CCLA Info for Articling Students

Posted on by ktribe

Ottawa’s summer is in full swing, and we hope that you’ve had time to enjoy the weather and get away to some shade or the cottage for a break from the heat! Here at the CCLA Library, we are busy planning for the fall, and in particular for the new articling students that will be arriving at firms and the library in the coming weeks.

The CCLA and its library have a lot to offer students, from social and educational events to reference and support services. If new students are joining your firm, we encourage you to pass this newsletter onto them so that they can stay informed, and if you are a new student we’d love for you to stop by the library for a tour and learn about library resources, services, and training opportunities that may assist you during your articles.

I’ve consolidated a short list of things that articling students may want to check out at the CCLA this year below. As always, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions!

1. The CCLA e-Newsletter

Perhaps the most valuable tool for new members of our legal community is the CCLA’s e-Newsletter, which is sent out once per week and shares news and notices, educational and social events, and job opportunities relevant to the East Region legal community. Students can sign up for the newsletter by clicking here, or they can follow us on Twitter or Facebook, where it is also posted each week.

2. Social Events and Pub Nights

The CCLA holds a number of social events and pub nights throughout the year that offer a chance for articling students, new lawyers, and not-so-new lawyers to meet one another. There is no registration necessary, and we provide the snacks. Our first pub night of the year is scheduled for Thursday, September 22nd from 5:30 to 8:00 PM at MacLaren’s Pub. These events are always advertised on our Calendar of Events and via our e-Newsletter.

3. Learning and Professional Development Opportunities

The CCLA also offers a number of educational opportunities geared specifically toward articling students, which can be a great help during articles and provide opportunities to network with other legal professionals.  Check out our joint program with the OBA on August 19th: Excelling at Articles: Surviving and Thriving in Your First Year, or our workshop on Small Claims in September. Mentoring events and dinners are also held throughout the year, providing opportunities to ask established mentors your toughest questions. The CCLA Library also offers a number of free Quicklaw and Westlaw training sessions throughout the year, for when you want to brush up on your skills and learn how to research faster and more effectively.

All of the CCLA’s other annual conferences and seminars, including our four Cornerstone Conferences, Criminal Law, Civil Litigation, Family Law, and Solicitors, also offer excellent opportunities for students to learn about law practice and meet established legal professionals. Many of these conferences are must-attend networking and learning events in the East Region, and students are strongly encouraged to attend.

All of our events and registration information can be found on the Calendar of Events on our website.

4. Library Resources, Services, and Tours

The CCLA Library can be an enormous help to students during their articles, especially when they need reference or research assistance. Call us if you need help finding cases, researching legislation, or finding the materials you need to answer a tough research question. We can also walk you through online sources and legal databases and help you use them to your full advantage. The library also offers an extensive print collection, computer, printing, photocopying, and wireless access in the Courthouse, free access to legal databases, and quiet study space. This is not to mention the friendly staff, who are always happy to help out in any way they can.

We hope you’ll come in for a tour of the library, as they’re a great opportunity to meet the library staff and learn about the resources and services that we have to offer. Drop us a line if you’d like to schedule a tour; you can check out the pre-scheduled tour times here, or contact your Reference Librarian, Kaitlyn Tribe (that’s me), at ktribe@ccla-abcc.ca to schedule one at an alternate time. We look forward to meeting you!

These are just a few of the opportunities the CCLA is offering articling students this year. Information about other educational and community events, CCLA membership opportunities for students, and other tools and services can all be found on our website. Please don’t hesitate to contact me or any of the other CCLA staff if you have any questions.

DIVORCEmate at the Library

Posted on by Jennifer Walker

We’re pleased to let our library users know that our subscription to DIVORCEmate has been re-installed on one of our public computers, and that it is now featuring access to the Forms One component of the program.  After many requests for the Forms application,we’ve added it for the next year.  As per our user license, DIVORCEmate is only available on one of our computers.  Currently, it is on the computer nearest to the Reference desk, directly next to the printer.

Renovations: Why Renovate? Part III

Posted on by Jennifer Walker

Last fall, the CCLA conducted a survey designed to elicit responses from the Ottawa legal community on how we’re doing.  There was a question relating to the renovation, and changes that people would like to see.  Hold back, you did not: the barristers lounge needs an update.  To that we say: Oh boy, do we know!  We hear you!  The lounge is one of the areas most obviously showing in terms of the age of some of the construction materials (wallpaper, I’m looking at you).  The furnishings are looking a bit drab, too, and why is it so dark in there?

There’s also a storage issue of which we’re keenly aware.  Any given weekday during the colder months (which is a considerable length of time here in Ottawa), there’s not a free hanger in sight.  Coats are everywhere: they’re on hangers, hanging over closet doors, on chairs – everywhere but the floor!  That needs to be addressed, and our designer is certainly working on ways to make more coat storage space, that also looks significantly cleaner and tidier than the current wardrobes.

We’re also really keen to shape the lounge to have more functional space.  This will be one of the most dramatic changes during the renovation.  I am unable to explain the technical details with enough clarity in this post, but creating space within the lounge that will allow for meetings or small training sessions is something we’re very much hoping can happen.  We’re also working on the configuration of furniture to allow for better conversation space, and finally, a much sought-after feature: the space and ability to hold a more private phone call.  Once we’re further along in the process, I’ll be very excited to share more details on all of these plans with you.

Overall, we’re hoping to create an inviting and professional space for our legal community to use while in the Courthouse.  We’ve heard of great lounges from other courthouses in the province, and we’re feeling a little bit of lounge envy.  We suspect some members of our community might be, too.  Perhaps you’ve been in them and can speak to the experience  – which courthouse lounges have you been in, and what did they do that you liked?


New: The CCLA Library Toolkit

Posted on by ktribe

The next time you stop by the CCLA Library, check out the new feature that is now available on all the computer desktops. We recently created a CCLA Library Toolkit, which consolidates all the library’s databases and online resources into one clean, organized, and user-friendly screen. The Toolkit ensures that all the resources you need are easy to find and in one place, and offers a description of each product so that you know what content and tools are available inside.

The Toolkit’s resources can only be accessed on the computers in the library, but we’d love for you to take a peek at the layout by clicking this link; we’re very happy with the way it turned out. Look for the CCLA Library Toolkit icon the next time you’re on the library computers. We hope you’ll stop by to check it out!


New Titles – April & May 2011

Posted on by Jennifer Walker

We’ve received an interesting mix of titles these past two months – some annual renewals for legislative titles alongside some new editions of old favourites.  One book of particular interest is the newest edition of Canadian Tort Law by Linden and Feldthusen.  Texts on the law of torts are quite popular in the library, and we hope you’ll find this new edition useful.  In the next month or so, we’ll also be receiving the newest edition of the ever-popular The Law of Torts in Canada by Fridman.  Both will be available in our Reserve collection, so certainly take a look at those.  For those of you practicing employment law, we have a few new titles for you that might be of interest.  Specifically, For Better or for Worse: A Practical Guide to Canadian Employment Law has been released as a new edition – the last edition of this book was in 2003.  Finally – as a sneak peak – we have some great new titles coming in the next month or two in both our criminal and family law areas.  These include some library user requests and brand new publications, so stay tuned for those titles.

We also received a lot of new Continuing Professional Development materials, from our friends at the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Hamilton Law Association, and the Middlesex Law Association.  Amanda, our Library Technician, has been incredibly hard at work getting these titles ready and out onto the shelves, so please give them a look!  We’d like to make a special mention to those in our community who do not use the library in-person (or at all!).  Don’t let having your own library collection or not having to come to the courthouse stop you from giving us a call or email – we’re here to help everyone!  Our CPD materials are a great resource with an astounding amount of variety in content, and are incredibly easy to search and from which to request materials.  Simply search for the title you’re interested in on the Law Society of Upper Canada’s AdvoCat catalogue, open the individual record, and select the “Table of Contents” tab atop the title.  We’d be happy to scan and send an article of interest.


Texts

Stikeman Income Tax Act 2011, 49th edition (Carswell)
Legal Handbook for Educators, 6th edition (Carswell)
Martin’s Related Criminal Statutes 2011-2012 (Canada Law Book)
Ontario Planning Legislation 2011 (Canada Law Book)
Law for Canadian Health Care Administrators, 2nd edition (Lexis Nexis)
Ontario Municipal Legislation 2011 (Canada Law Book)
Federal Labour and Employment Legislation 2011 (Canada Law Book)
For Better or for Worse: A Practical Guide to Canadian Employment Law, 3rd edition (Canada Law Book)
Portable Tax Court Practice, Act and Rules 2011 (Carswell)
Real Estate Practice in Ontario, 7th edition (Lexis Nexis)
Ontario Employment Law Handbook, 10th edition (Lexis Nexis)
Canadian Tort Law, 9th edition (Lexis Nexis)
The Conduct of Public Inquiries: Law, Policy and Practice (Irwin Law)

Continuing Professional Development

8th Annual Real Estate Law Summit (LSUC)
15th Annual Intellectual Property Law: The Year in Review (LSUC)
25th Anniversary of the Family Law Act (LSUC)
The Annotated Alter Ego Trust and Discretionary Trust 2011 (LSUC)
The Annotated Employment Agreement 2011 (LSUC) 
The Annotated Power of Attorney for Personal Care 2011 (LSUC) 
Case Conferences and Motions in Family Law (LSUC)
Commercial Priorities for Real Estate and Business Lawyers 2011 (LSUC) 
The Complete Guide to Wiretaps (LSUC)
Emerging Issues in Directors’ and Officers’ Liability 2011 (LSUC)
Emerging Issues in Health Law (LSUC)
Entertainment & Media Law Symposium 2011: Convergence 3.0 : It’s Here and It’s Happening (LSUC)
How to Succeed in the New Era of Discoveries (LSUC)
Impaired and “Over 80” 2010 (LSUC)
Mastering the Art of Complex Civil Motions (LSUC)
New Lawyer Practice Series: Family Law 2011 (LSUC)
New Lawyer Practice Series: Real Estate Law 2011 (LSUC)
New Lawyer Practice Series: Wills and Estates Law 2011 (LSUC) 
Personal Injury for Law Clerks: Recent Changes that You Need to Know About (LSUC)
Practice Gems: Construction Lien Essentials 2011 (LSUC)
Practice Gems: The Essentials of Creditors’ Remedies (LSUC)
Securities Law Update 2010 (LSUC) 
The Six-Minute Administrative Lawyer 2011 (LSUC) 
The Six-Minute Commercial Leasing Lawyer 2011 (LSUC) 
The Six-Minute Criminal Defence Lawyer 2011 (LSUC) 
The Six-Minute Estates Lawyer 2011 (LSUC) 
The Six-Minute Family Law Lawyer 2010 (LSUC) 
The 6th Annual Straight From the Bench: Litigation Conference (Middlesex Law Association) 
The 5th Annual Wills, Estates & Trusts Conference (Middlesex Law Association / Ontario Bar Association) 
New Developments in Personal Injury Law 2010 (Middlesex Law Association) 
2nd Annual Real Estate Seminar (Middlesex Law Association)


New CPD Accreditation: Quicklaw and Westlaw

Posted on by ktribe

Great news for all you lawyers out there! The CCLA Library’s Quicklaw and Westlaw training sessions are now accredited by the Law Society of Upper Canada for Continuing Professional Development (CPD)! This means that you can attend the library’s free training sessions on these powerful legal databases and apply them towards 9 of your 12 hours of annual CPD. Training sessions usually take place on or around the lunch hour in the library and are about an hour long. Each hour of training will equal one hour of CPD!

Free Quicklaw and Westlaw training sessions are planned for the following dates and times this fall. If you are interested in registering, please send me a quick email at ktribe@ccla-abcc.ca. Provided there is enough space, walk-ins are also always welcome.

Westlaw Tools, Wednesday, August 31st, 1:00 to 2:00 PM
Skip the keyword search. Learn how to use the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest, Canadian Abridgment, and KeyCite features to very quickly narrow and find the most relevant case law, legislation, and commentary that you need. Westlaw basics will also be reviewed.

Quicklaw Tools, Wednesday, September 7th, 1:00 to 2:00 PM
Let them narrow the search results for you. Learn how to use Quicklaw’s Canada Digest, Canada Quantums, and Quickcite features to search within the most relevant case law, legislation, and commentary, instead of starting from scratch. Quicklaw basics will also be reviewed.

The CCLA Library is happy to add more dates this summer if there is interest, and we suspect that there will be now that the sessions have CPD accreditation. If you are interested in seeing more sessions this summer, send me a quick email and let me know. If there is enough interest, we’ll certainly add more dates before the fall.

For more information on CPD requirements, where to acquire CPD, and how to report it, check out the CCLA Website’s CPD Information page. Please note that the above training sessions may only be applied to the 9 Substantive Hours, which may address substantive or procedural law topics or related skills. They cannot be applied to the 3 Professionalism Hours, which must be on topics related to professional responsibility, ethics or practice management, or to the New Member requirement.

Info Sheet: CPD Programming Providers

Posted on by Jennifer Walker

Here at the library, we’ve had a few requests for details on where one can find programming that’s accredited for CPD credit hours.  To consolidate the information and provide helpful contacts, we’ve put together a short info sheet on programming providers that are of interest to our Ottawa lawyers.  You can download the PDF through this link.  The link is also available from our CPD Information page in the Events section of the CCLA website.

News from the CALL Conference

Posted on by ktribe

Last week, the CCLA’s Library Technician, Amanda Elliott, and Reference Librarian, Kaitlyn Tribe (that’s me!) attended the annual Canadian Association of Law Libraries Conference, which took place in Calgary, Alberta. The conference, entitled Scaling New Heights, had an excellent and robust program this year, filled with information that we hope to apply here at the CCLA Library. Program highlights included collection development in the digital age, the introduction of e-books to law libraries, new formats for training and programming, and ideas for applying green principles in a law library setting.

This year, I was co-chair of CALL’s Courthouse and Law Society Libraries Special Interest Group, along with Anne Bowers of the Northumberland County Law Association Library and Michel-Adrien Sheppard of the Supreme Court of Canada Library. The position provided an excellent opportunity to meet Courthouse and Law Society librarians from across the country, share knowledge and ideas, and discuss shared issues and experiences across law libraries. I found the position extremely valuable as a vehicle for professional development and very much enjoyed being involved in the conference and program. I will be staying on as chair next year, and the CCLA’s Head Librarian, Jennifer Walker, will be chairing CALL’s Education Committee.

As co-chair, I organized and moderated a session entitled Going Green at your Law Library, featuring members of Calgary Public Library’s Eco-Action Team. Calgary Public Library is a leader in implementing green initiatives in Canada’s library community, and has won multiple awards for green marketing and efforts such as recycling and waste reduction. The session addressed the unique challenges law libraries face when attempting to implement green initiatives, such as their very specific collections and user base, and lack of control over building practices in the courthouses they are housed in. We learned how to develop an eco-plan for the library, and tackle complex issues such as recycling, waste reduction, and procurement of sustainable materials. The library staff certainly hope to apply some of the lessons learned at this session to the renovation that the CCLA is currently planning.

Another valuable aspect of the conference is the opportunity to meet and speak with a wide variety of legal vendors and publishers from across the country. Thomson Carswell, Lexis Nexis, and other publishers large and small have a dedicated presence at the conference, offering plenty of opportunity for liaison, discussion, and questions. New organizations and innovators are also present, and we are very excited about the new research products that they are developing for the legal community. We hope to be able to share them with you here at the CCLA Library.

Overall, the conference was an extremely valuable experience, and Amanda and I very much enjoyed it. Stay tuned for news from Head Librarian, Jennifer Walker, who will be attending the American Association of Law Libraries Conference this summer.

Renovations: Why Renovate? Part II

Posted on by Jennifer Walker

So why do we want to renovate the library?  Since this space was designed and built in the 1980s, there has been a good deal of change in how libraries are used and in their spatial requirements.  If you’re reading this post right now, you’ve hit upon the major change: the Internet.  What was once only available in (expensive) bound volumes is available free online.  What was once requiring of a multi-volume (indeed, multi-series and multi-volume) set to research, can now be done on very easy to use (and of course, expensive) subscription databases.  While it pains us somewhat, in that we like books and don’t love removing them from the collection – and all too often, into recycling – some of these titles aren’t proving a good return on investment for the space and cost of keeping them in the library.

That said, there are still many, many things available in print that lawyers use in their daily research and work, and we need to have space for those items and to make them available to our clients.  Our task in 2011 is to identify which items fall into which categories, what we can get rid of, what we need to keep, how we anticipate research will be carried out going forward, and what that means we will need for this library in the future.  It isn’t easy, but we can take solace in knowing we’re not alone: every library, especially those undertaking a renovation, must consider the same.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however.  In fact, quite the opposite!  With making changes to the collection and space, we will hopefully change how we’re able to interact with our library users, and how we can make this place better for them.  To start – the reference desk.  We want to be accessible to library users.  There are currently too many desks up front – we want to be where you can easily walk up to us, ask for help, and even sit down and walk through a database or catalogue search together.

We also want to improve on the spaces we have for library users to work.  As I mentioned in the previous post, the temporary offices aren’t very conducive to keeping the noise down.  Anyone who’s been in the library has also probably noticed that the soundproofing for the permanent offices isn’t all that great either.  After the renovations, we’d like space for quiet work.  We’d also like space where two or more lawyers can work together, without disrupting those wanting a quiet environment.  And we’d like an area that’s a bit more relaxed.  Perhaps a place that’s a bit more comfortable to sit while reading Law Times or The Economist, but still in the relative quiet of a library.  We’d also like to make sure that we have enough room for more computers.  Currently, we have seven computers for library users.  In the future, we imagine the need will increase.  We want to have workspaces that allow print and computer research at the same time, with desks and chairs that are comfortable and fit for purpose.

These are the major changes we’d like to see and hope to accomplish.  There are a tonne of smaller items (book carts that fit CLE binders! new signs!), but all relate back to how we can make the library space better for users by way of good study or research space, clear organization, efficient access to library services, and a welcoming and professional environment.  What would you like to see?


Library Tours for Articling Students

Posted on by ktribe

In the coming weeks, new Articling and Summer Students will be joining firms and sole practitioners to begin their placements. The CCLA Library would like to invite members of the legal community to schedule tours of the library for their new students. Tours are a great opportunity for students to meet library staff and learn about library resources, training opportunities, and services which may support and assist them during their articles. They can also sign up for the CCLA Listserv and begin learning about news, events, and opportunities in the East Region.

Please contact Kaitlyn Tribe, the CCLA Library’s Reference Librarian, at ktribe@ccla-abcc.ca to schedule a tour. The following tour dates and times have been prescheduled for your convenience. Please note that if none of the below tour times work for you, you may contact Kaitlyn to schedule a tour for an alternate time.

May
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, May 5th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, May 12th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, May 26th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM

June
Thursday, June 2nd, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, June 9th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, June 16th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM

August
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, August 4th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, August 11th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, August 18th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, August 25th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM

September
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, September 8th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, September 15th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM
Thursday, September 29th, 2011 – 10:30 AM, 2:30 PM

We look forward to meeting and working with your students in the coming months! Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions about library resources, services, and training opportunities available to students.