By Alan Kilpatrick
Want to learn more about Canada’s laws? Are you experiencing a legal issue and need some information about the law? Then stop by the Regina Public Library or the Saskatoon Public Library for free legal information assistance.
We’re here to help you find legal information and teach you how to use legal resources. Legal information can help you better understand the law and enable you to identify the range of legal options available to you within our legal system. If you need more than information about the law, we’ll refer you to organizations and lawyers that provide legal advice, including those who offer free and low-cost legal assistance. It can be hard to know where to go to get legal advice. Our law librarians have expert referral knowledge of legal assistance organizations in Saskatchewan.
Not in Regina or Saskatoon or want to speak to us right away? Call us anytime for legal information assistance or visit us in-person at one of our locations!
Questions?
Email us at reference@lawsociety.sk.ca.
Call us (306) 569-8020 or toll-free 1-877-989-4999 (Regina), (306) 933-5141 or toll-free 1-888-989-7499 (Saskatoon).
Visit us 2425 Victoria Ave (Regina King’s Bench), 520 Spadina Cres E. (Saskatoon King’s Bench) or our website.
By Alan Kilpatrick
Check out three recent Legal Skies podcast episodes I participated in:
S4E3 – Access Free Saskatchewan Legal Resources (23 June 2022)
Continuing professional development (CPD) content is an important research source for the practice of law. More than 800 documents focused on Saskatchewan law are now available on CanLii. Learn more about what’s available on Canlii from our guests Sarah Sutherland, President and CEO of Canlii, and Alan Kilpatrick, Co-Director of Legal Resources at the Law Society of Saskatchewan.
S3E4 – Artificial Intelligence and Legal Information (22 September 2021)
In the latest episode of Legal Skies, we speak to guests Alan Kilpatrick, Co-Director of Legal Resources at the Law Society of Saskatchewan, and Sarah Sutherland, Director of Programs and Projects at CanLII, about artificial intelligence (AI) and legal information. They discuss the new AI classification system to help find resources easier and more efficient. Click here for more information.
S3E2 – Law Librarians and their Role in Access to Justice (11 June 2021)
We discuss the important role information professionals (i.e. law librarians) play in the justice system and how they are helping expand public access to legal information. Our guests are Alan Kilpatrick, Co-Director of Legal Resources at the Law Society of Saskatchewan, Shaunna Mireau, Past-President of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries, and Kim Nayyer, Associate Dean of the Cornell Law School and President of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries.
You can listen to other episodes from the Law Society of Saskatchewan’s Legal Skies podcast here!
By Alan Kilpatrick
Are you attending the virtual CBA Saskatchewan Mid-Winter Meeting 2022? The Law Society’s Legal Resources team is hosting a virtual exhibitor booth this year. What can we do for you? Please stop by our booth “virtually” to connect with us over video and text chat!
This is a great opportunity to connect with members of your Legal Resources team and learn about the latest online resources you can access through the Members’ Resource Section. We can make sure you’re ready for the next generation of legal research tools.
Watch our booth’s Welcome Video here:
Our innovative information services and resources advance the Law Society’s Strategic Plan, support you and your competency, and increase access to legal information for all throughout the province.
It’s no secret that you have access to the best collection of online and print resources available to members of any law society in the country. Regardless of your practice location, firm size, or resource cost, rest assured you have access has access to the resources they need, on-demand, to practice law competently.
Contact us by email, chat, or phone with your legal information questions. As your legal information navigators, we can find whatever you’re looking for. If it takes longer than five minutes to find, ask us!
By Alan Kilpatrick
Legal Skies Podcast, S3 E2, Librarians and Access to Justice
What role do legal information professionals (otherwise known as law librarians) play in the legal industry?
To learn more, we speak to three guests in today’s Law Society of Saskatchewan Legal Skies podcast episode: Alan Kilpatrick, Co-Director of Legal Resources at the Law Society of Saskatchewan, Shaunna Mireau, Past-President of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries, and Kim Nayyer, Associate Dean of the Cornell Law School and President of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries.
Alan, Shaunna, and Kim discuss the important role information professionals are playing in the justice system and how they are helping expand public access to legal information and justice.
Listen to the episode here.
By Alan Kilpatrick
Queen’s Bench forms now have a new home! Starting now, you can access editable Word versions of legislated Queen’s Bench Forms directly through the Publications Saskatchewan website here.
As you may know, the Law Society has created and published editable versions of the Queen’s Bench Forms for the benefit of members and the public for the past several years. To avoid duplication of efforts, the Law Society will be removing these forms from its website. We encourage you to bookmark the official new home of Queen’s Bench forms in Saskatchewan, the Publications Saskatchewan website!
The forms, organized alphabetically and by form number, can be downloaded in PDF and Word format.
The Law Society was proud to create and provide these forms for the past several years and is pleased they are now accessible to you on Publications Saskatchewan.
By Alan Kilpatrick
The second session in the Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information (SALI) project’s 2021 Virtual Conference Series took place on Wednesday, May 5th: Navigating Government Publications, Legislation, and Information with Publications Saskatchewan.
The session brought together a unique mix of information workers, practicing lawyers, and justice stakeholders to discuss legal information access. Marilyn, Shelley, and Allie from the Publications Saskatchewan Team told attendees about the Government of Saskatchewan’s legislative tools and information available through the Publications Centre and Freelaw.
You can watch the exciting session here.
Law Society members who attended the live session or who watch the recording may claim 1 free CPD hour by reporting Navigating Government Publications, Legislation, and Information with Publications Saskatchewan in their Member Profile.
As a proud founding SALI partner, we are committed to increasing access to legal information. Learn more about SALI and how it supports the Law Society of Saskatchewan strategic efforts here.
Saskatchewan’s Libraries
By Alan Kilpatrick, Librarian
On Wednesday, March 31st, the Law Society of Saskatchewan co-hosted a kickoff session for the 2021 Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information (SALI) Project Virtual Conference Series. Nearly one hundred attendees participated in our two-hour kickoff session, Expanding Legal Information Access Through Saskatchewan’s Libraries.
The attendees, a mix of librarians, lawyers, and justice stakeholders, actively explored how libraries and information providers can increase legal information access in Saskatchewan. Despite being a critical component in improving access to justice, it is often difficult for members of the public to find and access legal information.
Why libraries? Saskatchewan’s libraries and their staff are information providers. They are ideally positioned to help the public identify and locate credible legal information.
Our action-oriented kickoff session introduced attendees to SALI and its resources for information providers. Attendees were also divided into small breakout groups to discuss several guided discussion questions.
Watch the kickoff session here:
As a proud founding SALI partner, the Law Society of Saskatchewan is committed to increasing access to legal information. Learn more about SALI and how it supports the Law Society’s strategic efforts here.
Law Society members who attended the live conference session on March 31st may claim 2.0 free CPD hours. Members who watch the recording may claim 1.0 free CPD hours. Simply report SALI 2021 Virtual Conference Kickoff in your Member Profile.
By Alan Kilpatrick, Librarian
The Law Society team will be presenting later this week at the joint 2021 Saskatchewan/Manitoba Libraries Association (SLA/MLA) Virtual Conference:
Legal Information Access: Helping Libraries Help the Public
Wednesday, June 16th @ 10:30am -11:30am
How can we help you help your patrons? The Law Society of Saskatchewan legal information experts are on hand and ready to help library staff and users navigate the intricacies of legal information, resources, and research. Legal problems are common. Legal information can help. It can be frustrating for your patrons to find and access credible legal information. We’re on a mission to help change that.
Attendees will learn about the resources, services, and expertise available to libraries and their users via the Law Society, gaining confidence and knowledge to respond to legal information reference questions and assist users who have legal information needs.
Attendees from both Saskatchewan and Manitoba libraries can benefit!
Presenters
Ken Fox, Co-Director & Librarian, Legal Resources
Alan Kilpatrick, Co-Director & Librarian, Legal Resources
Pamela Kovacs, Senior Policy Council
Julie Sobowale, Communications Director
By Alan Kilpatrick
This talk was presented at the 2021 Canadian Association of Law Libraries Conference as a lightning talk.
Good afternoon. Welcome to Confessions of a New Law Library Director, my lightning talk for CALL/ACBD 2021. Six months into 2020, and a short time before becoming a first-time father, I became a new law library director.
When I first heard about my new role, I was excited and struck with ideas of revitalizing the library while unsure where to begin or how to proceed. I would like to share a few of the tips I have learned over the past ten months in my new role as Co-Director of the Law Society of Saskatchewan’s Legal Resources department, for those who may find themselves in a similar position or curious about the skills one might need as a library director.
While my skills as a legal information professional prepared me well, I had a lot to master! Many of us entering this profession have little directorial experience. However, we are all being asked to do more with less and to step outside the box and our comfort zones, even more so since the pandemic.
What are my top tips? Do Your Research; Learn Continuously; Get Organized; and Expand Your Focus.
Do Your Research. As legal information professionals, we are expert researchers. Use your research skills to give yourself a head start in your new role.
Research the larger organization you call home. In my case, the Law Society. Where does the library fit in the structure of the organization and what matters to that organization? Does your organization have a strategic plan? I read the Law Society’s strategic plan several times, identified opportunities where the library could add value, and connected the library’s activities and ongoing programs to the Law Society’s strategic goals, particularly to the strategic directions regarding competence and access to justice.
Become comfortable with the ins and out of your budget. I had never worked with a departmental budget before, and was grateful to the Law Society’s accountant for spending time educating me about budgeting in general and our budget specifically. What belongs in each budget line? When are your monthly and year-end responsibilities with regards to the budget? I created a budget cheat-sheet I keep handy at my desk.
Commit yourself to Continuous Learning. As information professionals, we are always learning about new resources, new areas of law, and new ways to assist our users. Really, the learning never stops. Use your active learning mindset to support your success in your new role.
I see my first year in this new position as one giant learning experience. I am committed to learning as much as I can. Talk to your colleagues, management, and professional network for advice and feedback. Ask for help. What professional development opportunities can you take advantage of? I reached out to the Law Society’s Human Resource Coordinator. She offered to conduct an Emotional Intelligence Assessment, enabling me to learn more than I thought possible regarding workplace emotional intelligence.
Take some time to Get Organized. Like many new directors, I had a plethora of ideas and projects for the library. A word of caution: slow down and do not try to do everything all at once. You will be far more effective if you set a limited number of goals based on the most important priorities, such as your organization’s strategic directions, but this is easier said than done for an energetic new director.
I found it helpful to reach out to our library team and suggest a day-long virtual work planning session. With the assistance and support of the Law Society’s Human Resources Coordinator, an experienced facilitator, we identified our major priorities for the year, organized by quarter, and informed by the Law Society’s strategic directions. Our intention is to revisit the workplan quarterly, update our project progress, and hold a mid-year workplan review.
Do not forget to Expand Your Focus. Your focus will, inevitably, expand as a new director. Why? The more focused details dominated my previous position as a reference librarian: finding what the user needs. I had less occasion to think strategically about the library and the big picture. As a new director, I discovered is that I have had to adopt a much broader focus and a more strategic mindset, asking those big existential questions. How does the library add value to its users, organization, and stakeholders? Why does your library do what it does? This new focus is liberating. I have also discovered these are challenging questions to answer. I am still exploring how to best adopt a more strategic mindset.
To recap, my four tips are: Do Your Research; Learn Continuously; Get Organized; and Expand Your Focus. Full disclaimer: I am still learning! Let me know if you have any thoughts about these tips. What tips do you agree or disagree with? What did I miss? Please reach out to me if you have any questions. I would love to hear from you if you are a new director looking to chat or a more experienced director willing to share some advice!
Thank you.
Please don’t miss my exciting lightning talk at the CALL/ACBD 2021 Conference:
Confessions of a New Law Library Director
Monday May 31st, 12:45 – 1:45 PM CST
What’s a new law library director to do?
Many of us entering this profession have little management experience. Member Alan Kilpatrick became Co-Director of the Law Society of Saskatchewan Legal Resources department in 2020. He will speak candidly about his experiences as a new manager, highlighting the top tips and practical lessons he has learned along the way. We are all being asked to do more with less and many CALL/ACBD members may be asked to step outside of the box and into a management role at some point.
Are you a new professional, curious about management, or new to management? Then this must-see session is for you! The tips and lessons learned will be tailored to newer and midlevel professionals.
Register for the CALL/ACBD 2021 Conference here.