Director, Regulation and Professionalism Announcement

The Law Society of Alberta is pleased to announce that Kendall Moholitny has accepted the role of Director, Regulation and Professionalism, effective immediately. In this role she joins the Executive Leadership Team at the Law Society.

Kendall joined the Law Society in 2018 as Manager, Early Intervention, where she worked collaboratively on protocols and processes, both internal to Early Intervention and with other teams across the organization.

In the fall of 2020, she took on the newly created position of Senior Manager, Professionalism. In this role, she led the Professionalism team, which includes Practice Management, Early Intervention and Intake. She has continued to focus on process improvement and innovation, including important work on outcome measurement and data driven decision making.

Kendall was called to the bar in 1998 and spent many years in private practice before joining Pro Bono Law Alberta (PBLA) in 2013 as a Program Manager. While at PBLA, she moved into the role of Deputy Executive Director and later Executive Director, contributing to her extensive leadership experience.

In this position, Kendall will oversee both the Regulation and Professionalism areas of the Law Society.

Congratulations Kendall on your new role.

Updated Resource: Trust Shortage and Reporting 

A lawyer must always maintain sufficient funds on deposit in each trust account to meet all obligations to clients (Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, Rule 119.39(1)). Even though the trust account may have a positive balance, a trust shortage can occur in a pooled trust account when more funds are paid out on a client matter than what is available to the credit of that client (Rule 119.39(2)). A pooled trust account is an account comprised of funds held for a variety of clients (Rule 119(u) and Legal Profession Act, section 126(1)). Even though the trust account may have a positive balance, it may be short regarding a specific client.

Trust money must not be withdrawn or transferred unless it meets the requirements (Rule 119.28).

Lawyers should always review the individual client trust ledger and bank balance before the withdrawal or transfer. The individual client trust ledger must show sufficient funds to cover your withdrawal. You will have a shortage if there are not sufficient funds to the credit of that client, or if funds deposited to your client’s credit have not cleared.

Read the full article for more information on trust shortages and how to report them properly.

Access to Justice Week 2022 

Alberta’s Access to Justice Week is approaching quickly. From Oct. 24 - 28, 2022, justice sector organizations will be offering a variety of virtual events and activities across the country highlighting the importance of justice, the barriers to accessing it, and the ways we can work together to break down those barriers.

The theme of Access to Justice (A2J) Week this year is Data and Access to Justice.

View the list of A2J scheduled programs.

Alberta Court of King's Bench Announcements

Filing Dates for Documents Filed Via Email – Revised Oct. 19, 2022 

Commencing Nov. 1, 2022, documents filed via email will be considered filed on the date that they are processed and stamped by King’s Bench Administration.  

This announcement applies only to materials that are required to be filed through email filing. All documents that are required to be submitted through the King's Bench Filing Digital Service (FDS) must be submitted there. We encourage counsel to be familiar with what is accepted via FDS and submit all eligible documents through this service. A list of documents accepted by FDS can be found here.

Read the full announcement for more information. 

Revised Family Practice Note (FPN4) – Effective Nov. 1, 2022 

The Court has posted to its website a revised Family Practice Note 4 (FPN4), which is effective Nov. 1, 2022.

The revised FPN4 replaces references to the Dispute Resolution / Child Support Resolution Officer processes in Calgary and Edmonton with a common process in both centres under the King’s Bench Child Support Resolution Program (KBCSRP).

Read the full announcement. 

Amendments to Documents Upon Demise of the Crown

As a result of the demise of the Crown, and under section 2.1 of the Court of Queen’s Bench Act, RSA 2000, c C-31, the name of the Court of Queen’s Bench has been automatically changed to the Court of King’s Bench.

Any new proceedings involving the Crown should describe the Crown as “Rex” or “His Majesty the King”.

There are numerous existing proceedings which name Her Majesty the Queen as a party. To accomplish the amendment of all of those pleadings to refer to His Majesty the King, the Acting Chief Justice has issued a Blanket Order.

During a reasonable grace period, the Court of Appeal Registry will continue to accept documents that use the original style of cause or that refer to the “Court of Queen’s Bench”. All parties should commence using the amended names as soon as possible.

Appropriate changes are being made to the Court’s electronic filing system (“CAMS”), but that process will take some time. It is not necessary to refile any previously filed document to reflect these amendments.

Judicial Swearing-in Ceremonies – Fall/Spring 2022

Please see the below list of upcoming swearing-in ceremonies, scheduled for Justices appointed to the Court of King's Bench, whose ceremonies were postponed due to COVID-19. 

• Justice Shaina Leonard – Friday, Oct. 21 at 4 p.m. – Edmonton
• Justice Jane Sidnell – Friday, Oct. 28 at 4 p.m. – Calgary
• Justice Barbara Johnston – Friday, Nov. 4 at 4 p.m. – Calgary
• Justice Rob Armstrong – Thursday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. – Calgary
• Justice Lynn Michele Angotti – Friday, Nov. 18 at 4 p.m. – Edmonton
• Justice Bob Aloneissi – Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 4 p.m. – Edmonton
• Justice Tom Rothwell – Friday, Nov. 25 at 4 p.m. – Edmonton
• Justice Cheryl Arcand-Kootenay – Friday, Nov. 25 at 5:30 p.m. – Edmonton
• Applications Judge Mattis – Thursday, Dec. 1 at 4 p.m. – Calgary
• Justice Lorena Harris – Friday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. – Edmonton
• Justice Eleanor Funk – Friday, Dec. 9 at 4 p.m. – Calgary
• Justice Sherry Kachur – Friday, Jan. 6 at 4 p.m. – Calgary
• Justice Michel Bourque – Friday, Jan. 13 at 4 p.m. – Calgary
• Justice Nancy Carruthers – Friday, Jan. 20 at 4 p.m. – Calgary
• Justice Michael Marion – Friday, Jan. 20 at 5:30 p.m. – Calgary
• Justice Colin Feasby – Friday, Feb. 3 at 4 p.m. – Calgary

Edmonton ceremonies will take place in courtroom 317. Calgary ceremonies will take place in courtroom 1801