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records were opened, the reviewer could fast-track through the pages using the back and forth buttons in the computer program. Counsels' opinion in this e-trial civil case was that they saved about 40 per cent of the trial time that would have been needed in a paper trial, not including the time saved by court staff in handling the exhibits. Not only do e-trials save valuable time and money for courthouses, judges, counsel, and witnesses, some software applications allow search capability to check evidence. "E-trials are all about the presentation of exhibits, especially documentary evi- dence, and not about the testimony. Ensuring accuracy of evidence is always the goal," says Wittmann. Every courthouse in Alberta can accommodate an e-trial for both civil and criminal trials. However, the new Calgary Courts Centre is more advanced than almost any courthouse in Canada because it was specifically designed to facilitate e-trials. Wit- tmann believes because of the greater number of civil trials held in Calgary, the number of e-trials in this city will likely increase. "However, I anticipate that we will be seeing more e-trails in every judicial centre as the bar and the bench become more familiar with their benefits." — DIANE L.M. COOK dianecook@shaw.ca new trust accounting rules coming initiative. The next stage of this initiative, the implementation of new trust account- ing controls and audit measures, will be phased in starting May 1, with completion by January 1, 2011. "These new rules will further enhance F the safety of trust property and address concerns about rising threats to the security of trust funds for the protection of the public as well as the profession," says Rod Jerke, president of the Law Society of Alberta. New trust accounting controls include: • A lawyer or law firm will be required to have approval to maintain a trust account. • Lawyers will not be permitted to hold funds in trust if no legal services are pro- vided in relation to those trust funds. • Each firm will have to identify a lawyer who will have regulatory responsibility to ensure the firm has systems and pro- cedures which comply with the account- ing rules and for the supervision of staff who conduct those procedures. • New controls will be prescribed to enable firms to conduct electronic banking trans- actions that allow for audit oversight. New audit measures include: • Firm filings will be done electronically, authorized by the appointed lawyer. • Firms with approved legal accounting or the past several years, the Law Society of Alberta has been imple- menting its Safety of Trust Property software will be able to participate in an automated audit program directly with the LSA. • External audit requirements will be co- ordinated with automated audit programs to reduce the frequency of external audits if no concerns are identified in the auto- mated audit. • External audits will be filed electronically. Jerke says other than the learning curve and the time it will take to imple- ment the new rules, lawyers and law firms using computerized legal account- ing software will save time and money once the new controls and audit meas- ures are in place. However, lawyers and law firms still using manual systems will also save time and money with the new rules. An online program being created by the Legal Education Society of Alberta is in the development stage and will be available as part of the pilot project. Those firms participating in the pilot phase will not be required to pay for the course. There will be a minor cost to take the course but this cost will be tax-deductible. "Not only will these new rules identify areas of risk to the public, they will also provide a safeguard to avoid the risk of lawyers being victims of schemes related to the use of trust funds," says Jerke. — DC LSS makes agent appointments in seven B.C. communities falling interest rates had knifed into avail- able support funds forcing five LSS office closures. "There are now local legal aid agents T in 33 B.C. communities and more than 50 locations, plus an expanded provincewide he Legal Services Society in B.C. has appointed agents for seven communities after announcing that call centre," said LSS executive director Mark Benton. He said some of the money freed up would go towards reinstating several programs that were previously cut, including one that will assist individ- uals with difficult family law cases. The seven communities with five new agent appointments are Kelowna (Andrew Vandersluys); Kamloops (Louise Rich- ards); Prince George (Beatrix Josephy); Surrey, New Westminster, and Langley (Craig Sicotte); and Victoria (Roland Kuczma). Most of the new agents have previ- ous LSS experience. Vandersluys was the managing lawyer of the Kelowna Regional Centre and is a member of the Kelowna Community Court Committee. www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com M AY 2010 13