Mid-Winter Meeting in snowy Mont-Tremblant, QC, CBA National Council passed four policy resolutions on protecting unclaimed pension monies, ending violence against Aboriginal women, recognizing Indigenous legal traditions in the legal system, and limiting omnibus bills. To read the resolutions, \\ visit: www.cba.org/CBA/
resolutions/2013res/
April 2013 / BarTalk 23
news&events CBA NATIONAL NEWS
CBA Welcomes Whatcott Decision The CBA welcomes the Supreme Court of Canada’s February 27 judgment in Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission v. Whatcott, which upheld the core of hate speech provisions in the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code as a reasonable limit on freedom of speech and religion. As an intervener in the appeal in October 2011, the CBA supported the renewed emphasis on the societal harm caused by hate speech, and the importance of perspective, context and potential effects of speech in determining whether it contravenes the law. The judgment referred to the importance of Canada upholding its international obligations to prevent hate speech and the impact of hate speech on the target group’s own freedom of speech – issues that were raised in the CBA factum. David Matas of Winnipeg acted pro bono for the CBA in its intervention. NEWS
CLEBC Update CLE Online – Meeting the Research Needs of B.C. Lawyers Did you know that you can access almost all of CLEBC’s publications and other key practice information through CLE Online? CLEBC publishes 37 of their most popular manuals and deskbooks online; they feature searchability and links to primary law. Online-only subscriptions to the practice manuals are also now available.
24 BarTalk / April 2013
CBA NATIONAL NEWS
Fine-Tuning of Accountability Urged for Federal Conflict of Interest Act In its response to the statutory review of the federal Conflict of Interest Act, the CBA’s National Administrative Law Section has made recommendations to fine-tune the accountability of current and former public office holders under the Act, including politicians, senior public servants, and order in council appointees. The Section also recommends that other officials not currently required to report, such as the governor of the Bank of Canada, be added to those already
subject to oversight by the Ethics Commissioner. “The CBA would like the government to strike a balance on accountability that would protect the public trust but not make the rules so stringent that good people are prevented from coming forward to serve their country,” said Guy Giorno, executive member of the Section, who recently appeared before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics.
Upcoming Event
The CBABC 12th Annual Battle of the Bar Bands Date: Friday, June 7 at 6:30 p.m. Location: Commodore Ballroom
CLEBC recently released the
CLEBC Precedent Collection, providing access to hundreds of forms and precedents from CLEBC publications in one regularly updated online collection. CLEBC’s Case Digest Connection delivers new case digests weekly or monthly, depending on practice area. The service also includes access to an archive of all past digests. And from the digest, you can link directly to the judgment’s full text. CLEBC’s Online Course Materials library includes all of CLEBC’s course materials since 2001. The service is updated
with new papers throughout the year. CLEBC’s Webinar Archive subscription provides access to individual topics from hundreds of courses covering more than 30 practice areas. When you access a module, you can hear the presenter’s audio, see the PowerPoint, and download electronic copies of all course materials and handouts. For more information, visit CLEBC’s website at www.cle.bc.ca, or call CLEBC customer service at 604-893-2121.
B.C. legislative update
Acts In Force Current from January 1 to February 26, 2013 Legislative Update is provided as part of the CBABC legislative and law reform program. It is a service funded by CBA membership fees, and is, therefore, provided as a benefit of CBA membership. The full version of Legislative Update is now only published online and available to CBA members exclusively at www.cba.org/bc. EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT ACT, S.B.C. 2012, C. 3 (BILL 22) Section 19 is in force January 30, 2013 EMERGENCY INTERVENTION DISCLOSURE ACT, S.B.C. 2012, C. 19 (BILL 39) Act is in force March 2, 2013 FINANCE STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2010, S.B.C. 2010, C. 4 (BILL 6) Sections 4, 5, 12 to 14, 15(b), 20, 25, 26(b), 28(b) and 34 to 37 are in force January 30, 2013 FINANCE STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT, 2011, S.B.C. 2011, C. 29 (BILL 17) Sections 82 and 86 in force January 30, 2013 FORESTRY SERVICE PROVIDERS PROTECTION ACT, S.B.C. 2010, C. 16 (BILL 21) Sections 27(5)(b) and (c), 28, 29 (1) (a) and (2) to (5), 30 and 35(3)(f) and (g) are in force January 18, 2013 MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT (NO. 3), 2010, S.B.C. 2010, C. 21 (BILL 20) Section 121(b) is in force February 8, 2013. Section 172 is in force February 8, 2013. Section 140 is in force March 1, 2013 MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT (NO. 3), 2011, S.B.C. 2011, C. 27 (BILL 19) Sections 26 to 30, 34 and 35 are in force April 1, 2013 MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT (NO. 2), 2012, S.B.C. 2012, C. 18 (BILL 41) Sections 30(a) and 31 to 40 are in force February 6, 2013
For a full list of Acts in Force \\ go to: www.cba.org/bc
branch & bar
Calendar
APRIL
4 The Law Courts Inn’s “Lunching with Leaders” Discussion Series 5 LAP: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Meditation for Lawyers 7 Catch Me if You Can: Law Week 5km Run and Family Friendly Obstacle Race (Creekside Park, Vancouver) 9 CBABC PD/North Shore Bar Association Joint Seminar: Ethics in Action: Practice and Community 10 CBABC PD Webinar/In-Person: The New Copyright Modernization Act (Bill C-11) 11 CBABC PD Webinar/In-Person: Project Management in the Practice of Law 12 LAP: Time Management: Your Time or Your Life 14-16 2013 Canadian Corporate Counsel Association National Spring Conference (Hilton Toronto Hotel) 14-18 Commonwealth Law Conference (South Africa) 15 Barry Sullivan Law Cup Public Speaking Contest 16 Law Day Open House (Robson Square, Vancouver) 24 CBABC PD/Victoria Bar Association Joint Seminar: Civil Litigators Preparing for the New B.C. Limitation Act
MAY
2 CBABC PD In-Person: Employment Tips for Lawyers as Employers
get to r o f t ’ n Do our n i e t a p partici
lk a T r a B s’ r e d a Re y e v r u S
The BarTalk Readers’ Survey is available online and via the CBABC News & Jobs email throughout April 2013. Participate in the survey and you will be automatically entered for a chance to win a Kobo Touch eReader.
April 2013 / BarTalk 25
news&events CBABC WLF NEWS
UPCOMING EVENT
CBABC Women Lawyers Forum Senior Women Lawyers’ Dinner On January 16, 2013, the CBABC WLF held its 6th Senior Women Lawyers’ dinner at Frankie’s Italian Kitchen and Bar. Attendees were treated to a glimpse into the world of international sport by special guest and lawyer, Tricia Smith, a former world-class rowing athlete who earned numerous medals, including at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, and the 1984 Olympics. Inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, Tricia received the Order of Canada in 2010 and the Order of B.C. in 2012. She remains involved in international sport and is current Vice President of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Please Join With Us in a Celebration for
Judge Jane Auxier
on the Occasion of Her Retirement
CBABC Women Lawyers Forum Awards Luncheon The 2013 CBABC Women Lawyers Forum Awards Luncheon was held February 20, 2013, opening with grace and a welcome from Rosalind Campbell, representing the Aboriginal Lawyers Forum. The CBABC WLF Award of Excellence was awarded to Jan Lindsay, QC, of Lindsay LLP. This award recognizes L-R: Jan Lindsay, QC and exceptional women who have taken Danine Griffin risks, fostered change and opened doors for women lawyers through their own career achievements as well as their outstanding contributions to women in the legal profession. Ms. Lindsay has accomplished all that and more, as described in a witty and touching introduction by her nominator, Pat Armstrong. Danine Griffin, of Webster Hudson & Coombe LLP, was this year’s recipient of the Debra Van Ginkel, QC Mentoring Award. This award honours the memory and accomplishments of Debra Van Ginkel, QC, who believed that all people, and especially women lawyers, need mentorship to support and encourage them in their professional and personal lives. Personal statements from several of Ms. Griffin’s mentees reflected their gratitude and admiration for Ms. Griffin as their mentor. The WLF congratulates this year’s award winners and thanks our guest speaker, The Honourable Lynn Smith, for sharing her experiences and thoughts as a judge and woman in the legal profession.
26 BarTalk / April 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013 at
The Italian Cultural Centre 3075 Slocan Street, Vancouver Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Dinner at 7:00 p.m. (cash bar)
Tickets – $65 (includes a gift) To purchase tickets, please send a cheque made payable to: Judge Joanne Challenger 200 East 23rd Street, North Vancouver, B.C. V7L 4R4 (Please provide payment no later than June 5th to ensure you get a ticket.)
announcements Law Foundation of British Columbia
Law Foundation Finances With interest rates low and not likely to increase significantly this year, the Law Foundation has had to rely on past savings and current economies to maintain full funding for continuing programs. Over the past 4 years, the Foundation has had to use its Grant Stabilization Fund extensively. To date, the reserve has been reduced from $42 million to $31.7 million, and the Foundation anticipates having to use up to another $10 million in 2013. The Foundation has also limited costs and worked to increase revenue. At its November 2012 meeting, the Foundation’s Board voted to reduce various funds and other grants by more than $500,800 for 2013. The Foundation also watches its own costs, and ensures that its operations adhere to the 10 per cent administrative costs guideline expected of all its grantees. In the coming year, additional sources of revenue will be explored.
Law Foundation Funding for Legal Research Tools In 2012, the Law Foundation funded both the BC Courthouse Library Society (Courthouse Libraries BC) ($2,737,750) and the CanLII Virtual Law Library (through the Law Society of B.C.) ($71,500) to provide innovative legal research tools to lawyers in B.C. Courthouse Libraries BC serves the B.C. legal community and the general public through website content, in-person requests, telephone, email, and programs such as Clicklaw and LawMatters for the public. Increasingly, Courthouse Libraries BC strives to meet the information needs of its audiences through digital resources so clients have access on their terms and at their convenience. Enhancing access for lawyers in smaller communities is a priority as is developing more legal information resources and training on how to effectively use all of these digital tools. In addition to funding from the Law Foundation, Courthouse Libraries BC receives funding from the legal profession ($1,719,679 in 2012 at $180 per lawyer) through their annual dues and in kind funding from the Ministry of Justice. The CanLII Virtual Law Library is another tool that the Law Foundation funds to help lawyers and the public with legal research. CanLII, a program supported by lawyers and law societies across Canada, provides free access to current provincial and federal laws and regulations, as well as extensive case law databases. CanLII also has several RSS feeds that provide information about legislation, recent decisions and recently modified decisions. CanLII is an important part in the Law Foundation’s work to maintain access to justice because it allows everyone in B.C. to have free access to legal information and research tools. (Note: In 2007, the Law Foundation made a grant to the Law Society to ensure that the profession and the public had free access to upto-date B.C. legislation on CanLII.) For more information about what the Law Foundation funds, \\ please visit our website at www.lawfoundationbc.org.
New Board Members James Bond, QC has been appointed by the B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association as a governor of the Law Foundation for a three-year term commencing January 1, 2013. Mr. Bond received his law degree from the University of Alberta and was called to the Bar in 1996. He is a partner in the firm of McMillan LLP, Vancouver and Calgary offices, where he practises as a member of the Business Law group. He also serves as a member of the firm’s Professional Services Committee and the Inclusion and Diversity Committee. Mr. Bond’s practice focuses on intellectual property, corporate and commercial transactions, and privacy and technology law matters. Mr. Bond has served the B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association as Secretary-Treasurer (2007/2008), Vice President (2008/2009) and President (2009/2010). He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in November 2010. Two other Board members were also appointed as of January 1, 2013. Fred Fatt, called to the Bar in 1981, is the Law Society appointment to the Law Foundation Board of Governors from Cariboo County. He has a diversified legal aid practice, and has regularly been counsel on circuit courts outside of Prince George. For a number of years, he has been the supervising lawyer of the Law Foundation-funded poverty law advocacy program in Prince George, operated by Active Support Against Poverty. The Law Society’s appointment from Westminster County is Ajeet Kang, who was called to the Bar in 1994. She is the managing partner of Kang and Company, a small firm in Surrey and practises in the areas of immigration, family and criminal law. She is also a family law mediator and has worked as a federal and provincial prosecutor. Ms. Kang is very involved in the South Asian community, speaks Punjabi and Hindi, and founded CORSA, a not-for-profit organization that works with South Asian youth at risk. She has also served on the B.C. Review Board.
April 2013 / BarTalk 27
professionaldevelopment email: PD@bccba.org
WEBSITE: CBA.ORG/PD \\
CBABC Professional Development courses are designed to meet the needs of lawyers while still maintaining the opportunity to network and advance one’s career, practice and business. We pride ourselves in bringing courses to lawyers that will provide the required professional responsibility and ethics, client care and relations, and practice management component for 2013 Law Society of British Columbia reporting.
Upcoming In-person Seminars
Speakers: Richard Fyfe, QC, B.C. Ministry of Justice and Attorney General and Jason W. Barabash, B.C. Ferry Services Inc. Location: Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour, Victoria
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NORTH SHORE ASSOCIATION Ethics in Action: Practice and Community Date: April 9, 2013 Speakers: Kerry Simmons, Cook Roberts LLP, CBABC President and Jan L. Lindsay, QC, Lindsay LLP, Law Society of B.C. First Vice-President Location: PIER 7 restaurant + bar, North Vancouver
Employment Tips for Lawyers as Employers Date: June 11, 2013 Speaker: Dean A. Crawford, Heenan Blaikie LLP Location: John Braithwaite Community Centre, North Vancouver
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE VICTORIA BAR ASSOCIATION Civil Litigators Preparing for the New B.C. Limitation Act Date: April 24, 2013 Speakers: Kerry Simmons, Cook Roberts LLP, CBABC President and H. William Veenstra, Jenkins
Upcoming Webinars The New Copyright Modernization Act (Bill C-11) Marzban Logan LLP Location: Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour, Victoria
Employment Tips for Lawyers as Employers Date: May 2, 2013 Speakers: Carman J. Overholt, QC, Overholt Law Corporation and Kerry Simmons, Cook Roberts LLP, CBABC President Location: Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour, Victoria
Being External Counsel to Government and Corporate Counsel Date: June 6, 2013
Date: April 10, 2013 Speakers: Jeffrey F. Vicq, Clark Wilson LLP and Christopher Wilson, Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP Moderator: Stuart Rennie, Legislation and Law Reform Officer, CBABC
Project Management in the Practice of Law Date: April 11, 2013 Speakers: Lisa Chamandy, Counsel, Client service Innovation and Litigation, McCarthy Tétrault LLP (Montreal) and Michael Feder, Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP (Vancouver) Moderator: Michael Litchfield, ThinkLab Consulting
NEW in Professional Development! E-learning On Demand
\\ Our online courses incorporate reading materials, quizzes, audio and video \\ Available 24/7 Requires Internet connection
CBABC Professional Development is pleased to introduce our first e-learning on demand courses. Earn your CPD credits easily and conveniently, at the time that suits you best.
Course Title: Introduction to Ethics and Professional Responsibility in British Columbia
\\ Module 1 : Canons of Legal Ethics, Clients and Marketing (1 CPD hour) \\ Module 2: Administration of Justice, Supervision, The Profession (1 CPD hour)
To register, contact Professional Development: Email: pd@bccba.org Tel: 604-687-3404 ext. 329
28 BarTalk / April 2013
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April 2013 / BarTalk 29
barmoves Who’s Moving Where and When Alia Somji
Sarah Klinger
has joined Goodwin & Mark as an associate practising in the Family Law and Civil Litigation groups. Somji graduated from UBC, articled with Goodwin & Mark and was called to the Bar in 2012.
has opened her own practice as the Law Office of Sarah L. Klinger. She continues to practise plaintiff’s personal injury, employment law and estate litigation. www.slklaw.ca
Greg T. Palm
Tamara Huculak
has moved his litigation practice to Hamilton Duncan Armstrong + Stewart. His work consists of general civil and commercial litigation, as well as acting as counsel in various matters pertaining to legal fees.
has joined Brawn Karras Sanderson in South Surrey as associate counsel and will continue her practice in the areas of real estate development, commercial and corporate law as well as her trademark practice.
Daniel Yaverbaum
Nika Robinson
joins Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP as an associate in the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution group. Prior to joining FMC, Daniel was an associate with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Calgary.
has joined McMillan LLP as partner. She has a varied corporate practice with a focus on regulatory matters in the areas of environmental, aboriginal and immigration law.
Elicia Salzberg
Michael Shannon
has joined Miller Titerle LLP. Elicia is a business law associate with a broad practice that covers corporate and commercial matters, including public and private M&A, financing and general commercial agreements.
has joined McMillan LLP as partner. He is a member of McMillan’s Capital Markets group and U.S. Securities group.
Jamal Law Group
Jeff Wust
is committed to providing excellent client services and has opened another office at 700-1311 Howe St., Vancouver, in addition to its Langley location. This new office will serve to accommodate its growth and expansion plans.
has joined McMillan LLP as partner. He is a member of McMillan’s Securities group in the firm’s Vancouver office.
30 BarTalk / April 2013
newmembers Space is at a premium and available on a first-come first-serveD basis so send your Bar Move (max. 30 words) and photo to CBA@BCcba.org now. FOR MORE BAR MOVES GO TO BARTALK ONLINE
Sarah Cunningham formerly of McCarthy Tetrault LLP in Vancouver, has joined Reed Pope LLP Business Lawyers in Victoria.
January & February 2013 Regular Member
Jesse Kendall
Anthony Abato
Mary Mollineaux
Jeannette A. Beharrell
Faizal Nuraney
B.C. Securities Commission Vancouver Health Sciences Association of B.C. Vancouver Kelly D. Bradshaw
John D. Boyd has recently joined Slater Vecchio LLP. John continues to practise solely in the area of plaintiff personal injury law. Prior to joining Slater Vecchio, John practised at William J. Harris & Partners.
C D Wilson Law Corporation Nanaimo Michelle Chan
Janes Freedman Kyle Law Corporation Victoria Blake M. Cooper
Drysdale Bacon McStravick Coquitlam
Elisabeth A. Finney Gregg Cancade of Cancade & Co. Personal Injury Lawyers is now associated with Vernon’s Nixon Wenger Lawyers. Both firms will remain independent but will collaborate on client files. Gregg will continue to specialize in plaintiff personal injury law.
The Honourable Wally Oppal, QC has joined Boughton Law as Senior Counsel. He will work closely with clients to provide strategic advice on dispute resolution and public sector related matters.
Ilan Burkes joins Harris & Company LLP from the Health Employers’ Association of B.C. where he worked as legal counsel and as a labour relations consultant.
Davis LLP Vancouver
Mandell Pinder LLP Vancouver Koffman Kalef LLP Vancouver Megan S. Semper
McCrea & Associates Vancouver Karen Tiwana
Gosal & Company Abbotsford Dyna Tuytel
Vancouver
Law Students Jonathan Arkle
Kamloops
B.C. Nurses’ Union Vancouver
Jeanette Aucoin
Lisa C. Glowacki
Christopher J W Austin
Ratcliff & Company LLP North Vancouver Meredith A. Hagel
McCarthy Tétrault LLP Vancouver Andrew Pavey
Kamloops
New Westminister Rubina Bola
Kamloops
Mark Brade
Kamloops
Andrew Pavey Law Vancouver
Mark Bridgeman
Articling Students
Kamloops
Taylor Buckley
Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP Vancouver Benjamin Jacob Cabott
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Vancouver
Justyna B. Czerniej
Davis LLP Vancouver
Kira Draliuk
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP Vancouver Nazanin Ghaissarnia
MBM Intellectual Property Law LLP Vancouver
Victoria
Alex Buonassisi Michael D. Carter
Surrey
Cathryn Chan
Kamloops
Manroop Chatha
Kamloops
Parveen Chatha
Kamloops
Stanley Hao-Lun Chiu
Vancouver
Kendall Cholak
Kamloops
To view all new \\ members, including Law Students, please visit www.cba.org/bc/
bartalk_11_15/13_04/ membership.aspx.
APRIL 2013 / BarTalk 31
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