Advocacy in Action

\ EMAIL: ADVOCACY@CBABC.ORG

CBABC champions reforms to our laws and the administration of justice. Many of these important initiatives improve the experiences of our clients and BC citizens generally. They also benefit lawyers. Every change that simplifies a process, reduces costs or increases fairness will make client conversations easier, reduce overhead, or improve career satisfaction.

CBABC also directly advocates for the lawyer’s interest. Our mandate specifically includes promoting the interests of members, representing the legal profession in BC, and advocating for equality, diversity, and inclusiveness in the legal profession.

Here are few highlights of what CBABC volunteers have completed recently.

„ The Young Lawyers Advisory

Committee (“YLAC”) conducted a survey of

lawyers about their experiences with paid and unpaid articles.

Using this information, YLAC prepared a submission to the Law Society. The primary recommendation is that all articling students must be compensated to at least match the living wage in the region of the province where the student works.

„ The Court Services Committee gathered stories from members on the impact of the Supreme

Court’s scheduling system on lawyers, their firms, and their clients. CBABC’s submission to the

Supreme Court of BC and the Ministry of Attorney

General’s Court Services Branch advocates for the application of technology to modernize and increase the effectiveness of scheduling.

„ The Professional Issues Committee and Family

Law Working Group have monitored the Law

Society’s Innovation Sandbox. Only in June was it clear exactly what lawyer and non-lawyer initiatives have been included in the Sandbox. CBABC anticipates making submissions about the trends indicated by those choices, and their impact on lawyers.

„ The Professional Issues Committee also is preparing to make submissions to the Law

Society’s Governance Review, led by Harry

Cayton, when it begins later this year. We’ve reviewed the Law Society’s recent practice of giving awards to the members it regulates, better governance practices, and previous governance reviews conducted by Mr. Cayton.

CBABC members are part of a self-governing profession and how that governance is structured and made effective is of great interest.

„ In June, CBABC conducted a ThoughtExchange to gather input from members about accounting

the public. 52% of the 143 respondents agreed that these services could be offered but only if the work was performed by lawyers or supervised paralegals. 41% of respondents didn’t think banks and accounting firms should be able to offer those services at all. The overarching concern of all respondents was that services may be performed by those without legal training, without the requirement to keep current with legal developments, and without insurance for when mistakes are made. The Professional Issues Committee will use this input to determine the next steps CBABC will take on behalf of its members.

„ Having participated in the Commission of

Columbia over the past two years, where our sole purpose was to represent the interest of lawyers, CBABC delivered its final submissions last month through our counsel, Kevin Westell.

We look forward to Commissioner Cullen’s findings later this year.

Reach out to us at advocacy@cbabc.org to let us know what matters to you.