SR Vol 25 No 1, January 2007 - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society

societynewslibrary & information servicesIn this first issue featuring the “Society News”, the staff ofLibrary & Information Services (L&IS) would like to take theopportunity to update members on developments within the departmentsince the Library Services Committee’s Report to BarCouncil of November 14, 2004 (the “Report”). A key aspect arisingout of the Report was the adoption of a new service deliverymodel – one which provides as much information as possible tomembers’ computer desktops.As part of the new service delivery model, L&IS established satellitecollections at the Simon J. Khatter, Q.C. Memorial Barristers’Library in Sydney and the Kings County Barristers’ Library in Kentville.The satellite collections consist of recent editions of wellknownand well-used textbooks, which are available for loan tomembers. In an effort to deliver information directly to members’desktops, these books are listed in the online catalogue, accessiblethrough the Society’s website. For those members who do nothave convenient access to the satellite collections or the barristers’library in Halifax, L&IS has established a toll-free telephoneline. Please call 1-866-219-1202 to request books, which can becouriered to members outside metropolitan Halifax at no cost.Again, in an effort to provide more information online, L&IShas posted its research guides for online databases and print resourceson the Society’s website. The guide for online databasesoutlines how to use all of the L&IS databases, while the guide forprint resources summarizes the valuable print material availableat the barristers’ library in Halifax. In the near future, L&IS willbe posting the personal injury damages and sentencing chartsthat regularly appear in the Nova Scotia Law News, as well asresource lists of materials specific to particular practice areas.Yet another way in which L&IS is achieving the goal of deliveringinformation directly to the desktop is through CanLII. The CanadianLegal Information Institute, or CanLII, is an online collection ofprimary legal materials. Since 2001, L&IS has contributed currentdecisions from Nova Scotia’s Court of Appeal, Supreme Court,and Provincial Court to CanLII for posting on its website. Recently,L&IS completed an extensive retrospective conversion project toincrease the number of older decisions available on CanLII.Finally, with the release of the Report, the name “Library Services”was changed to “Library & Information Services” in orderto more accurately reflect the work of the department. Pleasedo not hesitate to contact staff for any of your information needsby dialing 1-866-219-1202 or 425-BOOK (2665), or by sending anemail to nsbslib@nsbs.org.professional responsibilityWhat is the Department of Professional Responsibility (PR)?Many of you would have known it under its previous name:“Discipline Department”. ‘Discipline’ represents such a smallproportion of what we do – our focus being on ethics educationand complaints resolution – that the decision was made tochange the name to “Professional Responsibility”.We receive approximately 800 complaint calls each year. Ourstaff mediate and otherwise resolve issues, or refer callers tooutside resources, so that the number of written complaintsreceived is reduced to approximately 250. Of these, staff mediate/resolveover 50 per cent, and dismiss another 35 per cent onaverage. About 15 per cent of written complaints are thereforefully investigated and referred to the Complaints InvestigationCommittee. These complaints, however, are increasingly complexand require more resources and Committee time.The number of complaint files opened this year dramatically increasedfrom an average of less than 50 to over 100. Complaintsrelating to the Land Registration Act have had a significant impacton the work of our department, both in terms of respondingto audit problems, and issues with lawyer competency. Thatbeing said, complaints from financial institutions regarding delaysin filing final reports and releases have decreased.At this halfway point in the year, we have already held three formalhearings and have six more scheduled for the winter. Themajority of these matters involve younger lawyers who have becomeoverwhelmed in practice for various reasons and againstwhom we have received multiple client complaints.Our department receives over 100 calls from members each yearwith inquiries relating to duties under the Legal Ethics Handbook.This proactive approach by members is applauded and encouraged.Our Best Practices database is available on our website atwww.nsbs.ns.ca to assist members in researching ethics matters.The PR Department is also responsible for processing claimsagainst the Lawyers Fund for Client Compensation, addressingbreaches by members of the trust account regulations, the trustand LRA audit programs, and monitoring members’ bankruptciesand judgments, which are required to be reported.So please don’t cringe when you receive mail from our department.We work hard to reduce the number of complaints towhich lawyers have to respond, to improve the reputation of thelegal profession, and to provide assistance; remember that ‘discipline’doesn’t have to be the answer!January 2007 15