This course, co-hosted by the UAlberta Faculty of Extension and the Digital Law & Innovation Society, assists legal professionals to understand how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can support them in their work. Participants will have the chance to learn and interact with Law-and-AI experts from across the globe.

Under­stand the fun­da­men­tals of cur­rent tech­nolo­gies in AI that are being applied to law. Dis­cuss questions that arise from AI meth­ods being used in law today. Learn about AI’s effects on legal cas­es and legal busi­ness meth­ods. Through a prac­ti­cal set of cur­rent exam­ples, this course will help legal and pol­i­cy pro­fes­sion­als with non-tech­ni­cal back­grounds engage knowl­edge­ably with AI technol­o­gy at work. Top­ics may include, among oth­ers: Nat­ur­al Lan­guage Pro­cess­ing (NLP) applied in law; how machines can under­stand legal lan­guages; the state of the art of AI and Machine Learn­ing applied in law.

First pre-recorded lecture available: November 6, 2021

Live lectures: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. MST November 13, 20, 27, 2021

This course is a total of 12 hours. A total of two hour pre-recorded lectures will be distributed each week, in addition to two hours of live online class time on Saturdays for three weeks.

This course is taught by legal AI expert Professor Randy Goebel, Assistant Professor Mi-Young Kim, and Postdoc Fellow Juliano Rabelo with special guest lectures from esteemed international law-and-AI experts including Professors Erich Schweighofer (University of Vienna), F.J. (Floris) Bex (Utrecht University), Georg Borges (Germany), and Adam Wyner (UK).

Open for registration until November 6, 2021.

Earlier this year, the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges, in partnership with the Canadian Bar Association Alberta and the Law Society of Alberta, surveyed legal professionals in Alberta about the unique obstacles faced by women in the profession. A summary of the responses from this survey can be downloaded here.

The project is now ready to move onto the next phase of engagement in the form of a virtual panel presentation and roundtable discussions with members of the legal profession scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. This event will include a panel discussion with leading women in Alberta’s legal profession, followed by small breakout group discussions with attendees.

Registration for this event is free of charge, and we invite all members of the profession to participate, not only women, as it will take a collective effort from all of us to effect lasting change.

*This event was previously scheduled for Monday, Oct. 18, 2021 but has since been rescheduled to the date shown above.

Register today.

Join The Advocates’ Society to gain insights on Builders’ Lien Act advocacy, arbitration advocacy, examining experts and more. Join the plenary session on October 20 for panels and presentations featuring distinguished members of the Alberta construction law bench and bar. The optional hands-on skills workshop on October 21 is your chance to practise and refine your skills examining experts in construction disputes, all in a supportive environment.

Plenary Details: Wednesday, October 20, 2021, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. (MT)

Workshop Details: Thursday, October 21, 2021, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. (MT)

Please note that registration for this event is now full.

To commemorate Orange Shirt Day and National Truth and Reconciliation Day, the Law Society is honoured to have Eugene J. Creighton, QC, Aakaota’si (Owns Many Horses), as a guest speaker where he will share his story on how he survived residential school, how he used it to take on challenges in life and how to take next steps towards reconciliation.

Eugene is a member of the Kainai/Blood Tribe, of the Blackfoot Confederacy situated on the Ancestral Territory of the Blackfoot which encompasses the Treaty 7 area. He is an accomplished lawyer, retired Provincial Court Judge and rodeo champion. During his childhood, he spent 9 years at the St. Mary’s Indian Residential School.

You are cordially invited to the very first National Virtual Conference on Language Rights in Prosecutions. The four sessions of the Conference will bring together judges, federal and provincial Crown attorneys, defence attorneys and language rights experts from across Canada.

Eight different panels (two at each of the four sessions) will cover a variety of subjects, such as bilingual and unilingual trials under the Criminal Code, the provincial linguistic regimes in penal matters, jury selection, the Gladue principles, unrepresented accused, the legacy of the Beaulac judgment, and the future of linguistic rights in criminal matters. A different guest-speaker will also be present at each of the four sessions. View the full program here.

There are close to 1,000 virtual places available for each of the four sessions.

Details

Organized by: The Department of Justice Canada, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions of Quebec and the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario

Dates and Times:

• September 28, 2021 from 11:00 to 14:00 (MDT)
• September 29, 2021 from 11:00 to 14:00 (MDT)
• October 27, 2021 from 11:00 to 14:00 (MDT)
• October 28, 2021 from 11:00 to 14:00 (MDT)

Registration: Registration is free and simultaneous interpretation will be provided. Please register by emailing Alison Williams at olad_dlo@justice.gc.ca before September 1, 2021. When registering, please mention if you will attend one, two, three or four sessions and specify which ones.

Professional Development and Training Hours will soon be confirmed. The names of the panelists and guest speakers will soon follow.

Vous êtes convié(e) au tout premier Colloque national virtuel sur les droits linguistiques en matière de poursuites pénales. Les quatre séances du Colloque rassembleront une variété de juges, de procureurs de la Couronne fédérale et provinciale, d’avocats de la défense et d’experts en droits linguistiques de partout au Canada.

Huit panels différents (deux à chacune des quatre séances) porteront sur une diversité de sujets dont les procès unilingues et bilingues en vertu du Code criminel, les régimes linguistiques provinciaux en matière pénale, la sélection des jurés, les principes de l’affaire Gladue, les accusés non représentés, l’héritage de l’affaire Beaulac, et l’avenir des droits linguistiques en matière criminelle. Un conférencier de marque différent prononcera une allocution à chacune des quatre séances.

Il y a près de mille places pour chacune des quatre séances.

Organisé par le ministère de la Justice Canada, le Service des poursuites pénales du Canada, le Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales du Québec et le Ministère du Procureur général de l’Ontario.

Les 28 et 29 septembre et 27 et 28 octobre 2021
De 13h à 16h (HAE) à chacune des quatre séances

L’inscription est gratuite et l’interprétation simultanée sera fournie. Veuillez-vous inscrire d’ici le 1er septembre 2021 en répondant à cette invitation à Alison Williams à l’adresse olad_dlo@justice.gc.ca. Lors de votre inscription, veuillez mentionner si vous participerez à une, deux, trois ou quatre séances et précisez lesquelles.

Les heures de développement professionnel seront bientôt confirmées. Les noms des panélistes et conférenciers de marque seront bientôt annoncés.

Women in Law Leadership (WILL), in partnership with the University of Calgary Faculty of Law and the Law Society of Alberta, is pleased to introduce a leadership education program for women lawyers. This program is designed for women lawyers in leadership or who aspire for a leadership role. All cis and trans women, and non-binary people who are comfortable in a space that centres on the experiences of women are welcome to apply.

Program dates: 

• Oct. 1 – 2, 2021
• Oct. 15 – 16 2021
• Oct. 29, 2021

The cost of the program is $4,500 which includes tuition, program materials, meals and a completion certificate. A registration deposit of $250 will be charged at the time you submit your application. If your application is accepted, the deposit will be credited towards the program fee. If we are unable to accept your application, the registration deposit will be refunded to you. Visit the WILL website for more information on cost.

Enrolment will be limited to comply with health regulations. The application deadline is June 30, 2021. Apply here.

Applicants will be notified by August 3, 2021 if they have been accepted to the program.

The courtroom is arguably the most public display of the legal system in action. This makes it impossible to discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, without a discussion about diversity and inclusion in the courtroom.

The Ontario Bar Association invites you to join them for a webcast on Diversity and Inclusion in the Courtroom on June 23 from 10 a.m. – noon. An esteemed panel of judges will share their own experiences surrounding diversity and inclusion, and how the courts are addressing diversity and inclusion in the judiciary, with their law clerks, and in the courtroom.

Register now.

The Women in Law Leadership (WILL) Awards and the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) Alberta Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee invite you to join them on June 21, 2021 from 3 – 4 p.m. MST for How to be an Effective Ally.

In this panel discussion, Dr. Chidinma Thompson, Dr. Farha Shariff and Koren Lightning-Earle will have a frank conversation about their lived experiences and allyship. Participants will learn what allyship is, how to move beyond performative allyship, how to be an effective ally, what is not effective allyship, and the obstacles preventing effective allyship (and how to overcome them). There will also be an opportunity to ask questions of the speakers about how to be an effective ally. Participants can expect to leave prepared and confident with the tools and skills to become better allies to diverse members of the legal profession.

WILL is a Canada not-for-profit corporation dedicated to celebrating and advancing women in the law through recognition and education. Its roots date back to 2009 with the creation of the Women in Law Leadership Awards, co-founded by the Counsel Network and the Association of Women Lawyers. Since then, the organizations has expanded the WILL Awards across the country and has created an education certification program for women lawyers.

This event is free for all CBA members and $25 for non-members.

The Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa and the Canadian Red Cross are once again partnering in the creation of the special international humanitarian law (IHL) Now 2021 e-learning series that will address pressing challenges in IHL such as the situations in Yemen, Ethiopia and the Tigray crisis, as well as environmental protection and IHL, and sexual violence in conflict. The series also features an introductory session on IHL and a careers panel.

This series of free courses, each 90 minutes long and offered in English and French, will take place from May 31 to June 4, 2021. Presentations will be given by leading Canadian and international scholars and experts.

Registration is now open. If you have questions, please contact Nicolas Leistenschneider.

A joint presentation between the Advocates’ Society and the Law Society of Alberta. 

There is an increasing recognition of the need for more meaningful inclusion of Indigenous peoples of Canada in the conventional justice system. For this to happen, advocates must be educated about the unique circumstances of Indigenous peoples, how to engage in allyship, and how to work together with Indigenous communities on reconciliation efforts. An Advocate’s Guide to the Calgary Indigenous Court (CIC) provides a unique opportunity to learn about a specialized approach to criminal law, as informed by Indigenous justice and laws.

The program faculty will educate the bar in Alberta and nationally about how traditional Indigenous customs, laws, and ways of understanding and practicing justice in a restorative and holistic light can work evenly alongside the conventional justice system we see today and how that can contribute not only to lower incarcerations rates for Indigenous peoples in Calgary, but can also include the Crown, Courts and Defence Counsel in taking steps towards reconciliation.

The Advocates’ Society is very fortunate to be joined by Andrea Menard, Indigenous Initiatives Liaison for the Law Society of Alberta. Andrea will moderate a discussion with Jessica Buffalo of Legal Aid Alberta, who represents Indigenous individuals appearing at the Court, Adam Drew, Prosecutor at the Court, and Ronda Dalshaug of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Calgary, who is the Facilitator of the Case Management Table.

This event takes place noon to 1:30 p.m. MT on June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day 2021 and is free for all to attend. Register here.