Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50874
interested in. "Out of 493 responses, a con- vincing number have Windows machines and Internet using cable or DSL," says Brenda Silver, director of professional education and competence. "Most have speakers, but very few have a webcam or microphone. Thirty-two per cent use webcasts, podcasts, and webinars." Ron Friesen, acting executive direc- tor of the Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C., is conducting pilot test- ing to try and glean similar information. "Surveys are outdated as soon as they are completed and the people completing the surveys often don't have the degree of technical expertise you want. There are also security issues, when you're dealing with confidential information." Friesen says the online courses CLESBC has to offer are not much past infancy level, but are getting more sophis- ticated as time goes on. "We've got sever- al different approaches. One is to stream one-day courses out to people outside the province. They get audio and PowerPoint slides and they can participate by typing in a question. Sixty per cent of titles are being delivered in that way. We capture the live webcast and mod- ularize it so that a six-hour session with six one-hour modules has each module available separately, 24/7. Participants can watch, and hear, and jump through the table of contents to the part of the presentation that is most relevant." Other law societies are offering similar experi- ences. In particular, the Law Society of Upper Canada webcasts and archives everything it produces in person. Participating real-time in a webcast or webinar counts towards CLE credits, and only takes two in-house lawyers get- ting together to watch archived material to make that eligible as well. "We struc- ture things so as to encourage people to participate with more than one person," says Friesen. "There are discounts for group participation. The first person is the regular price and each additional per- son is significantly discounted. It's ideally suited to corporate counsel where a few of them can get together. Say the faculty is talking about a new case that impacts the work they're doing. They can imme- diately have a private discussion with the people in their office and apply it to their own situation." Other educational products are in development or the early stages of delivery all over the country. The Legal Education Society of Alberta is piloting a platform that will ultimately provide bootcamp-style foundation courses on a number of topics. "The idea is that lawyers can access them on their own schedule and work through them at their own pace," says executive director Paul Wood. "We also have downloadable material for iPods and MP3 players that is designed to be portable and flexible. These are specifically legal updates and new events." These will be accessible for lawyers trying to comply with Alberta's requirement all active members have a professional development plan, which they must keep for five years, produce on demand, and report on their compliance in their annual filings. Don't miss the following conferences presented by ADMIN PROFESSIONALS August 13 – 14 | Toronto October 5 – 6 | Vancouver HEALTHCARE M&A FORUM September 9 – 10 | Atlanta EMPLOYEE TERMINATIONS September 14 – 15 | Halifax September 21 – 22 | Ottawa September 28 – 29 | Calgary ABORIGINAL LAND FORUM September 14 – 15 | Vancouver COMMERCIAL INSOLVENCY September 14 – 15 | Calgary DRUG DELIVERY SUMMIT September 21 – 22 | New Jersey E-DISCOVERY and E-DOCUMENTS September 30 – October 1 | Halifax October 19 | Montréal B.C. NATURAL GAS FORUM September 30 – October 1 | Calgary MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT September 30 – October 1 | Toronto ATLANTIC CANADA POWER SUMMIT October 5 – 6 | Saint John ENROLL TODAY! 1 888 777-1707 | www.insightinfo.com Untitled-3 1 INHOUSE AUGUST 2009 • 6/24/09 10:48:59 AM 33 ENTERTAINMENT SUMMIT October 19 – 20 | Toronto CLINICAL TRIALS October 19 – 20 | Toronto INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS October 19 – 20 | Toronto CFO SUMMIT October 21 – 22 | Toronto E-HEALTH October 21 – 22 | Halifax October 26 – 27 | Calgary ABORIGINAL LAW October 26 – 27 | Toronto Media Partner