Claiming CPD for Writing Clicklaw Wikibooks

This is a help page for contributors or users.

• This page contains no legal help information.
• See other Clicklaw Wikibooks Guides.

The below information is for BC lawyers who want to claim CPD credit for their volunteer writing contributions to Clicklaw Wikibooks. If you are not writing as a volunteer, i.e. if your job (even with another organization) is to write content on Clicklaw Wikibooks you should not be claiming this credit.

Can I claim CPD for writing a Clicklaw Wikibook?

Starting in January 2019, the Law Society of BC changed its CPD criteria to include writing for blogs or wikis so long as there is editorial oversight. The Law Society's Director, Education & Practice has confirmed that the Courthouse Libraries BC can assure its volunteers that credit requests will be approved for Clicklaw Wikibooks writing.

How many hours can I claim?

Lawyers may claim up to 6 hours per writing project.

Can I claim an ethics component?

At least two of a lawyer's 12 CPD hours must pertain to any combination of professional responsibility and ethics and practice management. Due to the fact that Clicklaw Wikibooks are written with a public audience in mind, rather than professional lawyers, the subject matter tends to be substantive and procedural information about the law. It is unlikely that professional responsibility, ethics, or practice management topics will significantly factor into the work that Clicklaw Wikibooks' volunteer writers will do.

How can I claim CPD credit?

Note:

• A lawyer must individually apply for accreditation of group study, teaching, writing and mentoring plans
• All applications by providers and lawyers must be submitted electronically through the Law Society website
• Approval decisions are made by Law Society staff (note however that Director, Education & Practice has confirmed the eligibility of writing work for Clicklaw Wikibooks)
• Lawyers should log in to the Members Portal
• Under the heading Education, select “Continuing Professional Development (CPD)”
• Select the tab for “Request Teaching, Writing & Mentoring Credit”
• Select “Request credit for writing”

Completing the Writing Request Form

Claiming writing project credit requires completion of an online form. The following includes suggested wording.

• Name of Writing Project: Enter the name of the title as it appears on its main page on Clicklaw Wikibooks, e.g. JP Boyd on Family Law or Legal Help for British Columbians.
• Total writing hours: State the actual number of hours you spent writing content, no matter how many hours this is, but take care to exclude hours spent merely reviewing existing content where you were not writing.
• Total writing credits: Do not enter more than 6 hours as credit. If you spent fewer than 6 hours writing for the project, enter the actual number of hours you spent writing. If you spent 6 or more hours writing, enter 6.
• Detailed description of writing project: This will vary depending on the title, but it may help to include some general information about Clicklaw Wikibooks as the host of the project. For instance, Clicklaw Wikibooks has over half a million website visitors each year. If you were one of several contributors, be sure to explain the portion you were responsible for writing.
  • JP Boyd on Family Law contributors may say:

"JP Boyd on Family Law is a book published by Courthouse Libraries BC as part of the Clicklaw Wikibooks series. It deals extensively with substantive and procedural aspects of family law with the intent of educating self-represented litigants and other members of the public involved in family law dispute resolution. The online version of the resource serves over 250,000 people each year, and the printed version is an 800 page book that is delivered and made available in hundreds of public libraries. I wrote for the chapter on _________."

• • Legal Help for British Columbians contributors may say:

"Legal Help for British Columbians is a resource for non-legal professionals in British Columbia who have clients with legal problems and little money to deal with them. For over 40 common legal problems, the Guide provides first steps to address the problem and options for further information or help. I wrote for the chapter on _________."

• Writing project link: Each title has a main landing page. Use the link to the main page of your title, e.g. https://wiki.clicklaw.bc.ca/index.php?title=Legal_Help_for_British_Columbians, or https://wiki.clicklaw.bc.ca/index.php?title=JP_Boyd_on_Family_Law
• Primary target audience: Clicklaw Wikibooks are always published for the public. Please use this target audience.
• Is it published: This should probably read "Is it published yet?", since that is the nature of the question. If it is not to be published at all, it would not satisfy the questions that follow. In MediaWiki, the content is published as soon as it is entered and saved, so the answer is likely "Yes". In most cases where lawyers are writing content for a Clicklaw Wikibook, the title is a printed publication also, and not "only" a wiki. For Legal Help for British Columbians and JP Boyd on Family Law contributors, click "Yes" and then add in the comment fields:
  • Where: "This book is published online at wiki.clicklaw.bc.ca and is produced in print, both on demand and in set print runs. Print editions are distributed to public libraries through Courthouse Libraries BC's LawMatters program."
  • When: This will depend on the date you entered and saved your written changes on the wiki page. Alternatively, if the Clicklaw Wikibook you wrote for was printed and distributed in the year you are claiming credit, you may use the print publication date. For titles that have not gone to print since the time you did the writing and the time you are claiming CPD credit, you may wish to say "Each Clicklaw Wikibooks page is published as soon as it is changed and saved. The most recent page I wrote for this writing project was saved on [enter date of the version you last wrote]." You can find the version dates under the "History" tab of any wiki page.
• Is this writing project for a blog or wiki: Yes
  • Confirm editorial oversight: Legal Help for British Columbians and JP Boyd on Family Law contributors may say in the comment field, "This writing project is published online and in print. It is subject to editorial oversight by other lawyers and Courthouse Libraries BC."