CPD: Activities

There are a range of activities that are considered as Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and includes any learning activity that is:

CPD activities may include a wide range of activities such as:

Traditional CPD activities such as attendance at live continuing legal education courses. These courses can be offered by:
- The Legal Education Society of Alberta
- A law firm
- Corporate legal department
- Government agency or department
- Local bar association
- The Canadian Bar Association or CBA sections
- For profit CLE providers
Attendance at legal education courses outside Alberta relevant to your practice area
Attendance at legally related conferences
Participation in courses delivered by law schools, including LLM programs
On-line interactive self-study
Teaching or chairing a continuing legal education course
Teaching at the Bar admission course
Writing, editing and publishing legally related articles or books
Study groups
Mentoring a junior lawyer

These are suggestions for:

Lawyer Starting Solo Practice

View the Start-Up kit
Thoroughly review CPLED materials
Learn new law firm practice software
Attend LESA boot camps on Real Estate, Wills and Estates, Small Claims, Family Law, Criminal Law, Trust Safety
Sign up and attend CBA subsection meetings either in person or by webcast
Sign up for SoloNet, an online forum for solo and small firm practitioners

Junior Lawyer

Regularly review your CPD goals to make your professional development a lifelong habit
Attend courses on ethics, civility and professionalism
Join and attend a Canadian Bar Association section meeting
Develop and learn practice management skills
Incorporate excellent client communications as a CPD goal
Enroll in ADR training
Seek out and formalize a mentor relationship with a senior practitioner in your area of practice

Mid-Career Lawyer

Develop a formal CPD Program for your law firm
Attend national legal conferences with CPD offerings
Formalize a mentoring relationship with a junior lawyer
Train and volunteer for new areas of law offered by a pro bono clinic in your community
Write and publish a legal paper
Attend or teach a LESA course
Teach at the CPLED bar admission course
Develop and teach a lunch and learn program at your law firm

Research Lawyer

Faculty/panel member: LESA Advanced Legal Research seminar
Present a luncheon seminar on an area of law at a Canadian Bar Association subsection meetings
Join the CBA Research lawyers section
Develop a research bank in various areas of law
Develop project management skills for large scale files

In-House Counsel

Develop lunch and learn in-house seminars for in-house legal department lawyers
Review and become updated on employment law and privacy law
Join and attend relevant Canadian Corporate Counsel Association events
Review CBA Alberta’s Legislative Update for recent legislation that may affect the company
Join and attend the CBA In-House Counsel section

Senior Lawyer

Formalize a Mentoring relationship with a junior lawyer
Develop and teach an ethics and professionalism lunch and learn for your law firm
Teach at LESA courses
Write an academic article for a legal publication
Deliver a seminar in your area of practice
Learn new technologies that apply to the practice of law

Lawyer about to go on leave

Semi-Retired Lawyer

Plan for the succession, sale or closing of your practice
If sitting on a Board of Directors, become aware of the obligations and duties when acting as a director
Mediation and arbitration require currency in the law, and also new skills, or old skills honed in new ways
A lawyer who contemplates part-time “post-retirement” work as a consultant, contract lawyer, pro bono, or simply for selected clients and lawyers may need to become proficient in matters they have never had to think about before, such as conflicts, GST, staffing or document retention and destruction

New Call to the Bar

A duty of competence is required by the Code of Conduct Chapter 3. The identification of continuing professional development goals, the development and implementation of a CPD Plan are all required by the Rules of the Law Society. Striving to continually enhance your competence in the practice of law by planning to excel throughout your career is one of the keys to a satisfying legal career.
The development of a CPD Plan and CPD declaration is required on or before September 30 of each year. In the calendar year if you are called to the Bar:
- before September 30, you will be required to develop and declare a CPD Plan by the September 30 deadline in accordance with the Rules;
- after September 30, although you can develop your CPD Plan at any time, you will be required to declare your plan after July 1 but before September 30 of the following year.