+ 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
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+ PBSC Training Conference Dinner at Thomson Reuters Courtesy
of Laura Pedersen Photography
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+ Junior Sirivar, Partner Litigation Group The Importance of
Pro Bono Work
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+ PBSC Mandate PBSC aims (1) to provide vulnerable communities
with legal services free of charge, (2) to provide law students
with out-of- the classroom legal experience, and (3) to instill the
pro bono ethic in future lawyers from their first day of law
school.
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+ How PBSC Works: 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
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+ 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
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+ What am I committing to? General PBSC Training Westlaw Canada
Training (mandatory for 1Ls and UYs on research projects)
Specialized training (if applicable) Student Agreement Form 35
Hours per Week on Your PBSC Project On-line, end-of-year
survey
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+ Timeline Applications due: Specialized: Sept 13 th or 15 th
General: Sept 18 th Attend General Training: Sept 25 th or 26 th
Attend the Community Building Event on Nov. 13 Make yourself
available for monitoring call/drop-in September October November
December Break for Exams Attend mandatory WestLaw Training on
either Oct 21 st or 22 nd
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+ Timeline Start up at placements again Attend the Final
Appreciation Event Wrap up project and remind organization to
confirm completion with us January February March April Break for
Exams Be available for monitoring late Feb/early March
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+ Last years coordinators at the PBSC Final Appreciation Event
at McCarthy Ttrault LLP
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+ 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: 1. Exposure to
real-life legal work: Meetings regarding cost consequences; Legal
analysis of respondent facta; 2. Exposure to oral advocacy in an
adversarial setting. Judges make mistakes, too. 3. Pro bono and Bay
St. are not mutually exclusive, and better knowing what type of
firm I want to work for.
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+ + 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. The Envisioning Global LGBT Rights
Project
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+ 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
[email protected] 15
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+ + Six students with an interest in Health Law are 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 The HPARB Headnotes and Clerking
Project
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+ 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
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+ + 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 pres orders) Year 2:
Work on a class action file with lawyers from a partner firm to be
identified The Class Actions Project
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+ METRAC A community-based, not-for-profit organization
committed to preventing violence against diverse women and
youth
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+ METRAC 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 Womens
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
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+ + 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
[email protected] Important Deadlines: U of T students
must apply by September 18th at 5 pm.
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+ Projects Exclusively for 1L PBSC-McCarthy Ttrault Public
Interest Internship 2 students work on pro bono files under the
supervision of business lawyers from McCarthy Ttraults Toronto
office Receive specialized training (mandatory Friday Oct 11, 1-
3pm) Attend Continuing Legal Education program with articling
students Mentorship (matched with McCarthys articling student) Pro
bono writing assignments of your choice (e.g. interview
associate/partner, a day in the life an intern, etc.)
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+ How Do I Apply? Shauvik Shah is the Volunteer Coordinator
([email protected]) 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 Ttrault will select two students
from the short list who will be notified by Sept. 20, 2013.
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+ Projects Exclusively for 1L 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 womens shelters in the GTA, or
working on pro bono files alongside lawyers at a family law firm in
downtown Toronto (winter semester)
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+
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+ How Do I Apply? Download the application posted on the PBSC U
of T website, or email Mariko Rivers the FLRP Coordinator at
[email protected] and ask for an application
[email protected] The Application deadline is
Sunday, September 15, 2013 at 5 p.m.
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+ Projects Exclusively for 1L 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
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+ How Do I Apply? Please send a brief cover letter explaining
your interest in the project and any relevant experience to Lauren
Pearce at [email protected]@gmail.com The
application deadline is Sunday, September 15 th, 2013 at 5:00 PM.
Six students will be selected to participate
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+ Is There Room for Growth in this Organization?
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+ Snapshot of Upper-year Volunteer Opportunities 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
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+ Snapshot of Upper-Year Volunteer Opportunities 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
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+ Summer Jobs at PBSC Summer Program Coordinator (1) and School
Year-Coordinator (1) FLP Coordinator (Summer and School) (1)
Ontario FLP Coordinator (1) FLP Summer Student (3)
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+ How do I Apply to the 50+ positions described in the
application form? 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 [email protected] by WED. SEPTEMBER 18
at 5pm. An electronic signature is acceptable!
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+ Before we take your questions, thank you to PBSCs
sponsors:
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+ Any Questions? Check out our Facebook pages:
www.facebook.com/PBSCToronto National: Pro Bono Students Canada /
Rseau national d'tudiant(e)s pro bono (Like us too!) Follow us on
Twitter: @PBSCToronto Email:
[email protected]@utoronto.ca Phone:
416-946-0397