Fee

Registration Fee: $575 per person (if 4 or more from the same organization, $525 per person).

Early bird discount: an additional $25 per person discount if registered by April 21, 2017.

Enrollment is limited. As of this writing we have 11 seats left.

Included

Hearing booklet, a continental breakfast, and an afternoon snack.

Register or ask questions

Contact Lisa C. Fong or Andrea Kreutz.
Call (604) 331-1155, or email lisa@ngariss.org and andrea@ngariss.org.

9:00 am-10:30 am: LECTURE - AN OVERVIEW OF A DISCIPLINE HEARING

• The preparatory nuts and bolts
• Applications
• Cconvening and managing the hearing witnesses and documents
• Committee jurisdiction - the scope of the hearing and hearing powers

10:30 am-10:45 am: BREAK

10:45 am-12:00 pm: WORKSHOP

• convening and managing the hearing / unrepresented litigant
• application to adjourn

12:00 pm-1:00 pm: BREAK FOR LUNCH

1:00 pm-2:30 pm: WORKSHOP

• Swearing in the witness
• Direct examination and cross-examination exhibits
• Evidential objections

2:30 pm-2:45 pm: BREAK FOR HEALTH SNACK

2:45 pm-4:00 pm: WORKSHOP

• closing submissions
• deliberating a decision

FAQ Set #1

We received a number of questions last week about this workshop:

Skill levels

Q: What skill level is the workshop designed for?

A: The workshop is designed for a range of experience levels and will be customized to meet the skill level of registrants (that is why we need to talk to you when registering).  For example, attendees who are just being introduced to hearings will learn the basics of how to convene a hearing and what to do to ensure procedural fairness is accorded, while more experienced attendees will have the opportunity to practice managing and deliberating disputed applications.

Suitability for staff

Q: Would the workshop be useful for administrators or staff as opposed to just people who sit on hearing committees?

A: Administrators and staff who oversee or assist committees that are responsible for conducting hearings need to have a good understanding of how a hearing unfolds in order to know how to prepare for and run an efficient, successful hearing. Do you? You might ask yourself do you know how to vet a hearing panel for conflicts of interests and bias? Do you know what to disclose and what not to disclose to a hearing panel before a hearing, during a hearing, and after a hearing?  Do you understand the different roles of the prosecutor, independent hearing counsel, and registrant’s counsel?  Do you know the different stages of a hearing so you can to plan, organize, and budget for a hearing?

Effort required

Q: How much effort will be required for this workshop?

A: A lot.  Each participant will be engaged in the role playing, asking and answering questions, working through legal and practice issues, and helping others learn.

Instructors

Q: Who will be teaching?

A: Lisa C. Fong and Jaia Rai will be the main instructors, and there may be additional guest instructors depending on the skill level and regulatory background of the attendees. Lisa and Jaia are senior lawyers who practise professional regulatory law. Lisa’s biography can be seen here. Jaia is the manager of discipline and unauthorized practice at the Law Society of British Columbia. She manages a cadre of Law Society lawyers in conducting discipline tribunal hearings and court hearings.

FAQ Set #2

Since our last update, we have received more questions and some special requests:

Can attendees raise specific issues

Q: Can we ask that the course address specific issues? Our hearing panels would like more training on assessing credibility.  Can we ask that this be addressed in the deliberation and writing session?

A: Yes, we would like to hear what you would like to specifically learn. On the issue of assessing credibility, we are already planning to teach about assessing credibility (at a beginners and experienced level) and how to address credibility adequately in reasons.  As part of that session, we will work through a scenario assessing credibility and also look at some cases where hearing panels failed to address credibility at all or did so inadequately.

Whether to wait for a hearing

Q: Our committee hasn't conducted a hearing for many years.  Would it be better to wait for a hearing before receiving training?

A: For discipline committees that do not hold hearings regularly or have never held a hearing, learning the basics about hearing theory and procedures is a good way to familiarize a committee with what occurs during a hearing. Hearings are unfamiliar events in most non-lawyers' lives, and the learning curve is steep. Given the serious issues that are decided by discipline committees, a far better approach to ensuring fair (and efficient) hearing is to provide ongoing training for discipline committee members.

Advance work

Q: We heard there may be some advance work required. Is that so?

A: Maybe. We aren't letting that cat out of the bag yet.  After registration for the course closes, we will be in contact with the registrants about preparation for the workshop and their team assignments.

Take-away materials

Q: What take-away materials will be provided in the course?

A: A booklet of materials will be provided including some basic application and decision templates, hearing scripts, and key cases for discipline committees to know.

Please also note that we have extended our early-bird rate to April 21st  due to people being away over spring break. Registration for this workshop will close on May 1st or when we are fully subscribed. We have 11 seats left.