The Online Tools
Online tools for developing and declaring a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Plan are provided at www.CPDalberta.ca.
1. The CPD Assessment Tool – creating and recording your CPD Plan
An assessment of your CPD goals is the key to developing and implementing an effective CPD Plan. The assessment tool on the CPDAlberta website enables the lawyer construct their CPD profile which identifies the legal knowledge, skills and learning activities which contribute to the lawyer’s professional development goals.
The Resource Bank
The resource bank is a valuable tool for lawyers. It is a searchable listing of courses and available materials from the Legal Education Society of Alberta and other non-profit providers of learning resources. By developing your CPD profile, your CPD learning goals will be cross-referenced with the resource bank and you will be presented with a selection of learning options available on the resource bank. You can also sign up to receive notification from the Legal Education Society of Alberta of upcoming learning activities associated with your CPD goals. The resource bank is managed through LESA.
The Template
After creating your CPD profile, the program will automatically generate learning activities from the resource bank (selected on the basis of the lawyer’s preferences) into the CPD Plan Template. Each course suggestion can be explored by clicking through to the provider to find out more about the course, and to register online if desired. The lawyer is invited to refine the plan and schedule specific learning activities throughout the year.
The CPDAlberta website has a new feature for 2011 where the CPD plan developed on the site can be downloaded and saved in PDF format.
2. CPD Declaration
The annual mandatory CPD declaration can be made on-line to the Law Society at the CPDAlberta website. If the declaration is made online, it’s not necessary to make it again on the Member Information Update form. You will receive a confirmation of your CPD declaration by return email. To ensure your spam filter does not block the return email, please enable the cpd@lawsociety.ab.ca email address on your computer.