
January 20, 2009
Legal aid service and staff changes A news release about service and staff changes at the Legal Services Society (LSS) was posted on the LSS website on January 13, 2009. Most of the changes described in this release take effect April 2009. The following services, among others, continue after April 2009: Regional centre and local agent offices — Staffing levels are unchanged outside the Lower Mainland. Surrey Regional Centre — This office will move to a new location in New Westminster in late 2009. Intake services will continue to be provided at the Surrey courthouse after the move. LSS will also explore community partnerships to extend intake services in other locations in the South Fraser area. Intake services (legal aid applications) at all walk-in locations (offices and courts) and through the provincial call centre are unaffected . Legal information outreach workers are still available at regional centres and the Nanaimo Justice Access Centre. Fieldworkers and publishing services (with reduced staffing levels) LawLINE (with reduced staffing levels) Please let your contacts and clients know about the full range of services that continue to be available through LSS. The elimination of the staff lawyer model in the Lower Mainland means that LSS will no longer have staff family and criminal staff lawyers working in the Surrey Regional Centre and the Vancouver Regional Centre (including the Family Law Clinic). The Surrey Regional Centre, however, will have a managing lawyer who handles a limited range and volume of cases. Clients affected by these changes will be contacted. Clients who continue to qualify for legal aid after April 2009 and no longer have staff lawyers will be referred to private bar lawyers for further assistance. LSS has created a new e-mail address so you can send us your suggestions, comments, or questions about service delivery: LSS-Services@lss.bc.ca. We will provide further details about the changes to legal aid in future issues of ELAN. Current BC legislation now available online for free In the past, current BC laws and regulations were not available online unless you were able to pay for them. As the result of a partnership between the Ministry of Attorney General, the Queen’s Printer, the Law Society of British Columbia, and the Law Foundation of British Columbia, this is no longer the case. Starting January 1, 2009, current provincial legislation and regulations are available to everyone on a new website managed by the Queen’s Printer. This means that community workers and the general public can now get free, accessible up-to-date legal information 24 hours a day. Legislation will also be available through the CanLII website starting in March 2009. When combined with the CanLII search engine, this will provide an important new legal information research tool. This new service is an significant step towards access to justice for all. Canada Pension Plan disability benefit appeals information session If you help Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability appellants before Review Tribunals, the Office of the Commissioner of Review Tribunals (OCRT) is planning an information session that might interest you. The OCRT administers appeals for people who have been denied CPP or Old Age Security benefits by the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. Most appeals concern CPP disability benefits. This session, to be held at the Marriott Hotel in Vancouver on March 11, 2009, will provide important information on OCRT processes, key legal issues, and current initiatives that will affect you and your clients. Speakers include the commissioner and senior OCRT staff, as well as a panel of Review Tribunal members, covering practical considerations for effective advocacy before a review tribunal. You will also have the opportunity to participate in small groups with OCRT representatives to share your questions and ideas. Get information on the appeal process from appeal receipt to decision release, along with practical tips and reminders at each stage. Be among the first to learn about plans for a more case-centred approach to enhance the quality and timeliness of hearings. Hear about important and practical legal issues for presenting your case, the latest legal developments, and resources available from the OCRT. Put yourself in the decision-maker’s shoes. Learn what Review Tribunal members regard as effective representation for appellants. Attendance is free, but space is limited. If you are interested in attending, please contact Lise Lance-Bisaillon by e-mail at lise.lancebisaillon@ocrt-bctr.gc.ca or by phone at 613-946-7696. Tips for evaluating legal websites The Internet has become an important tool for conducting legal research, but to ensure the information you are relying on is from a legitimate source, evaluate the site for credibility and accuracy. To quickly evaluate a website, ask yourself the following questions: Does the site cover the geographic location I need? Use websites that primarily contain information about BC or Canada as a whole. Who created the information? Look for who provided the information and what their credentials are, often found under “About us.” Credible resources include the websites of government, the courts, educational institutions, libraries, bar associations, law societies, non-profits, and public interest law groups. Legitimate websites will contain a way to contact the organization or webmaster. Be careful about providing your e-mail address or other personal information on websites that you don’t know. Is the website accurate and clear? Do the website's authors/providers cite their sources or tell the reader where they got their information, or on what they based their opinions? Look for unbiased, unemotional legal information. You should be able to confirm the information you find on one website with that on other websites or print sources. Testimonials are not reliable. Is the information up to date? Most good websites tell you when the information was written or last updated on the site. In most fields, anything more than five years old is considered outdated. Consider also how current the author's information is. Does the website ask for money? Many high-quality websites provide free information. Make sure you are not asked to pay any fees or charges. Does the website claim to offer advice? Beware of websites that claim to offer legal advice or ask for personal information. Nothing replaces the advice of a lawyer. Look for a disclaimer that describes the limitations and authority of the site’s content. Is it easy to use? Look for useful features such as a glossary, Help menu, search function, legal dictionary, or list of additional resources and links. If a site is difficult to navigate or the links are slow and/or many are broken, it may not be worth your time to use it. Note that any links provided to other sites will say a lot about the legitimacy of the original website. Evaluate each new site it’s linked to. When I’m 64 update insert and sticker The LSS booklet When I’m 64 describes the benefits and services you may be entitled to if you are 60 or over. Much of the information is about federal and provincial government programs for senior citizens in BC. Since When I’m 64 was last printed in January 2006, there have been some important changes to the laws and benefit rates. LSS has added an update sticker and insert to the existing booklet to explain the changes, and we’ll continue to distribute this edition. The changes include updates to: benefits, including the benefit rates for January – March 2009 services such as premium assistance, the provincial home owner grant, and bus passes controlling your own affairs, including making, cancelling, or revoking a power of attorney To order copies of the insert and sticker and/or When I’m 64, e-mail Distribution. More about the public forum on access to justice The Law Society has arranged for excerpts from the public forum on access to justice that we covered in the last issue of ELAN to be made available to the rest of the province. Advance public registration is now closed, but additional seating will be made available on the night of the event. Clearing the Path to Justice will be held at 6 p.m. (with registration at 5:30 p.m.) on January 28, 2009 at the Wosk Centre in Vancouver. The Law Society will be making video excerpts available via its website within one week of the forum date. In addition, forum moderator Mark Forsythe, host of CBC Radio One’s BC Almanac, will be broadcasting portions of the event on his province-wide show on January 29 between 1 and 2 p.m. It will also be available on his website for one week after the show. The public forum is put on in partnership with the Legal Services Society, SUCCESS, the Western Canada Society to Access Justice, the Georgia Straight, and CBC. To find out more about the forum, see the Law Society website.

January 20, 2009

Legal aid service and staff changes

A news release about service and staff changes at the Legal Services Society (LSS) was posted on the LSS website on January 13, 2009. Most of the changes described in this release take effect April 2009.

The following services, among others, continue after April 2009:

Regional centre and local agent offices — Staffing levels are unchanged outside the Lower Mainland.
Surrey Regional Centre — This office will move to a new location in New Westminster in late 2009. Intake services will continue to be provided at the Surrey courthouse after the move. LSS will also explore community partnerships to extend intake services in other locations in the South Fraser area.
Intake services (legal aid applications) at all walk-in locations (offices and courts) and through the provincial call centre are unaffected .
Legal information outreach workers are still available at regional centres and the Nanaimo Justice Access Centre.
Fieldworkers and publishing services (with reduced staffing levels)
LawLINE (with reduced staffing levels)

Please let your contacts and clients know about the full range of services that continue to be available through LSS.

The elimination of the staff lawyer model in the Lower Mainland means that LSS will no longer have staff family and criminal staff lawyers working in the Surrey Regional Centre and the Vancouver Regional Centre (including the Family Law Clinic). The Surrey Regional Centre, however, will have a managing lawyer who handles a limited range and volume of cases. Clients affected by these changes will be contacted. Clients who continue to qualify for legal aid after April 2009 and no longer have staff lawyers will be referred to private bar lawyers for further assistance.

LSS has created a new e-mail address so you can send us your suggestions, comments, or questions about service delivery: LSS-Services@lss.bc.ca.

We will provide further details about the changes to legal aid in future issues of ELAN.

Current BC legislation now available online for free

In the past, current BC laws and regulations were not available online unless you were able to pay for them. As the result of a partnership between the Ministry of Attorney General, the Queen’s Printer, the Law Society of British Columbia, and the Law Foundation of British Columbia, this is no longer the case.

Starting January 1, 2009, current provincial legislation and regulations are available to everyone on a new website managed by the Queen’s Printer. This means that community workers and the general public can now get free, accessible up-to-date legal information 24 hours a day.

Legislation will also be available through the CanLII website starting in March 2009. When combined with the CanLII search engine, this will provide an important new legal information research tool.

This new service is an significant step towards access to justice for all.

Canada Pension Plan disability benefit appeals information session

If you help Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability appellants before Review Tribunals, the Office of the Commissioner of Review Tribunals (OCRT) is planning an information session that might interest you. The OCRT administers appeals for people who have been denied CPP or Old Age Security benefits by the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. Most appeals concern CPP disability benefits.

This session, to be held at the Marriott Hotel in Vancouver on March 11, 2009, will provide important information on OCRT processes, key legal issues, and current initiatives that will affect you and your clients. Speakers include the commissioner and senior OCRT staff, as well as a panel of Review Tribunal members, covering practical considerations for effective advocacy before a review tribunal. You will also have the opportunity to participate in small groups with OCRT representatives to share your questions and ideas.

Get information on the appeal process from appeal receipt to decision release, along with practical tips and reminders at each stage. Be among the first to learn about plans for a more case-centred approach to enhance the quality and timeliness of hearings. Hear about important and practical legal issues for presenting your case, the latest legal developments, and resources available from the OCRT. Put yourself in the decision-maker’s shoes. Learn what Review Tribunal members regard as effective representation for appellants.

Attendance is free, but space is limited. If you are interested in attending, please contact Lise Lance-Bisaillon by e-mail at lise.lancebisaillon@ocrt-bctr.gc.ca or by phone at 613-946-7696.

Tips for evaluating legal websites

The Internet has become an important tool for conducting legal research, but to ensure the information you are relying on is from a legitimate source, evaluate the site for credibility and accuracy. To quickly evaluate a website, ask yourself the following questions:

Does the site cover the geographic location I need?
- Use websites that primarily contain information about BC or Canada as a whole.
Who created the information?
- Look for who provided the information and what their credentials are, often found under “About us.” Credible resources include the websites of government, the courts, educational institutions, libraries, bar associations, law societies, non-profits, and public interest law groups.
- Legitimate websites will contain a way to contact the organization or webmaster. Be careful about providing your e-mail address or other personal information on websites that you don’t know.
Is the website accurate and clear?
- Do the website's authors/providers cite their sources or tell the reader where they got their information, or on what they based their opinions?
- Look for unbiased, unemotional legal information. You should be able to confirm the information you find on one website with that on other websites or print sources. Testimonials are not reliable.
Is the information up to date?
- Most good websites tell you when the information was written or last updated on the site. In most fields, anything more than five years old is considered outdated.
- Consider also how current the author's information is.
Does the website ask for money?
- Many high-quality websites provide free information. Make sure you are not asked to pay any fees or charges.
Does the website claim to offer advice?
- Beware of websites that claim to offer legal advice or ask for personal information. Nothing replaces the advice of a lawyer. Look for a disclaimer that describes the limitations and authority of the site’s content.
Is it easy to use?
- Look for useful features such as a glossary, Help menu, search function, legal dictionary, or list of additional resources and links.
- If a site is difficult to navigate or the links are slow and/or many are broken, it may not be worth your time to use it.
- Note that any links provided to other sites will say a lot about the legitimacy of the original website. Evaluate each new site it’s linked to.

When I’m 64 update insert and sticker

The LSS booklet When I’m 64 describes the benefits and services you may be entitled to if you are 60 or over. Much of the information is about federal and provincial government programs for senior citizens in BC. Since When I’m 64 was last printed in January 2006, there have been some important changes to the laws and benefit rates.

LSS has added an update sticker and insert to the existing booklet to explain the changes, and we’ll continue to distribute this edition.

The changes include updates to:

benefits, including the benefit rates for January – March 2009
services such as premium assistance, the provincial home owner grant, and bus passes
controlling your own affairs, including making, cancelling, or revoking a power of attorney

To order copies of the insert and sticker and/or When I’m 64, e-mail Distribution.

More about the public forum on access to justice

The Law Society has arranged for excerpts from the public forum on access to justice that we covered in the last issue of ELAN to be made available to the rest of the province. Advance public registration is now closed, but additional seating will be made available on the night of the event.

Clearing the Path to Justice will be held at 6 p.m. (with registration at 5:30 p.m.) on January 28, 2009 at the Wosk Centre in Vancouver. The Law Society will be making video excerpts available via its website within one week of the forum date. In addition, forum moderator Mark Forsythe, host of CBC Radio One’s BC Almanac, will be broadcasting portions of the event on his province-wide show on January 29 between 1 and 2 p.m. It will also be available on his website for one week after the show.

The public forum is put on in partnership with the Legal Services Society, SUCCESS, the Western Canada Society to Access Justice, the Georgia Straight, and CBC.

To find out more about the forum, see the Law Society website.