What is a Professional Development Profile?
The Profile outlines competencies that Alberta lawyers can choose to develop or refine as part of their professional development and annual CPD plan. The draft competencies are broad areas, such as practice management or lawyer-client relationships, that also include performance indicators or examples of observable behaviors that can be developed with respect to the selected competency.
The Profile will serve as a foundation for the Law Society’s approach to professional development for Alberta lawyers going forward.
How the Profile Will Be Used
The Law Society’s new approach to CPD for Alberta lawyers is to be more self-directed, while also providing guidance about competencies. The Profile is meant to provide guidance when lawyers are selecting areas for professional development that are meaningful to them and their practice at different stages of their career.
The Profile was drafted to have broad application to various practice settings. Some content will not be applicable to all lawyers depending on their career stage or practice setting. The Profile is not intended to be used as a checklist and lawyers will not be required to demonstrate competency in every area in the Profile each year. A minimum hours requirement will not be added.
To learn more, read our
frequently asked questions and stay tuned as more information and training will be provided on how to use the Profile as it is rolled out to the profession later this year.
If you have questions about the Law Society’s new approach to CPD, please contact our
Education department.
Encouraging Lifelong Learning
Although the CPD filing requirement was lifted for an additional year until 2023, CPD activities remain crucial for lawyers in fulfilling their Code of Conduct obligations respecting competent legal service delivery. Lawyers are still encouraged to develop an annual CPD plan, whether on their own or by using the CPD planning tool through the Lawyer Portal, which continues to be available to track and declare professional development activities.
As a reminder, the Indigenous Cultural Competency education, The Path (Alberta), was launched to provide lawyers with ongoing professional development. For most lawyers, the Path (Alberta) training must be complete by October 2022, or otherwise within the 18-month timeframe for completion.
Learning doesn’t stop once law school ends. Like other professions, lawyers must stay up to speed with technology, issues, and consumer needs. Taking the time to schedule professional development benefits you as a lawyer, your law firm or organization and your clients.