The Law Society’s Recognition of Service Program honours long-standing lawyers in Alberta for their contributions to the legal profession.

We would like to congratulate the 30-year and 50-year recipients for reaching this important milestone in their legal career.

For more information on the Recognition of Service program, visit our website.

Recipients will receive their letters of recognition in the coming weeks.

Congratulations to the Honourable Judge Sandra Mah, former Law Society Bencher, who was appointed to the Provincial Court on July 8, 2021.

For the past 18 years, Judge Mah has been a volunteer with the Law Society, serving on multiple committees, task forces and as an adjudicator. She was elected as a Bencher in 2020. We thank her for her time, commitment and dedication.

We would also like to congratulate Honourable Judges Grace Auger, Gordon Hatch, Karen Molle, Jason Neustaeter, T. Michael Scrase, Gregory Shannon and Olugbenga Shoyele who were also appointed to the Provincial Court.

For more information, read the Provincial Court Announcement and Government of Alberta news release.

Calgary lawyers can now access and drop-off donations of freshly dry-cleaned gowns and waistcoats at the Iris Barry Yake Robe Bank in the Calgary Courthouse, in the Barrister’s Lounge by the Calgary Bar Association board room. If you have an questions, please contact Katrina Edgerton-McGhan at 403.999.4714.

In Edmonton, the Iris Barry Yake Robe Bank is still set up to receive donations at the Edmonton Courthouse. Please reach out to Moira Váně via LinkedIn or Twitter if you have any questions.

The Robe Bank is named in honour of Iris Barry Yake whose robes were the first robes donated to the Robe Bank. In April 1977, she passed her bar exam with a few months of articling behind her. She obtained robes in anticipation of her bar admission ceremony, however, she was too ill to attend. On January 12, 1978, at the age of 49, Ms. Barry Yake died of cancer. Though she never got to wear her robes in court, her legacy and her robes continue to appear in Alberta court rooms 40 years after her passing.

In Edmonton, the Provincial Court of Alberta is piloting a virtual remote family docket for self-represented litigants. Click here for more information.

Due to the current public health emergency, the Provincial Court of Alberta has allowed greater flexibility for individuals to appear by telephone or video. On July 14, the matter of R. v Coates will be made available here.

The prohibition against recording all or any part of the proceedings has not been relaxed. Any person attending this proceeding by phone or other telecommunication is ordered not to share the access link or to record any part of the proceeding. Learn more.  

The Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta has introduced a document-based review process – SafeRoads Alberta Accelerated Review Procedure [SAARP] – to deal with judicial review applications of decisions issued by SafeRoads Alberta Tribunal, which conducts reviews of “Notices of Administrative Penalty,” pursuant to the Traffic Safety Act, RSA 2000, c T-6, and the SafeRoads Alberta Regulation, Alta Reg 224/2020, as enabled by the Provincial Administrative Penalties Act, SA 2020, c P-30.8.

This process is informed by the different timing requirements for judicial review of SafeRoads Alberta Tribunal Decisions, the interests of access to justice, timely resolution of proceedings, and the efficient allocation of Court resources, where challenges to these tribunal decisions appear to have substantive defects on the face of the commencement document. Read more.

Urgent Requests and FDC Bypass Requests in the Judicial Centres of Calgary and Edmonton now require a completed copy of the Urgent Request / FDC Bypass to be submitted at the time of making the request. Urgent Requests, for the purposes of this form, are defined as matters that require a hearing or Judicial response within 48 hours of submitting this request.

Instructions on how to complete the form can be found here. Read the full announcement.