Upcoming webinars:
Courthouse Libraries BC and the Criminal Defense Advocacy Society presents: Addiction as a Sentencing Factor.
Presenter:
Lisa Kerr, Associate Professor, Queen's University, Director of the Criminal Law Group, Queen's Law.
Description:
A large number of criminal law matters arise from a context involving drugs and alcohol, raising the issue of addiction or substance use disorder and its possible relevance to both liability and sentencing. In serious cases, especially those involving a co-occurring disorder, these issues may bear upon fitness or the issue of criminal responsibility. More often, the question of diminished responsibility arising from addiction is simply transferred to sentencing. This talk will look at the key doctrinal issues arising from cases in which addiction is presented at sentencing in service of mitigation, tracing the state of the law and offering critical commentary. This talk will also canvass the degree to which Canadian criminal law is receptive to developments and key insights from the neuroscience of addiction.
Participants may claim 1.5 CPD credits.
Date and time:
Tuesday, April 15th, 2025 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
To register:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_09OAp92KRAOFSvpo1mhCeQ
Discover the Benefits of Quickscribe
Presenter:
Mike Pasta, owner of Quickscribe
Description:
Join Courthouse Libraries for a Professional Development Webinar: Discover the Benefits of Quickscribe.
Explore how Quickscribe Online, a leading web-based legislation service, can enhance your ability to navigate, interpret and stay informed on legislation that is essential to your practice. Widely utilized by the top ten law firms in BC, Quickscribe is also freely available at Courthouse Library BC public terminals.
Event Highlights:
Hear from Mike Pasta, the owner of Quickscribe, as he presents the latest features of this innovative, BC-made service in a concise 55-minute demonstration. Earn a complimentary CPD Credit (Practice Management) for your participation.
What You’ll Gain:
- Access early legislative consolidations not available elsewhere
- Simplify your interpretation of legislation with easy access to Quickscribe’s popular Hansard and Supplemental Notes features
- Receive timely custom alerts to pending changes that impact your practice
- Save time with Quickscribe’s efficient historical research tools
- Preview Quickscribe’s new AI feature (beta), designed to simplify searching and summarizing legislation
Who Should Attend:
The session is ideal for legal professionals who need to reference BC legislation and wish to be informed about pending changes affecting their practice areas.
Participants may claim 1 CPD credit.
Date and time:
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
To register:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BpKi-N0CTSGXxhhRGkh7Vw?amp_…
West Coast LEAF: Access Matters: Advocating for Meaningful Access Orders and Agreements in Child and Family Services Proceedings.
Presenters:
Kate Feeney, Candice Noris, Danielle VanderEnde, Meena Dhillon, Linoy Alkalay, Frances Rosner
Description:
Courthouse Libraries BC and West Coast LEAF present Access Matters: Advocating for Meaningful Access Orders and Agreements in Child and Family Services Proceedings.
After a child has been removed from their home under the Child, Family, and Community Service Act (CFCSA), access orders and agreements are critical to protecting the child’s relationships and community and cultural connections. However, parent’s counsel confront legal, cultural, and practical barriers when seeking meaningful access arrangements on behalf of their clients.
This webinar brings together a panel of parent’s counsel and community advocates to discuss the lived realities of access arrangements within the colonial legal system, the importance of proactive advocacy in relation to access, and strategies for parent’s counsel to secure increased access through negotiation and litigation. The panel will also discuss the use of test cases and novel legal arguments to evolve the case law on access issues.
The webinar will mark the launch of West Coast LEAF’s Access Toolkit, a parent’s counsel’s guide to advocacy on issues of access. The Toolkit discusses the state of the law on obtaining and enforcing access orders under ss. 55 and 56 of the CFCSA. It also provides parent’s counsel with strategies, practice tips, and template materials to support effective access advocacy.
Panelists: Kate Feeney, Director of Litigation at West Coast LEAF, will moderate a panel discussion with Candice Noris, Peer Facilitator at RainCity Housing, Danielle VanderEnde, Managing Lawyer at the Surrey Parents Legal Centre, Meena Dhillon, Managing Lawyer at the South Asian Legal Clinic, Frances Rosner, parent’s counsel and Indigenous Family Advocate Support Lawyer at the Rise Women’s Legal Centre, and Linoy Alkalay, Project Coordinator at RainCity Housing.
BC lawyers who view this webinar may claim 2 CPD credits for their Law Society of BC reporting.
Date and time:
Monday, April 28th, 2025 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
To register:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EePnT1_FQkedFXf1US2mmw
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More CPD opportunities
Archived webinars
Archived webinars are organized by topic. If you plan to review a previously recorded course for CPD credit, it is your responsibility to ensure that your review of the course meets the Law Society of BC's Eligible Activities for continuing professional development.
Legal research course
This course, which is eligible for CPD credit, is a series of videos that demonstrate how to plan a research strategy and employ specific research skills. In the videos we show you how to use popular legal research tools that are free (CanLII) or that you can use for free at the BC Courthouse Libraries.
Take the course (including self-assessment quiz questions) through the Law Society's Brightspace platform.