Ceremonies Honouring the 2024 King's Counsel Recipients

The induction ceremonies honouring the 2024 King’s Counsel recipients will take place as follows:

For Northern Alberta:

Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Time: 4 p.m.

Place: Courtroom 317, Law Courts Building, 1A Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton

For Southern Alberta:

Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Time: 4 p.m. 

Place: Courtroom 1801, Calgary Courts Centre, 601 - 5th Street S.W., Calgary

Recipients will be contacted with the details of the ceremonies.

If you have questions, please contact the appropriate Registry at: 

• 403.297.2206 (in Calgary) or 
• 780.422.2416 (in Edmonton)

Webinar: Responsible Lawyer Information Session

You are invited to attend a Responsible Lawyer Information Session via Zoom on Thursday, May 30 at noon. While the session is specifically geared toward existing or future Responsible Lawyers, anyone interested in learning more about best practices and obligations relating to trust safety is welcome to attend.

The webinar is a refresher to review and better understand the trust safety obligations under Part 5 of the Rules of the Law Society of Alberta. Walking through the lifecycle of a trust account, the presenters will cover the Responsible Lawyer approval process (with or without a trust account), annual reporting requirements, prescribed financial record requirements and how to properly close a trust account when the time comes. Highlights of the top five compliance challenges for responsible lawyers will also be discussed.

A Q&A session will follow the presentation.

Event Details:

Date: Thursday, May 30

Time: Noon to 1 p.m.

Format: Webinar via Zoom

Register here to attend. 

If you have any further questions about the webinar, contact Trust Safety.

New Mentor Moment Available

Mentor Moments shares the stories and experiences of the mentors in our mentorship programs. The initiative is meant to acknowledge the contributions made by volunteer lawyers and to encourage other Alberta lawyers to consider participating. 

Read our latest Mentor Moment. 

For more information on Mentor Connect, Mentor Express or the Indigenous Mentorship Program, visit our website. 

Court of Appeal of Alberta Announcement

Notice to the Profession and Public – Amendments to Part 16 of the Alberta Rules of Court

In a Notice to the Profession and Public issued April 13, 2023, the Court announced amendments to the Civil Appeal Rules (Part 14 of the Alberta Rules of Court) to incorporate the existing filing and formatting requirements for documents electronically filed in CAMS, to remove references to paper documents, and to make other minor housekeeping changes.

Similar amendments have now been made to the Criminal Appeal Rules in Part 16 of the Alberta Rules of Court.

View the full announcement for more details.

Court of King's Bench of Alberta Announcements

Notice to the Profession and Public – Setting Civil Trial Dates by Order – Pilot Project

The objective of this pilot project is to work within the Alberta Rules of Court to move non-family civil actions through the court system more expeditiously. Rule 1.2 states that the Rules should be used “to facilitate the quickest means of resolving a claim at the least expense” and the parties are obligated to facilitate that objective.

Under this pilot project, parties may obtain trial dates earlier than contemplated by the certifications required in Rule 8.4(3) (trial date scheduled by Clerk of the Court) when certain conditions are satisfied. Rule 8.5 (trial date scheduled by the judge) enables a judge to set a trial date when, having received adequate information and making required directions, they are satisfied that the parties will be ready for trial on the scheduled date.

The Court’s new practice will facilitate setting trial dates earlier in the process, provided that the parties complete pre-trial steps by deadlines to ensure they are ready by the scheduled date.

View the full announcement for more details.

New Court of King's Bench Criminal Search Service

On April 25, 2024, a new Court of King’s Bench Criminal Search service will allow Albertans, members of the legal community, including the Crown Prosecution Service, Legal Aid Alberta, and external stakeholders to submit a search request for criminal actions in any Court of King’s Bench location and receive the results electronically where appropriate.

The Court of King’s Bench Criminal Search service can be found here.

View the full announcement for more details.

Upcoming Events

Out of Darkness – Fireside Chat with Author Denise Chong and Rumana Monzur | April 30, 2024

Table Talk – Real Estate Conveyancing | May 15, 2024

Visit our website for a full list of upcoming events.

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