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PBSC 1L Info Session

PBSC 1L Info Session. 2013-2014. What is Pro Bono Students Canada?. Pro Bono Students Canada. The only national pro bono program in Canada Has been serving the legal profession for 15 years Operates 21 Canadian law school chapters Approximately 1500 volunteers nationwide

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PBSC 1L Info Session

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  1. PBSC 1L Info Session 2013-2014

  2. What is Pro Bono Students Canada?

  3. Pro Bono Students Canada • The only national pro bono program in Canada • Has been serving the legal profession for 15 years • Operates 21 Canadian law school chapters • Approximately 1500 volunteers nationwide • Runs almost 500 projects every year • Provides 120,000 hours of legal services each year

  4. PBSC Training Conference Dinner at Thomson Reuters Courtesy of Laura Pedersen Photography

  5. Junior Sirivar, Partner Litigation Group “The Importance of Pro Bono Work”

  6. PBSC Mandate PBSC aims • to provide vulnerable communities with legal services free of charge, • to provide law students with out-of-the classroom legal experience, and • to instill the pro bono ethic in future lawyers from their first day of law school.

  7. PBSC increases access to justice by partnering with: • Not-for-profit Organizations • Legal Clinics and Law Help Centres • Government Agencies • Courts and Tribunals • Lawyers working on Pro Bono files How PBSC Works:

  8. What Do PBSC Volunteers Do? • Legal Research and Writing/Policy Development – conduct research for a public interest organization • Clinical Projects – conduct client intake, provide information to clients, assisting with document preparation • Public Presentations – develop and deliver legal information seminars to members of the public who do not have access to lawyers; create plain language documents for the public • Courts and Tribunals – assist self represented litigations attempting to navigate the legal system

  9. General PBSC Training • Westlaw Canada Training (mandatory for 1Ls and UYs on research projects) • Specialized training (if applicable) • Student Agreement Form • 3–5 Hours per Week on Your PBSC Project • On-line, end-of-year survey What am I committing to?

  10. Timeline November September October • Applications due: • Specialized: Sept 13th or 15th • General: Sept 18th • Attend General Training: Sept 25th or 26th • Attend the Community Building Event on Nov. 13 • Make yourself available for monitoring call/drop-in December • Attend mandatory WestLaw Training on either Oct 21st or 22nd • Break for Exams

  11. Timeline March January February • Start up at placements again • Attend the Final Appreciation Event • Wrap up project and remind organization to confirm completion with us April • Break for Exams • Be available for monitoring late Feb/early March

  12. Last year’s coordinators at the PBSC Final Appreciation Event at McCarthy Tétrault LLP

  13. Student Testimonial: PBSC @Kensington-Bellwoods Legal Clinic • Placement project: Motion, on behalf of three community organizations, seeking leave to intervene in Charter case regarding right to subsidized housing. • Three takeaways: • Exposure to real-life legal work: • Meetings regarding cost consequences; • Legal analysis of respondent facta; • Exposure to oral advocacy in an adversarial setting. • Judges make mistakes, too. • Pro bono and Bay St. are not mutually exclusive, and better knowing what type of firm I want to work for.

  14. + The Envisioning Global LGBTRightsProject • A multi-disciplinary project with a broad mandate to document discrimination against sexual minorities abroad. • Project goals include facilitating the development and enhancement of LGBT rights by supporting international partners and activists with legal and social research.

  15. + 15 How does the Envisioning Project work? • The Envisioning Project has 3 subcommittees: Africa, the Caribbean, and India. Students will be assigned to their first choice where possible. • Students will develop reports on their jurisdiction and assist foreign legal challenges by providing research assistance (including comparative constitutional law). • Ben Vandorpe is the Volunteer Coordinator for 2013/2014; he is also a returning student researcher. You can contact him at benjaminvandorpe@osgoode.yorku.ca

  16. + The HPARB Headnotes and ClerkingProject • Six students with an interest in Health Laware exposed to the work of HPARB, the board responsible for hearing the concerns of over 23 self regulated health professions in Ontario, including doctors, nurses, and dentists • Exercise legal analysis and writing skills while getting behind-the-scenes experience with an administrative appeals tribunal

  17. How does the HPARB Project work? • Students must be able to attend a mandatory training session on Oct 4. from 1pm-4pm. • Headnotes: Students write summaries of HPARB decisions • Clerking: Students work directly with Vice-chairs of HPARB by participating in pre-hearing discussions. Students review pleadings, attend Tribunal hearings to ‘clerk’ and sit with the Vice-chairs as they deliberate after the hearing • Students may also be asked to research related topics of draft parallel decisions

  18. + The Class ActionsProject • Help set the foundation for a new project to be launched in Sept 2014 • Year 1: Research potential class action files, perform legal research related to the project (e.g. cy presorders) • Year 2: Work on a class action file with lawyers from a partner firm to be identified

  19. METRACA community-based, not-for-profit organization committed to preventing violence against diverse women and youth

  20. Research and Writing • One student will provide an article or research memoranda on a topic of use to survivors of intimate partner violence and woman abuse for the Ontario Women’s Justice Network website • The student will gain skills in legal research and writing, as well as experience in social justice, feminist theory and anti-oppression work METRAC

  21. + What is the General Application Process? • General Application Process:Download the general application form from our website, rank your projects in order of interest. Submit the application along with your CV by email to probono.students@utoronto.ca • Important Deadlines: U of T students must apply by September 18th at 5 pm.

  22. PBSC-McCarthy Tétrault Public Interest Internship • 2 students work on pro bono files under the supervision of business lawyers from McCarthy Tétrault’s Toronto office • Receive specialized training (mandatory Friday Oct 11, 1-3pm) • Attend Continuing Legal Education program with articling students • Mentorship (matched with McCarthy’s articling student) • Pro bono writing assignments of your choice (e.g. interview associate/partner, “a day in the life an intern”, etc.) Projects Exclusively for 1L

  23. How Do I Apply? • Shauvik Shah is the Volunteer Coordinator (pbsc.mccarthys.internship@utoronto.ca) • To apply e-mail Shauvik a Cover Letter describing your interest and qualifications, and a Resume by Friday September 13, at midnight. • Process: Shauvik will develop a short list of 10 students with the PBSC Program Manager at the National Office. • McCarthy Tétrault will select two students from the short list who will be notified by Sept. 20, 2013.

  24. Family Law Rotation Project • The project consists of two components: • (1) Rotation – Students participate in a series of lunch sessions with 5 different family law organizations (fall semester) • (2) Pro Bono – Students participate in either conducting PLE seminars to women’s shelters in the GTA, or working on pro bono files alongside lawyers at a family law firm in downtown Toronto (winter semester) Projects Exclusively for 1L

  25. How Do I Apply? • Download the application posted on the PBSC U of T website, or email Mariko Rivers the FLRP Coordinator at pbsc.familylawrotation@gmail.com and ask for an application form. • The Application deadline is Sunday, September 15, 2013 at 5 p.m.

  26. Union-Side Labour Rotation This project consists of three components. Students will: • (1) Shadow a labour lawyer at one appearance per semester • (2) Attend lunch time seminars with local labour firms and unions • (3) Research and draft PLE materials on Occupational Health and Safety Projects Exclusively for 1L

  27. How Do I Apply? • Please send a brief cover letter explaining your interest in the project and any relevant experience to Lauren Pearce at pbscunionlabour@gmail.com • The application deadline is Sunday, September 15th, 2013 at 5:00 PM. • Six students will be selected to participate

  28. Is There Room for Growth in this Organization?

  29. Family Law Program (FLP) • Award-winning program developed in 1998 in order to provide support and assistance to individuals who cannot afford legal services and who do not have access to legal aid • Under supervision of Legal Aid Ontario lawyers, students help unrepresented litigants navigate the family law justice system by drafting their court documents and providing them with legal information Snapshot of Upper-year Volunteer Opportunities

  30. Advocacy Projects: • Tax Court of Canada Advocacy Project • Medico-Legal Society of Toronto Advocacy Project PLEs: • Immigration and Refugee Detention Centres Project LRW and Drafting: • Wills Project • Deputy Judges Clerkship Project Snapshot of Upper-Year Volunteer Opportunities

  31. Summer Program Coordinator (1) and School Year-Coordinator (1) • FLP Coordinator (Summer and School) (1) • Ontario FLP Coordinator (1) • FLP Summer Student (3) Summer Jobs at PBSC

  32. Download the General Application Form from our website • Rank projects in terms of preference • Include a CV • Important Deadlines: Applications are due by e-mail to the Program Coordinators at probono.students@utoronto.ca by WED. SEPTEMBER 18 at 5pm. • An electronic signature is acceptable! How do I Apply to the 50+ positions described in the application form?

  33. Before we take your questions, thank you to PBSC’s sponsors:

  34. Any Questions? Check out our Facebook pages: www.facebook.com/PBSCToronto National: Pro Bono Students Canada / Réseau national d'étudiant(e)s pro bono (“Like” us too!) Follow us on Twitter: @PBSCToronto Email: probono.students@utoronto.ca Phone: 416-946-0397

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