Professional development
All practising lawyers are required to complete and implement an annual professional development plan, and report they have done so in their Annual Lawyer Report.
We also recommend that lawyers engage in at least 50 hours of self-learning/self-study annually, in addition to the mandatory CPD Requirement.
Creating a CPD plan
Looking for information on creating a CPD Plan?
Creating a CPD Plan, Assessing your CPD plan & planning templates
CPD requirements
The Society requires all practising lawyers to create an annual professional development plan and commit it to writing (see Regulation 8.3.6). All practising lawyers are expected to complete a minimum of 12 hours of professional development in each reporting year (Regulation 8.3.4)
Each year, we ask lawyers to indicate on their Annual Lawyer Report (ALR) whether they have prepared and written their CPD Plan and implemented their plan from the previous year.
The deadline for creating your CPD Plan is June 1 each year. If you already have a plan that operates on a calendar year, you may continue to use that rather than creating a plan that runs from June 1 of a given year to May 31 of the next year.
Developing a CPD plan
Use any type of professional development plan that works for your type of practice, as long as it is in writing and can be produced should the need arise. If you or your firm or other legal entity already have a structure for creating and implementing plans, you don’t need to change your methods.
The Society will ask you to report each June if you have a plan, but your plan does not need to run from June 1 to May 31. Some organizations create professional development plans that operate over a calendar year. As long as you are able to report that you have a professional development plan in place at all times that you are practising, it need not coincide with the Society’s fee year.
Although there are no strict requirements for what may be included in your CPD Plan, it’s a good idea to include the following elements:
- substantive legal education and skills development;
- risk and practice management; and
- professionalism and cultural competency
The Society’s CPD Requirement is a flexible and convenient method to ensure lawyers meet both their professional duty of competence and the Society’s public interest mandate, by implementing a regulatory program to ensure the ongoing competence and professionalism of lawyers in Nova Scotia. As the Society regulates lawyers in the public interest, it is important to be accountable and demonstrate to the public that lawyers maintain and strive for high levels of professionalism and competence in the practice of law.
Extensions for declaring your professional development plan
To request a formal extension for declaring (on your ALR) you have implemented your plan from the previous year and/or you have created your plan for the upcoming year, please use the CPD Extension Request form or CPD Exemption Request form.
Download CPD extension request form
Download CPD exemption request form
Prior to completing your request, please review the Policy regarding the Granting of Waivers (Extensions and Exemptions) to a Member’s Continuing Professional Development requirement.
Please note the Society is no longer pro-rating hours. It is mandatory that lawyers in Nova Scotia create and declare a CPD Plan on their ALR and it is expected that each lawyer will complete a minimum of 12 hours yearly (see Regulation 8.3.4).
Find CPD opportunities
We provide ongoing notices and information about CPD resources but we do not accredit programs. Our events & news sections for upcoming conferences, seminars, webinars and other offerings.
We also continue to offer the Online Land Registration Act Training Program, which is mandatory for all lawyers who wish to use the Property Online system, and other occasional mandatory education as directed by Council.
Continuing professional development is readily available to lawyers across Nova Scotia in a number of formats. Many programs are now online, so lawyers can learn in the convenience of their own homes and offices, on their own timetables.
Increasingly, lawyers are organizing CPD study groups – thereby ensuring their CPD is relevant and available at no or little cost.
Formal programming is offered through a wide range of CPD providers, including but not limited to the following:
- CPDonline provides on-demand video CPD content to lawyers across Canada
- the Canadian Bar Association offers a variety of programming in person and online;
- County Bar associations are creating education opportunities for lawyers throughout Nova Scotia;
- the LIANS Risk and Practice Management Program;
- Dalhousie’s Schulich School of Law, including the popular “Sessions @ Schulich” series;
- the Real Estate Lawyers Association of Nova Scotia (RELANS);
- the Atlantic Provinces Trial Lawyers Association; and
- universities, the government, law firms and many other education providers.
Finding affordable and accessible CPD
There is wide latitude in terms of how your recommended CPD hours can be achieved, with emphasis on accessibility and affordability. The Society is not accrediting programs. Lawyers are free to choose education that is most relevant to their practice of law.
In addition, the ‘formal’, in-person education courses and conferences that we traditionally associate with CPD, a wide range of learning-focused activities qualify toward your requirement:
- Online courses (including self-study courses)
- Webinars and podcasts
- Distance education courses
- Teaching and presenting
- Writing or editing a book, article or blog;
- Study group of two or more people
- Educational component of Bar and law association meetings
- Participating in a practice advisor / advisee or mentor / mentee relationship (to a maximum of 2 hours)
Options for relevant and affordable CPD include:
- The excellent resources offered through the LIANS Risk and Practice Management Program. LIANS offers regular webinars and in-person CPD sessions exploring a wide range of Risk & Practice Management topics.
- The NSBS Annual Meeting – three hours of CPD is provided at no cost to attendees; also, keynote speeches are made available to view on the Society’s website.
- Dalhousie’s Schulich School of Law offers the popular “Sessions @ Schulich” series. These are advertised in InForum and on the Society’s website, as well as on the Schulich site.
- Mentor a student or young lawyer. In addition to acting as a supervisor to an Articled Clerk, there are a number of formal mentorship programs for Nova Scotia lawyers, including:
- LIANS Mentorship Program
- The Dalhousie Association of Women in the Law (DAWL) - This mentorship program is aimed at connecting women and trans law students with women involved in all aspects of legal practice in the Halifax community.
- Legal Legacies & Bridges (LLB): African Canadian and Aboriginal Law Student Mentorship Program – The Society offers this mentorship program in conjunction with the Indigenous Black and Mi’kmaq Initiative at Dalhousie University (IB&M).
- The Internationally Trained Lawyers Observership Program: The Society runs this mentorship program in collaboration with Immigrant Settlement & Integration Services (ISI) in Halifax.
- Pride Mentorship Program: This program, for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lawyers, is offered in collaboration with the CBA Sexual Orientation Gender Identity (SOGI) section. Its purpose is to provide a community of support for students and new lawyers entering the profession.
- Create your own customized CPD programming at no cost by forming a study group.
Form a CPD study group
We aim to make relevant CPD accessible for all Nova Scotian lawyers at no or limited cost. The flexibility of the Society’s CPD Requirement makes this achievable, as lawyers can design and deliver customized CPD programming through study groups.
What is a study group?
A study group is a group of two or more lawyers studying together for a primarily educational purpose. It is an eligible CPD activity toward the Society’s CPD Requirement.
The study group format provides endless scope for delivering creative CPD content. A few examples:
- Lawyers with a mutual practice area interest can review recent court decisions and discuss their implications.
- A colleague attends a conference and presents highlights to the practice group.
- A group of lawyers invites a LIANS representative to provide a group presentation and Q&A session on risk and practice management issues.
- Lawyers watch a video on advanced negotiation techniques, then practise through a simulated negotiation exercise.
How do I organize a study group?
- Start by identifying one or more gaps in your skills and knowledge
- Consider your market. Are you a rural practitioner? Consider those topics or areas of shared interest among local practitioners.
- If the knowledge or skill you seek to develop is specific (e.g., recent developments in trademark law), propose a study group session with lawyers who have similar interests or practices: practice group colleagues, other practice area specialists across the province, etc. If, however, the knowledge or skill can be shared by a wider group (e.g., risk and practice management issues, legal ethics), the ‘pool’ of potential lawyers is much wider.
- Identify your objectives, such as enhancing skills or knowledge in one or more specific areas. Then analyze potential CPD activities: Read and discuss case law? An expert presentation? Watch and discuss a pre-recorded conference presentation? Is this appropriate as a single session or as a series of meetings?
- Consider the logistics for your study group session. Will you meet at your office, an external venue or by webinar? Which dates and times work best for participants?
- If appropriate, assign roles and responsibilities: Is anyone presenting? For how long? Who will make arrangements for technology, catering, etc.?
- Schedule the session(s) well in advance and send reminders a week beforehand.
- Prepare a draft agenda for your CPD study group meeting and keep the session on track.
CPD FAQs
The deadline for creating your CPD Plan is June 1 each year. You will be asked on your Annual Lawyer Report if you have created your plan. If you already have a plan that operates on a calendar year, you may continue to use that rather than creating a plan that runs from June 1 of a given year to May 31 of the next year.
Yes. The Society’s CPD Requirement is a regulatory program and a mandatory requirement for all practising lawyers.
The goal of the NSBS CPD Requirement is to enhance lawyer competence and to be accountable to the public for the ongoing professional development and competence of lawyers. The objective is to ensure that each lawyer in Nova Scotia strives for excellence in the delivery of legal services through the mandatory annual planning and implementation of an effective CPD Plan.
The Society’s CPD Requirement is structured to foster a self-directed and lifelong learning approach to continuing professional development that enhances and ensures lawyer competence. The CPD Requirement is a flexible and convenient method to ensure lawyers meet both their professional duty of competence in the delivery of legal services and the Society’s public interest mandate, by implementing a regulatory program to ensure the ongoing competence and professionalism of lawyers in Nova Scotia.
All practising lawyers in Nova Scotia, pursuant to Regulation 8.3.6, must:
- prepare an annual CPD Plan in written form;
- declare to the Society that they have made a CPD Plan in their Annual Lawyer Report annually;
- implement and evaluate the CPD Plan and activities from the previous year;
- retain the CPD Plan for five years; and
- produce the CPD Plan to the Society upon request.
To ensure that the goal of enhancing lawyer competence in the delivery of legal services is met, it is necessary for lawyers to plan their CPD activities in accordance with the Rules, implement those activities and then evaluate whether the activities undertaken in the past year were effective in improving and enhancing competence in the delivery of legal services. In reviewing the previous year’s CPD Plan and activities, the following questions can assist lawyers in their evaluation:
- What activities did I undertake pursuant to last year’s CPD Plan?
- How did this CPD activity improve my competence as a lawyer?
- How much time did I spend on these CPD activities last year?
- What will be carried forward to my CPD Plan for next year?
As well, lawyers should reflect upon the implementation of their CPD goals throughout the year. Quarterly reviews are a good start. Lawyers should ask:
- How am I doing with implementing the activities identified in my CPD Plan?
- Am I meeting my CPD goals as set out in my CPD Plan?
- How are the activities I am engaged in enhancing my competence and the quality of legal services that I deliver to my clients?
There is now room in your plan to add reflections throughout the year to assist you with this ongoing assessment.
A continuing professional development activity is broadly defined in Regulation 8.3.3 as follows:
8.3.3 “Continuing professional development” is any activity that has education as its primary purpose that is:
(a) relevant to the professional needs of a lawyer; and
(b) preserves and enhances a lawyer’s knowledge or skills in the areas of:
(i) substantive legal education and skills development;
(ii) risk and practice management; and
(iii) professionalism.
Unlike in many other jurisdictions, the Society’s CPD Requirement does not have a mandatory minimum number of accredited hours to be counted towards CPD. It is mandatory, however, that lawyers in Nova Scotia create and declare a CPD Plan and it is expected that each lawyer will complete a minimum of 12 hours yearly (Regulation 8.3.4).
No, lawyers do not need to have their CPD activities accredited by the Society. It is each lawyer’s obligation to ensure that the CPD activities incorporated into their CPD Plan meet Regulation 8.3.3.
Yes, lawyers who are members in other jurisdictions and whose main practice is in that province may use their home province activities as evidence of their compliance. Lawyers who are members in a province with no CPD requirement must create and implement a plan in Nova Scotia.
The NSBS CPD Requirement applies to all active members of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society.
Yes. Acting as a mentor or practice advisor can be included but should not be the only education in your plan. Being a principal, for instance, should not be included as the only item in your CPD plan. In addition to helping newer lawyers, a practising lawyer should also be updating their own education and skills each year.
Yes. Again, you should include only those parts that are for an educational purpose and not the business meetings of a section or committee.
Yes. Self study is an important part of professional development. The Society recommends that every lawyer complete at least 50 hours of self study per year that is separate from the reading they do to prepare a case. But again, this should never be the only item included in your plan. Part of a robust professional development plan is participating in activities that will challenge you to go beyond your comfort zone and to learn new skills and gain new knowledge in a situation where you can discuss with other lawyers.
Yes. Writing or editing a book, article or blog – for primarily educational purposes – may be included. Writing for a client is remunerative work and should not be part of your CPD Plan.
Yes, if they are for primarily educational purposes.
If the teaching you are doing, even if it is paid for, is not a core function of your regular employment, then you may include it.
Yes, as long as they are relevant to your practice you may count any type of in-house education.
Yes. Lawyers are required to retain their CPD Plan for five years. In circumstances when conduct comes to the attention of the Society, lawyers may be asked to produce their CPD Plan and advise of the steps taken to implement and evaluate their CPD activities and CPD goals.
Since the inception of the original NSBS CPD Requirement in 2012, there has been outstanding compliance. In 2015, the Society undertook a review of its CPD Requirement, which led to these current changes. Lawyers were consulted about this new program and expressed appreciation for a program that leverages the professionalism of lawyers to encourage lifelong learning. As with any new program, the Society will continue to measure and review the revised CPD Requirement as it unfolds.
Mandatory minimum hour CPD programs for the legal profession are found in most of the United States and throughout Australia. This trend has spread to the legal profession in Canada.
Fundamentally, the focus in mandatory minimum hour Continuing Legal Education (CLE) jurisdictions is on a culture of compliance with getting hours. Compliance with the hourly minimum becomes the motivation for CPD programming and not necessarily improving lawyer competence or professionalism. Most discussion papers on the issue of mandatory minimum hours CLE consistently make the point that there is no empirical evidence to support a link between attending CLE programming and enhancing the competent delivery of legal services in the practice of law.
The NSBS CPD Requirement is intended to foster a self-directed and lifelong learning approach to continuing professional development that enhances and ensures lawyer competence. Our CPD Requirement is a flexible and convenient method to ensure lawyers meet both their professional duty of competence and the Society’s public interest mandate, by implementing a regulatory program to ensure the ongoing competence and professionalism of lawyers in Nova Scotia.
Questions?
Contact us at CPD@nsbs.org or phone the CPD line at 902 422 1491 (ext. 371). We will get back to you within five business days.