Pro Bono
The Advocates' Society is committed to giving back to the community through pro bono. Looking for an opportunity to make a difference? Find it here.
Pro Bono Law Ontario recently celebrated the five-year anniversary of Law Help Ontario honouring its volunteers - many of whom are members of The Advocates' Society. Thank you to all our members who give their time to this worthy program! Click here to view pictures and read an article on the event from Precedent Magazine.
The guidelines for The Advocates' Society's new or increased involvement in existing pro bono projects can be found here.
Pro Bono Programs
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Duty Counsel for LSUC Disciplinary Hearings
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Ontario Securities Commission Litigation Assistance Program
Pro Bono Programs with Pro Bono Law Ontario
Duty Counsel for Law Society Discipline Committee Hearings
Our
members make a meaningful contributions to the administration of
justice by assisting unrepresented solicitors at Law Society Discipline
Committee Hearings. Duty counsel speak to adjournments, help finalize
agreed statements of fact, act on consent findings of professional
misconduct or conduct unbecoming, and speak to penalty. We are always on
the look out for French-speaking volunteers and volunteers with
experience in mental health law.
Duty counsel – click here for training material.
Click here for an online Volunteer Registration Form
Download this faxable Volunteer Registration Form
Cliquez ici pour obtenir un formulaire d'inscription des bénévoles en ligne
Téléchargez ce formulaire d'inscription des bénévoles faxable
Email us for more information.
Ontario Securities Commission Litigation Assistance Program
The Securities Litigation Practice Group started the OSC Litigation Assistance Program (LAP) in 2011 as a pilot project with five volunteer counsel. The pilot was incredibly successful and has been extended and expanded. The LAP offers volunteer litigation services to unrepresented respondents appearing in enforcement proceedings for the Ontario Securities Commission. The volunteer counsel assist unrepresented respondents in enforcement cases in four select areas:
- Prehearing Conferences;
- Settlement Conferences;
- Sanction/Costs Hearings; and
- Certain Motions.
Email us for more information.
Appeals Assistance Projects
There are three programs in the Appeals Assistance Project. For more information on any of these projects, please click here or contact Brian Houghton, Law Help Ontario Project Manager, at brian@pblo.org.
- Appeals Assistance Project
- The Appeals Assistance Project - Crown Wardship Pilot Program
- Federal Court Assistance Project
Appeals Assistance Project
The Appeals Assistance Project was launched in 2004 through a partnership of The Advocates’ Society and PBLO. Volunteers are matched to low-income, unrepresented
litigants for civil appeals. The litigant must have a reasonable prospect of success to
qualify for the program. Volunteer services range from brief advice to full representation,
including attendance at hearings. The project is aimed at intermediate
to senior associates and partners but any lawyer can participate if
sufficient mentorship is in place.
The Appeals Assistance Project – Crown Wardship Pilot Program
The Appeals Assistance Project - Crown Wardship Pilot Program (Project) is administered by Pro Bono Law Ontario (PBLO) in partnership with The Advocates’ Society and with the assistance of the Ontario Court of Justice, Superior Court of Justice and Court of Appeal for Ontario. Volunteers assist unrepresented, low income litigants appealing crown wardship no access orders.
Federal Court Assistance Project
The Federal Court Assistance Project was launched in April 2010 through a partnership of The Advocates' Society and PBLO. The project provides low-income, unrepresented litigants in the Federal Court with the assistance of counsel on matters with a reasonable prospect of success. While it is expected that counsel will provide full representation in matters of interest to them, there may be scope for more limited assistance as the project develops. Lawyers at any level of practice are welcome to participate, but either sufficient Federal Court experience or mentorship must be demonstrated.
Child Advocacy Project - Education Law Program
Since
2002, The Advocates' Society has been helping safeguard the public
education rights of low-income children and youth across Ontario.
Through the Child Advocacy Project's (CAP) Education Law Program, our
members provide summary advice, verbal and written intervention with
school administrators, and representation at hearings and tribunals for
children and youth whose legal rights at school are denied. Lawyers
involved in thi project have handled 1000 cases - with a success rate of
over 90%!
CAP is a volunteer-based legal service run in partnership with Pro Bono Law Ontario, The Advocates' Society (TAS) and Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY), the province's only specialty legal clinic for youth under 18.
To participate in the program, our members require no prior experience in education law, only the expert training and ongoing mentoring provided by the staff lawyers at JFCY. CAP frequently hears from families in rural and northern communities, where local legal resources are unavailable. For this reason, volunteers are sometimes asked to provide remote legal services, by telephone or Skype. The Advocates' Society endorses remote legal services because, in many cases, they are the only way to ensure that children's rights at school are upheld.
Case Example:
“X” was suspended from school on October 31, 2012. According to documentation the family received “X” should have been allowed to return to school on November 28th. However, after the suspension expired the family was told that “X” could still not return to school. The family contacted the school numerous times but the reason for the suspension was never disclosed. The school advised the family that “X” was under investigation by the police and as such they were unable to reveal the reason for the suspension or allow “X” to return to school. To date “X” is still not in school. The family has requested assistance from a CAP volunteer with appealing the suspension.
For information on volunteering for the Child Advocacy Project, please visit www.childadvocacy.ca or contact Nicole Kellow by email: nicole@pblo.org or phone: 416-977-4448 ext: 226.
Law Help Ontario
Law Help Ontario is an award-winning project of PBLO that provides pro bono legal services in civil, non-family matters to unrepresented litigants who cannot afford to hire a lawyer and who do not qualify for Legal Aid.
The project currently operates two court-based self-help centres in Toronto, one at the 393 University Avenue Courthouse and the other at the Toronto Small Claims Court, 47 Sheppard Avenue East. The project also operates a self-help centre at 161 Elgin Street in Ottawa. In the future, centres may be launched in other locations across Ontario.
Members of the Society are encouraged to volunteer as duty counsel at the centres. Volunteers have the opportunity to provide brief summary advice and may, on occasion, represent litigants at examinations, settlement conferences, court hearings, or other attendances related to their matters.
This project is primarily aimed at junior-intermediate lawyers but there are no experience-based restrictions. Completion of a CLE program and familiarity with the civil process including the Rules of Civil Procedure is required. The CLE program can be tailored to ensure it is as convenient as possible for volunteer lawyers.
The time commitment for this project is one full day (or two half days) per quarter from 9:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
For more information, click here or contact Brian Houghton, Law Help Ontario Project Manager, at brian@pblo.org.
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