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Please join the Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund (LEAF) Edmonton for their celebration of Equality Day. This fundraising breakfast will feature a panel discussion. “Gendered Islamaphobia: Personal Reflections of Three Alberta Women” will be moderated by Danielle Paradis. The panelists are Sania Chaudhry, a lawyer working on an LLM with a research focus on critical race theory and founder of the Alberta Chapter of the Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association; Hannan Mohamud, a law student, podcaster, and writer on intersectional and critical race analysis, who sits on the board of directors of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women; and Amna Qureshi, a staff lawyer and Mental Health Court Team Lead at Legal Aid Alberta, who was instrumental in setting up the Mental Health Court in Alberta.

LEAF was founded on April 17, the same day that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms section 15 equality guarantees came into force in 1985. Your support of this event allows the organization to continue its important mission nationally and at the local level. For any questions, please contact edmonton@leaf.ca.

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The Honourable Beverley Browne – Wîyasôw Iskweêw – Restorative Justice Committee is pleased to invite you to attend a Symposium by Webex to officially launch the Alberta Courts’ Restorative Justice Pilot Project.

Agenda – Webex starts at 4:15

• 4:15 Opening Prayer by Elder
• 4:20 Opening remarks by Chief Justice Moreau and Chief Judge Redman
• 4:30 Project overview by Justice Loparco and Judge Christopher
• 4:40 Prosecution Referral Guideline presentation by Matthew Hinshaw
• 5:00 Panel discussion with Indigenous leaders and urban RJ providers moderated by Andrea Ménard
• 5:40 Closing remarks by Deputy Chief Judge Durant
• 5:45 Closing Prayer by Elder

This event is FREE and open to all members of the bar and public. Register here.

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Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) has launched CCDC Document Webinars, an exciting new initiative aimed at providing information and guidance about the content and use of our standard construction documents.

The CCDC webinar in March will be on CCDC 40 – 2018 Rules for Mediation and Arbitration of Construction Industry Disputes. Join them on March 24 for the English presentation and on March 31 for the French, both starting at 1 p.m. ET, to learn dispute resolution rules specific to construction disputes from experienced construction counsel.

Disputes are common on construction projects and can have significant financial and commercial impacts when not promptly resolved. For over a decade, CCDC’s standard construction contracts have included provisions on the use and rules of arbitration and mediation. Arbitration and mediation processes are intended to encourage speedy, cost-effective and private resolution of disputes, without having to deal with overburdened courts and an adversarial system.

The speakers will explain the sequence and potential outcomes of arbitration and mediation processes, as well as the roles and responsibilities of all parties, including consultants, involved in construction disputes. If you’ve ever wondered how to navigate construction disputes, you won’t want to miss this!

Who should attend? Owners, contractors, architects, engineers, lawyers and allied professionals in the construction industry.

Registration

Register for this webinar at the links below:

English CCDC 40 Webinar: Thursday, March 24

French CCDC 40 Webinar: Thursday, March 31

Price: $95 + tax

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Join the Canadian Association of Somali Lawyers and the Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association for a candid conversation on the intersections of identity, deen and lawyering. Register here.

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022

Time: 8 p.m.

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Join the Indigenous Law Students’ Association (ILSA) and the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law for the 2022 Speaker Series. Each day, world renowned speakers will share their wisdom and insights, as we reflect on this year’s topic, Coming Home: Bringing Children, Laws and Legal Traditions Back to Their Homefire.

Join the ISLA and the U of A  on Feb. 28, 2022 until March 4, 2022, between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m to hear from this years’ line up.

​Don’t miss out on a special addition on Friday, March 4, 2022 where there will be performances by Tammy Rae, Vanessa Kim Beaudry, and Rocky Morin & the boys. Register here.

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Jointly presented by the Law Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) – Alberta, the Distinguished Service Awards shine a light on the outstanding contributions Alberta lawyers provide make in their communities and the profession. Members of the legal community being recognized this year include:

Service to the Profession – Michael Greene, QC
Service to the Community – Judith Hanebury, QC
Legal Scholarship – Professor Joanna Harrington
Pro Bono Legal Service – Cynthia Dickins
Service to Advancing Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in the Legal Profession – Rani Wong

Join us on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 11:30 a.m. as we celebrate the accomplishments of this group of legal professions. Register for the virtual event and support your friends and colleagues.

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The closing argument is when great advocates shine. It is an opportunity to tie the facts, law and evidence together in a way that paves the way for the decision-maker to decide in your favour.

This essential new program will teach you how to deliver credible, powerful and compelling closing arguments with skill and confidence. Judges and leading litigators from across Canada will share their top tips for delivering persuasive closings, both orally and in writing.

The plenary program will be held on Feb. 16 and the learning-by-doing skills workshop will be held on Feb. 17. There are two registration options: (one) plenary + workshop or (two) plenary only (see below for more information).

Plenary Details | Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (MT)

The plenary session will feature presentations and demonstrations by judges and leading practitioners to help you perfect the art of closing arguments.

You will learn how to:

• Effectively prepare your closing argument
• Know when to adjust your closing argument to accommodate surprises
• Use inferences and adverse inferences in your favour
• Perfect the art of rhetoric and helpful techniques of argument
• Deal with bad facts, avoid splitting your case, and more

Workshop Details | Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, 11 a.m to 2:30 p.m. (MT)

Participants of the plenary session are also eligible to join us for our hands-on skills workshop, which will be held fully remotely in an exciting new format. The workshop is your chance to practise and refine your closing argument skills in a safe and supportive environment. You will be asked to prepare and record a slice of a closing argument on video and submit it to our instructors in advance of the workshop. During the live workshop, you will receive individualized feedback on your recorded performance. You will then be given an opportunity to incorporate the feedback into your closing argument and deliver it a second time in your small group. Our trained instructors will also provide you with additional feedback on your live performance.

Please note that the workshop requires advance preparation based on a mock case file, which will be provided to you in advance of the workshop. Please ensure that you set aside enough time to prepare for the workshop, which may take up to a half-day to prepare for, depending on your level of experience.

Registration includes electronic materials, which will be provided prior to the program. Registration also includes access to the live webcast recording for 30 days from the date of the program.

*Due to current concerns with COVID-19, this program will be offered via webcast only.

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To register, email the Alberta CABL chapter.

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Changes in technology, the emergence of alternative service providers and an increasingly globalized legal market has changed the legal marketplace in Alberta, with no signs of slowing down. As these changes continue to shape the future of the delivery of legal services, law and the lawyers who practise it, accessible and affordable legal services continue to be an unmet need for the public.

The Law Society of Alberta’s Innovation Sandbox is a new initiative where legal service providers are encouraged to develop innovative models for the delivery of legal services that cannot be offered due to existing regulatory requirements.

The Innovation Sandbox is an addition to the regulatory options available to the Law Society, not an alternative. Lawyers play a critical role in the administration of justice in Alberta and will continue to do so.

The Innovation Sandbox concept and eligibility requirements were approved by the Law Society Benchers in Oct. 2021 and applications are now being accepted.

Applications can now be completed online. For more information on the Innovation Sandbox, FAQs and additional resources, click here.

Lawyers who may be interested in applying to the Innovation Sandbox or finding out more information about the Sandbox concept are welcome to join members of the Law Society’s Innovation in Regulation Group as they break down the Sandbox’s purpose and process, what a successful Sandbox participant can do and expect from the experience, and how to apply.

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022
Time: Noon – 1:30 p.m.
Via webinar – Register here

A short Q&A will follow the presentation.

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Due to the overwhelming popularity of the webinar on Jan. 20, we are offering an additional session on March 2, where we will present the major thematic changes to the rules, highlight some of the key areas where the rules are modernized and discuss next steps.

For many lawyers in Alberta, the past two years have changed how they do their job. Whether through remote work, rapid digitalization or pressure to adapt to the “new normal” of work, lawyers and law firm staff have had to adjust to a rapidly changing practice of law.

The Law Society Benchers have approved newly modernized rules for trust accounting, starting January 2022. Please join us for a webinar, where we will present the major thematic changes to the rules, highlight some of the key areas where the rules are modernized and discuss next steps.

Date: March 2, 2022

Time: Noon – 1 p.m. MT

Register here.