Thursday, July 08, 2010

Printable Version

In this issue:
• Two Motions Carried at Special General Meeting
• Participate Now in Ipsos Reid Survey of the Profession

Two Motions Carried at Special General Meeting

On Wednesday, June 23, 2010, a Special General Meeting of the Law Society of Alberta was held in Edmonton, with videoconference to Calgary, and teleconference to Lethbridge, Red Deer and Hinton. A total of 213 people were in attendance at the various venues, 197 of which were active members of the Law Society.

The Special General Meeting was held for the purpose of discussing changes approved by the Board of Directors of Legal Aid Alberta and funding to the Legal Aid Society. During the meeting, two motions were proposed pursuant to Rule 33(2)(b) of the Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, in particular:

1. That the Law Society publicly advocate in the public interest for an adequately publicly funded Legal Aid system with a statutory foundation that is independent of the government.
2. That the Law Society request that the Legal Aid Society immediately rescind the recent changes including the changes to the financial eligibility guidelines and the choice of counsel provisions.

Both motions were carried by a majority of members present and voting in favour.

Pursuant to Section 29 of the Legal Profession Act, the resolutions must be considered by the Benchers at their next meeting, but is not binding on the Benchers. The next meeting of the Benchers is scheduled for September 30 & October 1, 2010 in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Participate Now in Ipsos Reid Survey of the Profession

The Law Society of Alberta encourages all lawyers to participate in a survey of the profession now underway by Ipsos Reid.

The survey link and details of the survey were emailed at the end of June (June 28, 2010).

If you are experiencing difficulties accessing the survey, please copy the entire survey link (without spaces) into your internet browser. Click on it and it should link you up to the Ipsos survey. If you are still experiencing difficulties, please contact the Law Society's Communications department at 403-229-4700 or toll free at 1-800 661-9003.

Ipsos Reid has been retained by the Law Society to conduct an independent survey of lawyers in Alberta. The results of this research will be reviewed alongside the results of the general consumer survey in order to guide the Law Society of Alberta in future policy directions.

The survey of the profession will increase our knowledge of lawyer perceptions and experiences about the delivery of legal services by lawyers and legal services delivered by non-lawyers. In particular, we seek to understand lawyers’ perceptions and experiences regarding access to justice for Albertans.

All information provided will be kept confidential by Ipsos Reid. Results will be presented to the Law Society of Alberta by Ipsos Reid on an aggregate basis only.

Please complete the survey as soon as possible, but no later than July 14, 2010. Thank you for participating in this important poll.

For information on the results of the Ipsos Reid General Consumer Survey on Legal Services, please visit http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/canada/ or www.lawsociety.ab.ca

New Rule Governs Recruitment for Summer Student Positions

The Benchers of the Law Society approved a new rule to provide direction around recruiting summer students.

New rule 49.3 governs first year summer student recruitment activity.

As there is no longer a matching program, the Benchers approved amendments to recruitment rules 49.1 and 49.2 to remove references to it.

Printable Version

www.lawsociety.ab.ca
Law Society of Alberta
Calgary Office
Suite 500, 919 11th Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta T2R 1P3
Phone: 403-229-4700

Edmonton Office
201 10060 Jasper Avenue,
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3R8
Phone: 780-429-3343

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