Practical Tools and Resources

To view our practical tools and resources on elder abuse, please visit our Elder Abuse Resources page.

Undue Influence Recognition / Prevention Guide Update Project

We have updated our widely used and frequently cited Guide on potential undue influence related to wills and other personal planning documents. Undue Influence Recognition and Prevention: A Guide for Legal Practitioners is intended to address issues related to remote signing, audiovisual technology, and increased use of videoconferencing generally by lawyers and notaries.

The Guide features:

  • expanded coverage of non-testamentary undue influence surrounding gifts and other transfers of property, powers of attorney, representation agreements, etc. (as reflected in the title, which no longer refers to wills exclusively);
  • new content on good practice and safeguards in video communication with clients, including older clients with little or no skill with computers;
  • new content on cross-cultural communication with Indigenous clients and those from minority and migrant communities;
  • new content on nonverbal communication cues that may take on greater significance in virtual meetings, with appropriate cautions about interpreting nonverbal behaviour;
  • expanded information on cognitive impairment, dementia, and the relationship between these conditions and susceptibility to undue influence

The new Guide contains a revised version of the Reference Aid consisting of a checklist that can be used in conducting client interviews and a flowchart.  As before, the Reference Aid is also available as a separate publication. 

The video “Why the NEW Undue Influence Guide is important to your practice” provides an overview of the features and content of the updated Guide

Undue Influence Recognition and Prevention: Guide

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Reference Aid

Gender Diverse Legal Writing Guide

Legal writing comprises many forms: legislation, court submissions, opinion letters, transactional writing (e.g., contracts, wills), communications with clients and other lawyers, legal memoranda, legal texts and academic writing, court forms, judgments and decisions, and other reports and papers. Ultimately, the writer must choose the gender inclusive techniques needed for their audience and subject matter. The methods and tools explored in this publication give legal writers guidance to consider inclusivity in their writing.

The Guide:

  • Defines terms and addresses common misconceptions associated with certain terminology (e.g. transgender, not transgendered);
  • Outlines techniques to reflect inclusivity and gender neutrality, including review of honorifics, greetings, and pronouns;
  • Provides examples of how to incorporate gender inclusivity into one’s own writing style; and
  • Provides a list of resources for legal writers who want to learn more.

Gender Diversity in Legal Writing: Guide

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Pocket Guide

Glossary of Terms and Common Misconceptions

Questions and Answers on the Builders Lien Act

The enactment in 1997 of the Builders Lien Act was the final stage of a law reform process that started more than 25 years earlier, commencing with a Report by the former British Columbia Law Reform Commission in 1972. This led to a review by a Select Committee of the Provincial Legislature and extensive consultation carried out with the construction industry. Between 1972 and 1997 the Institute’s former Executive Director, and former BCLRC Chair, participated in a variety of initiatives aimed at implementing the recommendations made in that Report. These included the briefing of the Select Committee and participating in the drafting of the legislation itself.

The BCLI created “Questions and Answers on the New Builders Lien Act” to assist users in coming to grips with the Builders Lien Act. Users are cautioned that the Q&A has not been updated since its creation. They should, therefore, be alive to the possibility that some of its contents should be read in the light of subsequent judicial developments.

Online Resource

Questions and Answers on the Builders Lien Act

Technology-Assisted and Remote Evidence Presentation: A Practice Resource for BC Lawyers

Oral testimony is still the conventional way in which evidence is given in courts and administrative hearings.  Persons who live in rural or remote areas and those with disabilities sometimes face significant physical, mental, and economic hardship if they must attend court or tribunal proceedings and give evidence in person. These disadvantages can be severe enough amount to barriers to access to justice, but they can be removed or reduced in many cases through effective use of technology

This practice aid was prepared for the use of lawyers regarding assistive technology and communications systems that can be used to overcome geographical, physical, and attitudinal barriers to full and effective participation by the target groups in legal proceedings. It was produced as a part of the Technology, Remoteness, Disability & Evidence Project.

Technology-Assisted and Remote Evidence Presentation: A Practice Resource for BC Lawyers