Projects

We build the capacity of community organizations by conducting research and drafting memoranda on a wide range of justice issues. Legal research and writing projects include reviewing and monitoring pending legislation, writing legal memos, analyzing current policy questions, and writing newsletter or blog posts.

 

Federation of Metro Tenants Associations (FMTA) Tenant Rights Project 

Partner Organization: Federation of Metro Tenants Association (FMTA) 

Project Summary:

Component 1: Tenant Rights Research Project 

Students will be encouraged to develop public legal education materials on tenancy rights based on their research findings. The ultimate purpose of this component is to provide different ways of accessing information to ensure it is impactful for a broader audience. 

Component 2: Tenant Rights Videos 

Students would create storyboards to plan out the content of the videos and consult  with the partner organization to determine whether the videos should be produced  by the students or if the partner organization would like to have their own  volunteers/staff create the final content 

Type: Research & Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Housing & Human Rights 

Community served: Precariously employed individuals, Seniors, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Experience working with tenancy rights would be an asset 
• Experience and/or interest in matters heard by the Landlord and Tenant Board 
• Knowledge of the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act would be an asset 
• Experience using Westlaw and/or CanLII for legal research

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Joint Tenancy Research Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary: 

When the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) was enacted in 2006, Toronto was generally more affordable than it is today. The RTA was never written to contemplate issues of joint tenancy among many individuals sharing one lease. The goal of this project is to create PLE resources to help make information surrounding joint tenancies accessible to those in the KBCLS Catchment.

The students will do research on questions including:

• How does the RTA apply in a joint tenancy situation with multiple roommates all on the same lease signed at the same time?
• How do joint tenancies affect individuals when they want to leave their lease but other roommates want to remain?
• Address common issues and questions that arise with joint tenancies re what is a tenant versus what is a roommate occupant
• And other questions developed in consultation with KBCLS

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Housing Law, Administrative Law

Community served: Homeless & marginally houses, People living in poverty, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• N/A. Will provide a primer on housing law

WomenatthecentrE Family Law Project 

Partner Organization: WomenatthecentrE

Project Summary: 

The PBSC & WomenatthecentrE Children’s Rights & Family Law Research and Education partnership will support WomenatthecentrE's internal research library, including maintaining up-to-date research on various research questions relating to the organization’s work. In addition, it will support WomenatthecentrE's efforts to create and maintain public legal education resources for survivors of gender-based violence on the legal processes that may affect them or their families. 

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Family, Children and Youth, Child Protection

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, self-represented litigants 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: 

• None, but Family Law, Children and the Law, and experience working within feminist/intersectional-feminist legal theories would be assets. 
• Knowledge and understanding of gender-based violence is required. Any social work experience, gender studies, and/or experience working within an anti-oppression framework would be an asset. 
• Graphic design experience would be a major asset
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills
• Experience developing educational materials/instructional guides or courses
• Experience working within an anti-oppression framework 

WomenatthecentrE Transformative Justice Project - Support for Survivors of Human Trafficking & Advancing Gender Equity for Black Women, Black Girls and Black Gender-Diverse People (B-WGGD) in Canada 

Partner Organization: WomenathecentrE

Project Summary:

This project will primarily support WomenatthecentrE's internal research library, including maintaining up-to-date research on various research questions relating to the organization’s work. In addition, it will support WomenatthecentrE's efforts to create and maintain public legal education resources for survivors of gender-based violence on the legal processes that may affect them or their families.

There are two internal initiatives of focus for this project:

1. Embedding Resilience and Grounding Resistance
2. Truth & Transformation: Advancing Gender Equity for Black Women, Black Girls, and Black Gender-Diverse People in Canada

Type: Research & Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: ADR, Criminal Law, Immigration (in context of human trafficking legislation) 

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, Racialized communities 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 5

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but Criminal Law, Legal Research and Writing, and experience working within feminist/intersectional-feminist legal theories, would be assets. 
• Knowledge and understanding of gender-based violence is required. Any social work experience, gender studies, and/or experience working within an anti-oppression framework would be an asset.  

Rainbow Railroad Intake & Research Project 

Partner Organization: Rainbow Railroad

Project Summary: 

Students will assist Rainbow Railroad staff with legal research around immigration laws in countries where our clients reside with a focus on the Emergency Travel Support (ETS) and Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR). Students may compose briefing documents on specific sets of immigration and human rights laws for non-lawyer staff in order to enhance understanding of conditions and relationships in these countries. Students may also assist lawyers and caseworkers in drafting cover letters and immigration claim summaries. All legal research and draft cover letters will be reviewed and approved by the supervising lawyer prior to use by the partner organization.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Immigration and Refugee, Human Rights

Community served: LGBTQ+, Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, Trans and gender diverse individuals 

Who can apply: 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• It is preferable that the students be able to come to the office on Tuesday and/or Thursdays for their allotted work of 3-5 hours per week. 
• No, but additional languages are an asset. Specifically, speaking Farsi, Russian, Turkish, French or Arabic are huge assets.
• Relevant educational/volunteer and/or work experience would be an asset. Those with personal lived experience that relates to our clients are encouraged to apply – i.e. those with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions and/or those from regions where we work internationally (Caribbean, Africa, South-Central Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East).

The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (CCTEHT) Privacy Legislation Research Project 

Partner Organization: The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking 

Project Summary: 

The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (“CCTEHT”) is launching a partnership with the Risk Management Association of Canada (RMA) to better understand how to collect incriminating data on traffickers in a way that balances justice and privacy considerations. Today, there is increasing fear that technology is outpacing current privacy regulations which has created two challenges for Canadians: first, some technology companies are leveraging the outdated privacy legislation to collect all forms of private data, raising important privacy and civil liberty concerns. Other technology companies, by contrast, are reluctant to use their advanced tools without clear privacy framework, meaning that the capabilities to catch traffickers are not being fully utilized. Within this context, the CCTEHT and RMA are working together to assess current legal and privacy frameworks and to propose a new approach that balances civil liberties and the need to stop trafficking.

CCTEHT is seeking student support to produce a detailed memo that analyzes privacy laws at the provincial and federal level, and then compare those laws to the current technology. This will allow for the students to identify gaps in the legislation which will inform the work of the CCTEHT. 

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Criminal Law, Constitutional Law 

Community served: Human trafficking impacts many of community groups. This analysis will lead to a greater understanding of human trafficking case law and jurisprudence as it relates to vulnerable groups generally, and may provide insight into how specific groups are impacted.  

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Criminal Law, Legal Research and Writing
• Recommended preparation: Privacy Law, Administrative Law, Human Rights Law
• Ideally, student volunteers ought to have experience or demonstrated interest in equity initiatives and a good understanding of the systemic issues and barriers facing diverse communities interacting with law enforcement agencies and officials.

Centre for Immigrant and Community Services (CICS) Consent and Privacy Legal Research Project

Partner Organization: Centre for Immigrant and Community Services

Project Summary: 

Centre for Immigrant and Community Services (CICS) is a not-for-profit organization that assists newcomers in Canada in settling and integrating. CICS provides services to clients of all age ranges, from early year children, youth, adults to seniors. CICS also offers specialized services in employment, language training, mental health, housing, etc.

At CICS, we respect clients' right to privacy and protect their confidential information. To better support our clients, we strive to continuously improve our practices of seeking informed consent and protecting clients' privacy.

CICS is now looking for student volunteers to help CICS review and improve our current documents, policies and practices regarding consent, confidentiality and privacy issues.

The student volunteers will be responsible for:

• Conducting legal research on consent, privacy and confidentiality topics, such as privacy laws, health privacy, privacy and kids, etc.;
• Drafting a research memo containing the findings;
• Presenting the research findings to the internal teams to provide information and training on consent, confidentiality and privacy topics.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Legislation relevant to consent, privacy, and confidentiality in Ontario

Community served: Immigrants, People living with mental health challenges, Children and youth

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to an Osgoode student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Privacy laws, Privacy law and information management in health care – an asset, Privacy rights of children and teens – an asset
• Proficiency in Mandarin and/or Cantonese is an asset
• Experience in a non-profit setting is an asset.

HanVoice Refugee Resettlement Research Project

Partner Organization: HanVoice

Project Summary: 

Currently, North Koreans escaping North Korea are in danger. In addition to the danger they face, the journey requires travelling 5,000 km to get to safety. If these individuals are caught trying to escape, they face harsh punishment, including forced labour, forced abortions, brutal beating and torture. Through a historic pilot project, HanVoice aims to resettle 5 North Korean families in 2 years. The aim of this program is to assist North Koreans resettle and succeed in Canada. This is done by identifying vulnerable families, train and educate sponsors to support these families and coordinating their resettlement.

With PBSC, HanVoice aims to build upon previous research to determine where this pilot project can be replicated to assist more North Koreans. With the help of the students, HanVoice is aiming to publish a report to the public summarizing their findings and research about this program and how and where it can be replicated.

The students will be in charge of researching the law of other jurisdictions in comparison to Canada to see where this project can be replicated. They will also be tasked with summarizing these findings into a report to be published to the general public by HanVoice.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Immigration and Refugee Law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, Children & youth

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Proficiency in Korean is helpful.
• Students with a political science or international relations (especially prior knowledge on Korean peninsula issues) background are preferred, but not required.

York Centre for Public Policy and Law (YCPPL) - Criminal Court Decision Research Project 

Partner Organization: York Centre for Public Policy and Law (YCPPL)

Project Summary: 

The YCPPL draws together legal experts, social scientists and others from the public policy sector to address issues of access to justice, human rights and social policy, accountability and ethics in the public sector and the globalization of public policy. As a collaborative interdisciplinary research centre their mandate is to engage in and support research that meets the needs of the broader community, in particular the needs of government and public policy makers, non- governmental organizations, citizen advocacy groups and social movements in Canada.

This project examines judicial trends in criminal cases in the Ontario Court of Justice and the Ontario Superior Court. Students will be assigned a single judge and review all criminal decisions made by that judge, entering various data points related to each case and drafting memoranda on any potential trends that emerge. The students’ research will then be turned into a research paper or report drafted by the supervisor, who will draw conclusions from the students’ work.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Criminal 

Community served: Racialzied communities, Children & youth, Indigenous 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: none

LSO Digital Compendium of Bilingual Cases

Partner Organization: Law Society of Ontario

Project Summary: 

The   project   will   involve   reviewing   the   Standard   Operating   Procedure   for   the   existing Compendium;  Review the current initial batch of cases for accuracy of quotes and search terms;  Obtain  the  balance  of  cases  to  be  added,  prepare  initial  translations  via  Deepl.com  software;  obtain approval on the translations;  Add approved translations;  Present the final compendium at end of project to the French Prosecutions Working Group. 

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Administrative Law

Community served: General project

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-4 hours/week; once a month as there is a 1 hour monthly meeting of the French Prosecutions Working Group at which the student will have to attend.

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Must be bilingual in English and French, both written and spoken

Refugee Law Office Internship

Partner Organization: Refugee Law Office 

Project Summary: 

​​Students will work directly with RLO staff on case files, including test cases, which may include refugee claims, pre-removal risk assessments (PRRA), humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) applications, temporary resident permits, danger opinions, applications for Ministerial Relief, detention reviews, deportation appeals, judicial review applications. 

Work may include legal and/or country of origin research, drafting submissions, Federal Court memos, affidavits and/or client narratives. All legal memoranda and draft submissions will be reviewed and approved by the supervising lawyer.

Students may work directly with clients to help them prepare their case by way of gathering evidence and/or preparing testimony, under supervision of a lawyer or CLW. Best efforts will be made to ensure students also have an opportunity to observe oral proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board and/or Federal Court.

Type: Research & Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Immigration & Refugee, Human Rights, Constitutional Law 

Community served: Immigrants, refugees, & newcomers, Racialized c communities, People living with mental health challenges 

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Be  enrolled  in,  or  have  completed,  at  least  one  course  in  refugee,  immigration,  and/or  forced migration law and/or international human rights.
• A demonstrated interest and/or experience in human rights, immigration and refugee issues.

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Anti-Black Racism in Ontario’s Education System

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

In this project, a student will research three potential avenues of collective redress for systemic anti-Black racism within Ontario’s education system: class actions, Charter challenges, and group Human Rights Tribunal applications. Students will focus  on three main ways in which anti-Black racism can manifest–suspensions, expulsions, and streaming (i.e. dividing students into academic or applied tracks)–and weigh the pros and cons of each course of action.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Education Act, Human Rights Code, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Class Proceedings Act

Community served: Racialized communities, Children & youth 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• History of self-directed research 
• Strong research background (e.g. freedom of information requests)

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Income Maintenance Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

DVCLS’ Income Maintenance team provides information, advice, and assistance related to income assistance, including Ontario Works (often still called welfare), Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), and more. In recognition of the fact that many of the Income Maintenance team’s clients would benefit from the support of social workers or other community resources, DVCLS has recently sent out a survey to assess what resources are available in community agencies. At this stage, DVCLS seeks a student to explore how DVCLS’ legal workers can get access to social work assistance as required for their clients.

Type: Research, Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Contract Law, Disability Law

Community served: People living in poverty, People living with disabilities chronic illness 

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• This project includes both research and client-facing responsibilities. Students will be able to complete their research work virtually and from home.However, students will be asked to complete their client-related(phone) work from the clinic, to benefit from the support of DVCLS’ intake workers
• Some knowledge of ODSP/OW legislation is helpful.
• Ability to work with a variety of staff/computer competent.

Law Students’ Society of Ontario (LSSO) Research and Advocacy Project

Partner Organization: Law Students’ Society of Ontario (LSSO)

Project Summary:

The Law Students’ Society of Ontario is an advocacy body representing undergraduate (JD) law students at Ontario law schools. Their goal is to articulate student needs and concerns to the organizations that govern the legal profession, the universities that administer legal education, and government bodies that regulate post-secondary education and financial aid.

The LSSO is seeking a student to conduct legal research for upcoming projects focusing on access to justice, such as:

• The impact of the Law Society of Ontario’s (LSO) licensing scheme in comparison with other provincial law society on equity seeking groups.
• Accessibility and financial transparency of legal education in Canada, through assistance related to the publication of the LSSO’s upcoming National Tuition Study
• Students will be researching into how provincial governments across Canada are funding law schools and the implications such funding has on law school tuition to produce a comparative analysis
• Student will also look at the difference in tuition on equity seeking groups across Canada and the impact to students’ long-term financial stability with considerations of financial literacy and how this can impact access to justice efforts in the profession.

Type: Other (Policy Reform and Client Advocacy) 

Area(s) of Law: Civil, Administrative, Regulatory Law

Community served: Students, Racialized communities, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-4 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Legal research experience is considered an asset, experience in copywriting, lobbying/public affairs, and/or data analysis is considered an asset.

We help Partner Organizations create resources so that their clients and communities can understand their rights and the law. Public legal education (PLE) placements provide students with an opportunity to develop legal education materials suchs as FAQs, info sheets, guidebooks, etc. desired by our community partners. Volunteers will provide legal information in an accessible format about a particular area of law or legal issue. PLE projects often involve substantial research on a specialized topic. After review by a supervising lawyer, PLE materials are often published on the organization's website or distributed to their community in order to advance the organization's mandate. Some PLE placements give students the opportunity to develop and deliver legal education materials in workshops or seminars to target audiences. 

Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY) Digital PLE Project 

Partner Organization: Justice for Children and Youth

Project Summary: 

The  student  will  work  remotely  to  build  a  library  of  public  legal  education  materials  designed  specifically  to  be  disseminated  on  the  Justice  for  Children  and  Youth’s  social  media  pages.  The  student will use their research skills and creativity to develop schematic PLE materials that can be posted  on  social  media.  The  primary  platform  is  Instagram,  but  posts  will  also  be  created  for Facebook and Twitter. The topics for the digital PLE materials (social media posts) will be provided by JFCY staff and/or will be developed in collaboration with JFCY staff. The student volunteer will be  invited  to  attend  the  weekly  scheduled  meetings  with  the  other  student  volunteers  at  JFCY,  and  this  may  create  opportunities  for  student  input  for  PLE  topics  to  be  covered  through  this  project. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Poverty, Housing, Human Rights, Constitutional, Immigration and Refugee, Administrative, Family, Criminal 

Community served: Children & youth, Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but criminal law, family law, administrative law, and/or poverty law knowledge would help

Women's Multicultural Resource & Counseling Centre (WMRCC) Criminal Law Research Project 

Partner Organization: Women’s Multicultural Resource & Counseling Centre (WMRCC)

Project Summary: 

​​WMRCC offers a variety of resources, services, and counselling for all women, regardless of race, culture, social identity, religion, sexual orientation, class, age, income, immigration status and ability. All WMRCC services are free, and no one is turned away. Women who come to WMRCC to access support often face intersecting legal issues, and experience systematic barriers to access legal information. Basic legal information in a variety of key areas would help (1) the staff and volunteers be more informed about issues that often arise in the context of counseling or support services, as well as (2) empower the women seeking support at WMRCC to understand their rights and next steps they can take to address their legal issues. 

The aim of this project is to develop a Legal Information Guide (in digital format / can also be printed if needed) specific to the legal challenges multicultural women, and those who have experienced (or continue to experience) gender-based violence, face. Students should focus on how the legal system can be better informed by an anti-oppression and anti-Black racism framework.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Criminal Law, Family Law, Human Rights

Community served: Women, Racialized communities, People living with mental health challenges

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but family, criminal, immigration, constitutional, human rights, legal research and writing, labour and employment, and administrative law would be helpful. 
• Experience working with feminist and/or intersectional-feminist legal theory would be an asset.

FACL Community Outreach Program 

Partner Organization: Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL)

Project Summary: 

The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL) has developed a remote community outreach program to identify and address knowledge gaps related to various legal fields for Asian community members. The aim of the program is to partner with community organizations to create and provide public legal education in the form of presentations, workshops, webinars, recorded videos, social media/blog posts and plain language resources. This project involves developing a Family Law power-point presentation and creating accompanying pamphlets for community members to take away in various topics, including family law. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: General project 

Community served: Racialized communities, Linguistic minorities, women

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: none

Arab Community Centre of Toronto (ACCT) Family Law and RTA Research Project

Partner Organization: The Arab Community Centre of Toronto

Project Summary: 

In order to assist the ACCT with the diverse issues their clients face, students will be tasked with creating pamphlets that summarize the general state of the law. The different topics include:

• Divorce and child custody 
• Tenants and landlord rights and responsibilities 
• Spousal abuse and legal proceedings 
• Employment (health and safety, discrimination in the workplace)

Following their completion, these pamphlets will be distributed to ACCTs clients. Each student will select one topic and complete the research and pamphlet for it. If the organization finds that this is too much work for the student, students may pair up and the number of topics can be cut down.

Students will be tasked with completing and compiling research to create plain language information pamphlets on the topics outlined above. If the students have time and are able to, they may present their research on one of these topics. However, this is optional. 

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Family law and the Residential Tenancies Act

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, Linguistic minorities, Racialized communities

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• The student is expected to work professionally and punctually with good time-management skills. 
• As they will be working remotely, they should maintain good remote communication.

METRAC Gender Based Violence PLE and Research Project

Partner Organization: METRAC Action on Violence (Metropolitan Action Committee on ViolenceAgainst Women and Children)

Project Summary: 

The project will centre on preparing and presenting Public Legal Education (PLE) presentations for Toronto area community groups, including shelters for women affected by partner violence.

Students will work with METRAC’s legal information materials, to conduct legal research and to develop and adapt new presentation materials as needed. PLE presentations will explain in clear language, various aspects of the law and legal processes that women are likely to encounter,some of which may be related to information posted on the OWJN and FLEW websites.(www.owjn.org; www.onefamilylaw.ca, external link).

The final outputs of the project may include PLE PowerPoint presentations and/or other written resources, which will be used by students to conduct legal information presentations for the community. Students may also prepare articles, case-comments or blog-style posts on various legal issues in collaboration with METRAC staff.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Family, Criminal, Human Rights Law

Community served: Domestic violence survivors, Women, Indigenous

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• It would be helpful for students to have a basic understanding of one or more areas of: family law; immigration law; labour/employment law; human rights law; privacy law; criminal law,especially as it may impact survivors of gender-based violence.Experience with public presentations in plain and clear language is also considered an asset but is not essential as training on these skills will be provided
• Given the sensitivity of a shelter environment and working with women exposed to violence, this PBSC placement is limited to woman-identified volunteers. Students must have an awareness ofand interest in social justice, human rights, feminism, applied anti-oppression/anti-racism practices,and gender-based violence against women, Two-Spirit, Nonbinary and trans issues. 
• Previous Experience with plain language communications and/or community presentations is considered an asset. Candidates should have demonstrated ability to work independently. Where a student is identified as having difficulty committing adequate time or engagement with the project, the supervisor will schedule a meeting to discuss a satisfactory solution, including but not limited to reasonable accommodations and early departure from the project.

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Human Rights Applications Project

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

BLAC regularly  receives  more  requests  for  assistance with  Human  Rights  Tribunalof  Ontario (HRTO)applications than  the  clinic  can  fulfill.  The  goal  of  this  project  will  be  to  allow  clients  to help themselves, even if BLAC does not have the capacity to represent them. 

The  student  will  create  a  resourcewhich  will  help  clients  complete  applications  regarding discrimination,   specifically   anti-Black   racism,in   services,   accommodation   (i.e.   housing, occupancy),  contracts,  and  employment.  The  resource  should  allow clients  to  answer  relatively straightforward/plain  language  questions  and  receive  a  completed  form  which  is  ready  to  be reviewed by BLAC and/or filed at the HRTO. 

The  student will investigate  potential  tech  solutions  for  this  resource,  such  as  a  more simple pdf/fillable  form or more complex AI/wizard.The student can  look  at other examples  of similar tools  (Steps  to  Justice,  Human  Rights  Legal  Support  Centre,  etc)  or  see  if  there  is  a  software engineer/tech company willing to volunteer to help.

Additionally,  the  student will research  how  the  HRTO  may  be  using  administrative  processes(notice  of  intent  to  dismiss)to unjustly dismiss applications on the basis that they “fall outside their mandate,” and try to address this through the resource. For example, the resource should ask  specific  questions  to  try  and  find  the  nexus  between  the  ‘unfairness’  the  person  is experiencing and the related ground of discrimination.

Type: Public Legal Education, Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Human Rights

Community served: Racialized communities, Self-represented litigants, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Understanding of provincial human rights system
• Ability to translate complex legal processes and issues into plain language
• Background in adult education is an asset

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Medical Racism 

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

Anti-Black  racism  within  the  medical  system,  including  mistreatment  and  disparities,  has  been documented through social science evidence and more. In the past few years, BLAC has received several requests for assistance from people who suspected that the negative medical outcomes experienced by their family members were due to anti-Black racism. BLAC does not currently deal with medical malpractice cases, but given the prevalence of this issue, the legal clinic would like to see what avenues of redress may be available. 

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Corrections and Conditional Release Act,Criminal Code, Privacy Act, Anti-Terrorism Act, Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Community served: Racialized communities, People living in poverty 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• History of self-directed research 
• Strong research background (e.g. freedom of information requests)
• Background in science or medicine is an asset

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Social Media Primer 

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

What legal issues are related to raising awareness of racism, what are the risks, and when does this bleed into defamation or slander? As this recent lawsuit demonstrates, these questions are very real. Pro Bono counsel at Torys LLP has produced a 45-page primer for BLAC addressing the potential  risks  and  liabilities  which  can  arise  from engaging  in  advocacy  over  social  media.  This legal memo now needs to  be updated and translated into plain language resources  for BLAC to share with the wider community. 

The student will: 

• Update  the  memo:  The  memo  was  produced  in  2020  and  a  supplement  followed  in  2021.  The student will review the memo and update it to include any recent/ongoing cases.
• Create  PLE  resources:  The  student  will  use  Canva  and  Powtoon  to  translate  the  memo  into  an educational campaign (graphics, videos, plain language documents) which will be shared with the public.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Libel and Slander Act, Human Rights Code

Community served: General project - people who use social media to engage in advocacy.

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Understanding of provincial human rights system
• Ability to translate complex legal processes and issues into plain language
• Background in adult education is an asset

ALPHA Education Legal and Historical Research into WWII in Asia 

Partner Organization: Association for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (ALPHA) Education

Project Summary: 

The project will support the ongoing development of the Asian-Pacific Peace Museum by ALPHA Education. In particular, the project will involve the research and development of materials that will support the museum’s exhibits on justice and other legal issues surrounding the legacies of WWII in Asia and the Pacific. The output of the project will be used as add-on information that will later be accessed by museum visitors through QR codes. 

Student  volunteers  will  research  and  develop  plain  language  resources  on  legal  topics  that  are relevant to museum exhibits, using existing resources and research already developed by ALPHA Education.  Student  volunteers  will  also  connect  historical  legal  issues  to  ongoing  and  potential future legal issues in the same general topic, revealing impacts and implications. They may also suggest to museum development staff further considerations in how to discuss international and human rights legal issues for the public. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Human Rights, International Law, Labour Law, Criminal Law, Legal History, Treaty Law

Community served: Children & youth, Racialized communities, Immigrants, refugees & newcomers

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• An  interest  and/or  background  in  history,  international  law,  human  rights,  and  an  interest  in World War II history is an asset. Observance of deadlines, above average (or better) writing skills are also an asset.

All Saints Drop-In Legal Information Clinic 

Partner Organization: All Saints Toronto

Project Summary: 

The All Saints’ Drop-in is a safe, non-judgemental place where people can have coffee, rest, use washroom facilities, see a nurse or social worker, eat a hot meal, and access telephone, wifi, and computer services.

2 student volunteers will provide legal information during the drop-in.The student will gather any legal questions and will spend the following 1-2weeks researching the question (e.g. working on the streets, how the law differentiates sex work andtrafficking, navigating criminal justice system, etc.). The lawyer supervisor will approve the accuracy of the information, and then the student will set up a phone call or in-person meeting with the client to deliver legal information only (likely this will occur on a subsequent drop-in session).

In addition, the student can deliver one presentation during the placement, on a legal issue to be chosen with drop-in clients. The student may produce written materials to be distributed to interested individuals who are unable to attend the sessions. Some clients would also like help applying for pardons.

Staff will be present at the drop-in each week, and are available to attend all presentations to help the students effectively deliver their presentations to the audience. The lawyer supervisor will be available to hear a mockpresentationand must be present during the actual presentation.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Human Right Law, Clinics/Poverty Law, Criminal Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, Domestic violence, Racialized communities

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• No, but multilingualism is an asset.
• Students should understand that the drop-in is a low barrier space; as such, clients may not be sober and may be experiencing mental health difficulties or other challenges during the session. Potential students should think carefully about whether they are able to volunteer in an unpredictable and client-facing environment.
• Preference for experience or interest in social justice or human rights field,working with marginalized communities, particularly sex workers and/ or people who use drugs. Experience navigating the criminal justice system and accessing resources like legal aid and court support, experience with family law and child welfare would also be an asset.

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Employment Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

DVCLS’ employment law team deals with a wide variety of legal issues, including precarious employment situations, wrongful dismissal, and financial support related to the return of pandemic benefits. 

In this project,the student will conduct research into the legal issues raised by specific client case files to support the employment law team. 

The student will also produce and present public legal education materials on employment law topics, especially pandemic benefits. This area is particularly pressing because the original benefits were applied in an over-broad, ambiguous way. The student will look into what the terminology used in official communications about the benefits means, as well as whether there have been prior cases that have gone to litigation. Students may present their work to the general public or to community agencies.

Additional administrative work, such as organizing casework precedents or government policies into electronic folders, will take no more than 10% of the student’s time.

Type: Public Legal Education, Research, Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Employment Law

Community served: People living in poverty, Precariously employed individuals, Immigrants, refugees & newcomers

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• The schedule is flexible.
• Some knowledge of employment legislation and case law is helpful; ideally, the student will have taken employment law as a pre-or co-requisite. 
• Interpersonal skills, computer competency.

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Housing (Renovictions) Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

Renovictions are becoming an increasingly pressing and widespread problem in the city of Toronto. Renoviction happens when a landlord renovates a unit to raise its rent and does not allow the previous tenant(s) to return to the property, often illegally. In addition to displacing (a) tenant(s), renoviction removes affordable rental units from Toronto. To respond to this problem, DVCLS is advocating for the City of Toronto to create new regulations and policies around renovictions. This is especially challenging because regulations must be created via municipal bylaws, since the authority to change housing laws rests with the province.  

The student will work with DVCLS’ Housing team, and potentially Toronto City Councillors, to advocate against renovictions:

• Conduct research on other jurisdictions (e.g. New Westminster) to see if their policies may be applicable to Toronto.
• Monitor and analyze Doug Ford’s “stronger mayors” proposal to determine whether this may impact the City ofToronto’s ability to combat renovictions. 
• Work with the Housing Team on deputations to the City of Toronto’s Housing and Planning Committee on Renoviction policy

Students will also research and write housing articles for DVCLS’ website about relevant issues in landlord and tenant law.

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Municipal Law, Landlord and Tenant Law

Community served: People living in poverty, Homeless & marginally housed

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Some knowledge of housing issues is helpful.
• Computer & technology skills.

The 519 PLE Project

Partner Organization: The 519 Community Centre

Project Summary: 

The 519 serves LGBTQ2S+ folx in the Greater Toronto Area who may be facing barriers to justice. As a result of service delivery switching to a virtual format, The 519 has expanded the scope of its services to broader geographic regions outside of Toronto. In doing so, The 519 has identified a need for more accessible, plain language, public legal education (PLE) content that is queer-positive and affirming, and responsive to changing legal issues stemming from the pandemic. 

Examples of research topics for PLE content include, but are not limited to:

• Landlord & Tenant Rights
• Employment Law
• Harassment and Sexual Assault in the workplace 
• Trans ID Inquiries (Information workshops on name/sex designation change on ID)
• Knowing your right while interacting with the police 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Housing Law, Employment Law, Human Right Law, Criminal Law, Family Law

Community served: LGBTQ+, People living in poverty, Homeless & marginally housed 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Volunteers selected should be able to demonstrate ongoing and meaningful allyship with the LGBTQ2S+ communities. 
• Assets include:
  • Experience working with trans folks, youth, LGBTQ+ communities
  • Preferably Black or POC 
  • Front-line / clinical experience
  • Social work background
  • A strong sense of anti-oppression principles

Full Project Description: 

• Student volunteers will be responsible for conducting legal research and drafting plain language PLE content including presentations. All PLE content should be prepared in plain language and avoid the use of legalese so as to be accessible to The 519’s clientele.  As student volunteers gain familiarity with the topic matter and complete PLE content, they will be responsible for delivering PLE presentations in pairs of at least two (2) student volunteers.
• Students can expect to complete approximately one (1) PLE presentation per month once PLE content is developed. Student volunteers must include a disclaimer on all PLE content stating:
• Student volunteers are only permitted to answer questions from attendees if their responses have been pre-approved by the lawyer supervisor. Any questions where answers have not been pre-approved by the lawyer supervisor must be referred to the lawyer supervisor for follow-up, as student volunteers are not permitted to answer questions which may constitute legal advice.
• Student volunteers will be expected to meet with the partner organization at least once per month to provide and update and seek guidance as needed. Student volunteers should take the initiative to schedule pre-determined meeting times with the partner organization contact at the outset of their placement.

Self-Represented Tax-Payers Project

Partner Organization: This project is run by Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) and supported by lawyer supervisors.

Project Summary: 

Students will build a database for self-represented taxpayers which explains common issues in plain language. Each year, research will focus on one deserving issue (eg., disability tax credit claims) and students will research and write about aspects of these claims. As capacity permits, students can also take on a basic overview of tax procedure for self-represented litigants. 

Students will also be responsible for publicizing their work to ensure it reaches the community, e.g. through PSBC’s website, by reaching out to community organizations, etc. This aspect of the project should take no more than 10% of students’ time.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Tax Law

Community served: People living in poverty, Self-represented litigants, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses 

Who can apply: 2Ls and 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1-2 

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students should have completed, or be concurrently enrolled in, Canadian Income Tax Law. Students taking Canadian Income Tax Law as a co-requisite should be aware that they may find this project more challenging and may need to spend some of their volunteer hours conducting additional research to catch up.
• Students should have a demonstrated interest in tax law, which can be shown by completing at least one tax course. Students should also be strong communicators.

Client intake and assitance projects involve interacting with clients of Partner Organizations or clinics to collect their personal information and the facts of their case. Sometimes client intake and assistance also involves providing legal information or helping clients fill out court forms or other documents. Some projects have students helping clients prepare to tell their story effectively and confidently to a judge or adjudicator. Partnerships with legal clinics often involve students helping staff lawyers with their caseloads, providing support with research, letter writing, client follow-up, and other relevant tasks to the client files.

Halton Community Legal Services Clinic Assistance Project 

Partner Organization: Halton Community Legal Services 

Project Summary: 

Students  will  work remotely with  their  assigned Lawyer Supervisor  to  assist  them  with  their caseload.  Typical   tasks   include legal   research, litigation document preparation, hearing preparation, client follow up, and letter writing. Students will also have opportunities to engage with the clinic’s community development work and public legal education activities.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Administrative, Housing, Labour and Employment, Human Rights, Poverty, Social Assistance

Community served: People living in poverty, precariously employed individuals, homeless & marginally housed 

Who can apply: 2Ls only

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 

Commitment: 4-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Legal Writing Interest
• Interest in Social Justice and Human Rights
• Experience interacting with members of the public is an asset
• Experience working within an anti-oppression framework is an asset
• Ability to work well in a team setting

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Client Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary:

Students will assist with the intake of clients at KBCLS. Students will be trained on the types of law that callers need information on and KBCLS intake procedures. Students will then provide the callers with legal information, referrals, or gather the information needed to process the intake.

The students will be performing general intake duties under the supervision of KBCLS staff. Staff will be available, in person and remotely, to assist students.

Type: Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Housing, Administrative, Immigation, Social Assistance, Employment Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 8 

Commitment: 4-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• This project requires student volunteers to be at KBCLS’s clinic. KBCLS and PBSC Lincoln Alexander will follow public health directives. If public health directives don’t allow for in-person activities, the project will be done remotely. 

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Tenant Application Clinic Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary: 

Individuals in the KBCLS catchment often approach the clinic for assistance with tenant applications. Tenant applications are document intensive, require extensive amounts of time, and can be confusing to tenants. Students will be trained to help individuals in the KBCLS catchment fill out tenant applications and gather evidence for their eventual hearings. Students will, with supervision from the supervising lawyer, develop a theory of the case and work with clients to complete applications and gather and organize evidence. KBCLS does not represent individuals on these applications due to resource issues. The project exists to ensure tenants have clear and coherent tenant applications with adequate evidence that puts them in the best position to self-represent at the Landlord and Tenant Board.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Housing, Administrative Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty, People libing with disabilities and chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 10 (two students will be assigned to one client file) 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• N/A. Will provide a primer on housing law.
• Clinic/social justice experience is an asset but not required.
• This project requires student volunteers to be at KBCLS’s clinic. KBCLS and PBSC Lincoln Alexander will follow public health directives. If public health directives don’t allow for in-person activities, the project will be done remotely. 

Luke’s Place Client Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Luke’s Place

Project Summary: 

Component 1

Legal Education: students will assist in the preparation and delivery of public legal education workshops and written materials provided to women about various aspects of family law. 

Component 2

Note taking: students will sit-in on ILA consultations between women and volunteer lawyers and take detailed notes, which will then be provided to women following the meeting. 

Component 3

Research: students will assist in researching services for women in the community and preparing a list of lawyers accepting Legal Aid Certificates in various communities across Ontario.  

Component 4 (*potential)

Court accompaniment: If possible, students will accompany women to court appearances, including motions and conferences. Their role will be to provide support and take detailed notes, which will then be provided to women following the appearance.  

Type: Client Services, Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Family Law

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, Self-represented litigants

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Some work flexible but will otherwise sign up to help with client appointments at least once/week for one hour
• Background and interests in working with women who have experienced intimate partner violence would be an asset

Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY) Clinic Project 

Partner Organization: Justice for Children and Youth

Project Summary: 

Students will work remotely with their assigned lawyer supervisor to assist them with their caseload. Typical tasks include legal research, client follow up and letter writing.

Although each student may get the opportunity to sit in on an intake meeting between a client and their supervisor, students will predominantly be engaging in research-based work on a broad range of topics.

Examples of potential research topics may include child welfare, human rights claims, privacy matters, immigration matters, criminal law or administrative law matters. All students are closely supervised and are given regular feedback on task performance. Each student will submit their research directly to their supervisor.

Pursuant to organizational and institutional regulations, students may be able to volunteer in the clinic during the winter term.

Type: Client Services, Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Poverty, Housing, Human Rights, Constitutional, Immigration and Refugee, Administrative, Family, Criminal

Community served: Children & youth, Homeless & marginally housed, LGBTQ+

Who can apply: 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 4-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but criminal law, family law, administrative law and poverty law knowledge help.
• Legal Writing Interest
• Interest in gaining skills with client interviews
• Experience working with youth is an asset
• Experience working within an anti-oppression framework is an asset
• Other: Students are expected to work within a social justice, anti-oppression and children’s rights framework. Justice for Children and Youth is an inclusive and safe space. Students should be interested in legal research and have strong memo writing skills.

Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic (BSCC) Family Court Support Program

Partner Organization: Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic

Project Summary:

Students will be required to remotely attend a mandatory Clinic orientation session together at an arranged time before their Clinic placement begins.

The Family Court Support Program is funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. Ordinarily Clinic staff are Court-based 4 days per week and meet with clients to provide legal information, referrals, safety planning and support at the three Toronto family courts (311 Jarvis, 361 University, 47 Sheppard). The Clinic administers the English-language Court Support Program in Toronto and makes referrals to the French language Court Support Program (OASIS). The Family Court Support Workers work with duty counsel, Legal Aid Ontario, shelters, Victim/Witness Assistance Workers, and court staff and other external service providers. Court accompaniment is also sometimes provided.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Family Law, with some intersecting issues in immigration and criminal law

Community served: Domestic violence survivors, women, racialized communities

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students will be asked their availability for attending weekly shifts at one of the 3 Toronto courthouses at the beginning of each semester.
• Family law knowledge is preferred, but not necessary. 
• Past work with survivors of violence would be an asset.

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Immigration Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

DVCLS’  immigration  team  provides  summary  advice  and  legal  representation  for various immigration problems. The team works with clients from their catchment area, as well as referrals from West Scarborough Community Legal Services.

In this project, the law student will be responsible for contacting clients via DVCLS’s Zoom Phone app to record their information and a statement of their legal issue(s). The student will then log this information into DVCLS’ statistical case management program. Students will do research into clients’ issues and files.

The  student  will  shadow  the  lawyer  supervisor,  who  will  emphasize  the  legal  issues  and  the relevant  facts  of  each  case and draw  attention to  any  facts  which  may  be  missing.  By  following case files, students will gain awareness of the available referral resources, relevant forms, etc.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Immigration Law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3 hours/week on Friday mornings 

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students will be expected to show up for a regular shift each week (Friday morning from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM)at DVCLS’s office.
• Immigration law is helpful, but not required.
• The ability to learn a computer statistical program.

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Affidavit Intake Project

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

An affidavit is a written document that contains facts that someone swears under oath or affirms are true (source).DVCLS helps clients prepare affidavits and other documents for government, financial, or legal purposes. These include income verification affidavits, daycare subsidy affidavits, notarial true copies, and more.

In this project, students will help the clinic staff worker deal with the clients who have appointments for affidavits or notarial true copies:

• Students will ensure clients follow the clinic’s covid protocols, including answering questions and wearing a suitable mask (the clinic will provide masks if required).
• Students will ensure clients have brought an ID document.•Students will shadow the client-lawyer meetings, which include an interview. 
• Eventually, students will be able to take a more active role under lawyer supervision. Students may be able to conduct the interview independently and draft the affidavit using a template which is then reviewed by a DVCLS lawyer.
• Additional work, such as copying ID documents, copying the completed documents, etc., will take no more than 10% of the students’ time.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Administrative Law, Poverty law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2s

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3 hours (1:30-4:30 PM for each afternoon) on either Tuesday or Thursday

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students  will be  expected  to  show  up  for a regular  shift  each  week (Tuesday  or  Thursday  from 1:30-4:30 PM) at DVCLS’s office in Leaside Park.

The 519 Refugee Mock Hearing Program

Partner Organization: The 519 Community Centre

Project Summary: 

Over the past decade there have been various legislative changes that have resulted in significantly increased wait times for refugee claimants from the time of application to the date of their hearing. The 519 Refugee Mock Hearing Program provides support and guidance to LGBTQ+ refugee claimants. The individuals supported through the mock hearing are claimants who have and upcoming hearing with the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) to determine whether they can be granted Convention Refugee Status based on their Sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and/or sexual characteristics (SOGIE-SC claims). 

This program allows individuals to get guidance on how to effectively tell their life experience to a stranger through written and oral testimonies. The mock hearing provides an opportunity for claimants get assistance with drafting/structuring their narrative/claim; have a paper review claim or a simulated hearing with the student volunteers and lawyer supervisor – a practicing immigration and refugee lawyer in the province of Ontario. The objective of the mock hearing familiarizes claimants with the hearing process in an affirming environment and provide an opportunity for the claimant to take a more critical look at the implications or their claim.

Type: Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Immigration and Refugee Law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, LGBTQ+, Trans and gender diverse individuals

Who can apply: 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Generally, mock hearings take place on Wednesdays. Student volunteers will be assigned two mock hearings per month and are expected to work with the partner organization to determine which dates are most appropriate.
• Given the focus of the clinic and clientele served, students that identify as BIPOC are encouraged to apply. Additional assets include:
  • Experience in clinical, client-facing, and/or tribunal settings
  • Experience working with LGBTQ+ communities and survivors of trauma.
• Volunteers should b able to demonstrate ongoing and meaningful allyship with the LGBTQ+/queer and trans communities.

The 519 Trans ID Clinic

Partner Organization: The 519 Community Centre

Project Summary: 

The Trans ID Clinic provides free legal information, form-filling services and referrals in a learning space that strives to be trans-positive, non-judgmental, anti-oppressive and inclusive. PBSC law student volunteers and lawyer supervisors work collaboratively to assist trans and gender diverse individuals with obtaining new pieces of identification.

Students will meet with clients via Webex from their home. During the meeting, they will assist clients to fill in gender marker applications. Students will use a 519 email address when emailing clients and if required to telephone a client, will do so from a blocked number. Students are not permitted to give out their personal contact information to clinic clients.

Student volunteers will be expected to meet with the partner organization at least once per month to provide and update and seek guidance as needed. Student volunteers should take the initiative to schedule pre-determined meeting times with the partner organization contact at the outset of their placement.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Administrative law, Human rights law, Poverty law

Community served: Trans and gender diverse individuals, People living in poverty, Homeless & marginally housed 

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Given the background of clients being served, we welcome applications from trans and gender diverse, Black or POC students. Volunteers selected should be able to demonstrate ongoing and meaningful allyship with the trans community. 
• Assets include:
  • Experience working with Trans folks, youth, LGBTQ+ Communities
  • Front-line/clinical experience
  • Social work background
  • A strong sense of anti-oppression principles

In an intership, PBSC students are placed with highly regarded legal organizations to perform a series of tasks throughout the program year. Internships are closely supervised by lawyers and are best suited for independant, self-starting student volunteers.

ODJA Internship Project 

Partner Organization: Ontario Deputy Judges Association

Project Summary:

Component 1:

The ODJA provides their members with resources to assist in decision-making. There are two resource lists that are out of date: 1) Caswell Seminar materials and documents, and 2) research memorandums created by Student Volunteers from previous years.

Component 2:

In addition, it is anticipated that the courts will begin opening up towards the end of 2021. This means that additional research opportunities may arise as the project progresses and the situation with COVID-19 evolves.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Civil Litigation 

Community served: This project covers various areas of law addressed by Small Claims Courts, and as such, this project serves a diverse clientele from a vast array of backgrounds, geographic locations, and socio-economic statuses. 

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but an interest in Small Claims Court matters and judicial internships would be preferred. Experience and/or interest in civil litigation would be an asset.

LSO Internship Project - Litigation Services 

Partner Organization: Law Society of Ontario

Project Summary: 

This Department prosecutes licensees who have been accused of serious misconduct.The student would be supporting the work of the department by conducting research on casespecific issues or on broader policy issues, conducting case analysis, including pulling key documents and preparing proof charts.The student would also be able to attend hearings.

Type: Internship

Area(s) of Law:  Administrative Law

Community served: General project 

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Administrative Law and Civil Procedure would be helpful but not required 
• An interest in advocacy 

Federation of Metro Tenants Associations (FMTA) Tenant Rights Project 

Partner Organization: Federation of Metro Tenants Association (FMTA) 

Project Summary:

Component 1: Tenant Rights Research Project 

Students will be encouraged to develop public legal education materials on tenancy rights based on their research findings. The ultimate purpose of this component is to provide different ways of accessing information to ensure it is impactful for a broader audience. 

Component 2: Tenant Rights Videos 

Students would create storyboards to plan out the content of the videos and consult  with the partner organization to determine whether the videos should be produced  by the students or if the partner organization would like to have their own  volunteers/staff create the final content 

Type: Research & Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Housing & Human Rights 

Community served: Precariously employed individuals, Seniors, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Experience working with tenancy rights would be an asset 
• Experience and/or interest in matters heard by the Landlord and Tenant Board 
• Knowledge of the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act would be an asset 
• Experience using Westlaw and/or CanLII for legal research

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Joint Tenancy Research Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary: 

When the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) was enacted in 2006, Toronto was generally more affordable than it is today. The RTA was never written to contemplate issues of joint tenancy among many individuals sharing one lease. The goal of this project is to create PLE resources to help make information surrounding joint tenancies accessible to those in the KBCLS Catchment.

The students will do research on questions including:

• How does the RTA apply in a joint tenancy situation with multiple roommates all on the same lease signed at the same time?
• How do joint tenancies affect individuals when they want to leave their lease but other roommates want to remain?
• Address common issues and questions that arise with joint tenancies re what is a tenant versus what is a roommate occupant
• And other questions developed in consultation with KBCLS

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Housing Law, Administrative Law

Community served: Homeless & marginally houses, People living in poverty, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• N/A. Will provide a primer on housing law

WomenatthecentrE Family Law Project 

Partner Organization: WomenatthecentrE

Project Summary: 

The PBSC & WomenatthecentrE Children’s Rights & Family Law Research and Education partnership will support WomenatthecentrE's internal research library, including maintaining up-to-date research on various research questions relating to the organization’s work. In addition, it will support WomenatthecentrE's efforts to create and maintain public legal education resources for survivors of gender-based violence on the legal processes that may affect them or their families. 

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Family, Children and Youth, Child Protection

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, self-represented litigants 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: 

• None, but Family Law, Children and the Law, and experience working within feminist/intersectional-feminist legal theories would be assets. 
• Knowledge and understanding of gender-based violence is required. Any social work experience, gender studies, and/or experience working within an anti-oppression framework would be an asset. 
• Graphic design experience would be a major asset
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills
• Experience developing educational materials/instructional guides or courses
• Experience working within an anti-oppression framework 

WomenatthecentrE Transformative Justice Project - Support for Survivors of Human Trafficking & Advancing Gender Equity for Black Women, Black Girls and Black Gender-Diverse People (B-WGGD) in Canada 

Partner Organization: WomenathecentrE

Project Summary:

This project will primarily support WomenatthecentrE's internal research library, including maintaining up-to-date research on various research questions relating to the organization’s work. In addition, it will support WomenatthecentrE's efforts to create and maintain public legal education resources for survivors of gender-based violence on the legal processes that may affect them or their families.

There are two internal initiatives of focus for this project:

1. Embedding Resilience and Grounding Resistance
2. Truth & Transformation: Advancing Gender Equity for Black Women, Black Girls, and Black Gender-Diverse People in Canada

Type: Research & Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: ADR, Criminal Law, Immigration (in context of human trafficking legislation) 

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, Racialized communities 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 5

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but Criminal Law, Legal Research and Writing, and experience working within feminist/intersectional-feminist legal theories, would be assets. 
• Knowledge and understanding of gender-based violence is required. Any social work experience, gender studies, and/or experience working within an anti-oppression framework would be an asset.  

Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY) Digital PLE Project 

Partner Organization: Justice for Children and Youth

Project Summary: 

The  student  will  work  remotely  to  build  a  library  of  public  legal  education  materials  designed  specifically  to  be  disseminated  on  the  Justice  for  Children  and  Youth’s  social  media  pages.  The  student will use their research skills and creativity to develop schematic PLE materials that can be posted  on  social  media.  The  primary  platform  is  Instagram,  but  posts  will  also  be  created  for Facebook and Twitter. The topics for the digital PLE materials (social media posts) will be provided by JFCY staff and/or will be developed in collaboration with JFCY staff. The student volunteer will be  invited  to  attend  the  weekly  scheduled  meetings  with  the  other  student  volunteers  at  JFCY,  and  this  may  create  opportunities  for  student  input  for  PLE  topics  to  be  covered  through  this  project. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Poverty, Housing, Human Rights, Constitutional, Immigration and Refugee, Administrative, Family, Criminal 

Community served: Children & youth, Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but criminal law, family law, administrative law, and/or poverty law knowledge would help

Women's Multicultural Resource & Counseling Centre (WMRCC) Criminal Law Research Project 

Partner Organization: Women’s Multicultural Resource & Counseling Centre (WMRCC)

Project Summary: 

​​WMRCC offers a variety of resources, services, and counselling for all women, regardless of race, culture, social identity, religion, sexual orientation, class, age, income, immigration status and ability. All WMRCC services are free, and no one is turned away. Women who come to WMRCC to access support often face intersecting legal issues, and experience systematic barriers to access legal information. Basic legal information in a variety of key areas would help (1) the staff and volunteers be more informed about issues that often arise in the context of counseling or support services, as well as (2) empower the women seeking support at WMRCC to understand their rights and next steps they can take to address their legal issues. 

The aim of this project is to develop a Legal Information Guide (in digital format / can also be printed if needed) specific to the legal challenges multicultural women, and those who have experienced (or continue to experience) gender-based violence, face. Students should focus on how the legal system can be better informed by an anti-oppression and anti-Black racism framework.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Criminal Law, Family Law, Human Rights

Community served: Women, Racialized communities, People living with mental health challenges

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but family, criminal, immigration, constitutional, human rights, legal research and writing, labour and employment, and administrative law would be helpful. 
• Experience working with feminist and/or intersectional-feminist legal theory would be an asset.

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Client Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary:

Students will assist with the intake of clients at KBCLS. Students will be trained on the types of law that callers need information on and KBCLS intake procedures. Students will then provide the callers with legal information, referrals, or gather the information needed to process the intake.

The students will be performing general intake duties under the supervision of KBCLS staff. Staff will be available, in person and remotely, to assist students.

Type: Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Housing, Administrative, Immigation, Social Assistance, Employment Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 8 

Commitment: 4-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• This project requires student volunteers to be at KBCLS’s clinic. KBCLS and PBSC Lincoln Alexander will follow public health directives. If public health directives don’t allow for in-person activities, the project will be done remotely. 

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Tenant Application Clinic Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary: 

Individuals in the KBCLS catchment often approach the clinic for assistance with tenant applications. Tenant applications are document intensive, require extensive amounts of time, and can be confusing to tenants. Students will be trained to help individuals in the KBCLS catchment fill out tenant applications and gather evidence for their eventual hearings. Students will, with supervision from the supervising lawyer, develop a theory of the case and work with clients to complete applications and gather and organize evidence. KBCLS does not represent individuals on these applications due to resource issues. The project exists to ensure tenants have clear and coherent tenant applications with adequate evidence that puts them in the best position to self-represent at the Landlord and Tenant Board.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Housing, Administrative Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty, People libing with disabilities and chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 10 (two students will be assigned to one client file) 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• N/A. Will provide a primer on housing law.
• Clinic/social justice experience is an asset but not required.

Luke’s Place Client Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Luke’s Place

Project Summary: 

Component 1

Legal Education: students will assist in the preparation and delivery of public legal education workshops and written materials provided to women about various aspects of family law. 

Component 2

Note taking: students will sit-in on ILA consultations between women and volunteer lawyers and take detailed notes, which will then be provided to women following the meeting. 

Component 3

Research: students will assist in researching services for women in the community and preparing a list of lawyers accepting Legal Aid Certificates in various communities across Ontario.  

Component 4 (*potential)

Court accompaniment: If possible, students will accompany women to court appearances, including motions and conferences. Their role will be to provide support and take detailed notes, which will then be provided to women following the appearance.  

Type: Client Services, Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Family Law

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, Self-represented litigants

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Some work flexible but will otherwise sign up to help with client appointments at least once/week for one hour
• Background and interests in working with women who have experienced intimate partner violence would be an asset

HanVoice Refugee Resettlement Research Project

Partner Organization: HanVoice

Project Summary: 

Currently, North Koreans escaping North Korea are in danger. In addition to the danger they face, the journey requires travelling 5,000 km to get to safety. If these individuals are caught trying to escape, they face harsh punishment, including forced labour, forced abortions, brutal beating and torture. Through a historic pilot project, HanVoice aims to resettle 5 North Korean families in 2 years. The aim of this program is to assist North Koreans resettle and succeed in Canada. This is done by identifying vulnerable families, train and educate sponsors to support these families and coordinating their resettlement.

With PBSC, HanVoice aims to build upon previous research to determine where this pilot project can be replicated to assist more North Koreans. With the help of the students, HanVoice is aiming to publish a report to the public summarizing their findings and research about this program and how and where it can be replicated.

The students will be in charge of researching the law of other jurisdictions in comparison to Canada to see where this project can be replicated. They will also be tasked with summarizing these findings into a report to be published to the general public by HanVoice.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Immigration and Refugee Law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, Children & youth

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Proficiency in Korean is helpful.
• Students with a political science or international relations (especially prior knowledge on Korean peninsula issues) background are preferred, but not required.

York Centre for Public Policy and Law (YCPPL) - Criminal Court Decision Research Project 

Partner Organization: York Centre for Public Policy and Law (YCPPL)

Project Summary: 

The YCPPL draws together legal experts, social scientists and others from the public policy sector to address issues of access to justice, human rights and social policy, accountability and ethics in the public sector and the globalization of public policy. As a collaborative interdisciplinary research centre their mandate is to engage in and support research that meets the needs of the broader community, in particular the needs of government and public policy makers, non- governmental organizations, citizen advocacy groups and social movements in Canada.

This project examines judicial trends in criminal cases in the Ontario Court of Justice and the Ontario Superior Court. Students will be assigned a single judge and review all criminal decisions made by that judge, entering various data points related to each case and drafting memoranda on any potential trends that emerge. The students’ research will then be turned into a research paper or report drafted by the supervisor, who will draw conclusions from the students’ work.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Criminal 

Community served: Racialzied communities, Children & youth, Indigenous 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: none

LSO Digital Compendium of Bilingual Cases

Partner Organization: Law Society of Ontario

Project Summary: 

The   project   will   involve   reviewing   the   Standard   Operating   Procedure   for   the   existing Compendium;  Review the current initial batch of cases for accuracy of quotes and search terms;  Obtain  the  balance  of  cases  to  be  added,  prepare  initial  translations  via  Deepl.com  software;  obtain approval on the translations;  Add approved translations;  Present the final compendium at end of project to the French Prosecutions Working Group. 

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Administrative Law

Community served: General project

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-4 hours/week; once a month as there is a 1 hour monthly meeting of the French Prosecutions Working Group at which the student will have to attend.

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Must be bilingual in English and French, both written and spoken

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Anti-Black Racism in Ontario’s Education System

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

In this project, a student will research three potential avenues of collective redress for systemic anti-Black racism within Ontario’s education system: class actions, Charter challenges, and group Human Rights Tribunal applications. Students will focus  on three main ways in which anti-Black racism can manifest–suspensions, expulsions, and streaming (i.e. dividing students into academic or applied tracks)–and weigh the pros and cons of each course of action.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Education Act, Human Rights Code, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Class Proceedings Act

Community served: Racialized communities, Children & youth 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• History of self-directed research 
• Strong research background (e.g. freedom of information requests)

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Income Maintenance Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

DVCLS’ Income Maintenance team provides information, advice, and assistance related to income assistance, including Ontario Works (often still called welfare), Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), and more. In recognition of the fact that many of the Income Maintenance team’s clients would benefit from the support of social workers or other community resources, DVCLS has recently sent out a survey to assess what resources are available in community agencies. At this stage, DVCLS seeks a student to explore how DVCLS’ legal workers can get access to social work assistance as required for their clients.

Type: Research, Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Contract Law, Disability Law

Community served: People living in poverty, People living with disabilities chronic illness 

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• This project includes both research and client-facing responsibilities. Students will be able to complete their research work virtually and from home.However, students will be asked to complete their client-related(phone) work from the clinic, to benefit from the support of DVCLS’ intake workers
• Some knowledge of ODSP/OW legislation is helpful.
• Ability to work with a variety of staff/computer competent.

FACL Community Outreach Program 

Partner Organization: Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL)

Project Summary: 

The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL) has developed a remote community outreach program to identify and address knowledge gaps related to various legal fields for Asian community members. The aim of the program is to partner with community organizations to create and provide public legal education in the form of presentations, workshops, webinars, recorded videos, social media/blog posts and plain language resources. This project involves developing a Family Law power-point presentation and creating accompanying pamphlets for community members to take away in various topics, including family law. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: General project 

Community served: Racialized communities, Linguistic minorities, women

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: none

METRAC Gender Based Violence PLE and Research Project

Partner Organization: METRAC Action on Violence (Metropolitan Action Committee on ViolenceAgainst Women and Children)

Project Summary: 

The project will centre on preparing and presenting Public Legal Education (PLE) presentations for Toronto area community groups, including shelters for women affected by partner violence.

Students will work with METRAC’s legal information materials, to conduct legal research and to develop and adapt new presentation materials as needed. PLE presentations will explain in clear language, various aspects of the law and legal processes that women are likely to encounter,some of which may be related to information posted on the OWJN and FLEW websites.(www.owjn.org; www.onefamilylaw.ca, external link, external link).

The final outputs of the project may include PLE PowerPoint presentations and/or other written resources, which will be used by students to conduct legal information presentations for the community. Students may also prepare articles, case-comments or blog-style posts on various legal issues in collaboration with METRAC staff.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Family, Criminal, Human Rights Law

Community served: Domestic violence survivors, Women, Indigenous

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• It would be helpful for students to have a basic understanding of one or more areas of: family law; immigration law; labour/employment law; human rights law; privacy law; criminal law,especially as it may impact survivors of gender-based violence.Experience with public presentations in plain and clear language is also considered an asset but is not essential as training on these skills will be provided
• Given the sensitivity of a shelter environment and working with women exposed to violence, this PBSC placement is limited to woman-identified volunteers. Students must have an awareness ofand interest in social justice, human rights, feminism, applied anti-oppression/anti-racism practices,and gender-based violence against women, Two-Spirit, Nonbinary and trans issues. 
• Previous Experience with plain language communications and/or community presentations is considered an asset. Candidates should have demonstrated ability to work independently. Where a student is identified as having difficulty committing adequate time or engagement with the project, the supervisor will schedule a meeting to discuss a satisfactory solution, including but not limited to reasonable accommodations and early departure from the project.

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Human Rights Applications Project

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

BLAC regularly  receives  more  requests  for  assistance with  Human  Rights  Tribunalof  Ontario (HRTO)applications than  the  clinic  can  fulfill.  The  goal  of  this  project  will  be  to  allow  clients  to help themselves, even if BLAC does not have the capacity to represent them. 

The  student  will  create  a  resourcewhich  will  help  clients  complete  applications  regarding discrimination,   specifically   anti-Black   racism,in   services,   accommodation   (i.e.   housing, occupancy),  contracts,  and  employment.  The  resource  should  allow clients  to  answer  relatively straightforward/plain  language  questions  and  receive  a  completed  form  which  is  ready  to  be reviewed by BLAC and/or filed at the HRTO. 

The  student will investigate  potential  tech  solutions  for  this  resource,  such  as  a  more simple pdf/fillable  form or more complex AI/wizard.The student can  look  at other examples  of similar tools  (Steps  to  Justice,  Human  Rights  Legal  Support  Centre,  etc)  or  see  if  there  is  a  software engineer/tech company willing to volunteer to help.

Additionally,  the  student will research  how  the  HRTO  may  be  using  administrative  processes(notice  of  intent  to  dismiss)to unjustly dismiss applications on the basis that they “fall outside their mandate,” and try to address this through the resource. For example, the resource should ask  specific  questions  to  try  and  find  the  nexus  between  the  ‘unfairness’  the  person  is experiencing and the related ground of discrimination.

Type: Public Legal Education, Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Human Rights

Community served: Racialized communities, Self-represented litigants, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Understanding of provincial human rights system
• Ability to translate complex legal processes and issues into plain language
• Background in adult education is an asset

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Medical Racism 

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

Anti-Black  racism  within  the  medical  system,  including  mistreatment  and  disparities,  has  been documented through social science evidence and more. In the past few years, BLAC has received several requests for assistance from people who suspected that the negative medical outcomes experienced by their family members were due to anti-Black racism. BLAC does not currently deal with medical malpractice cases, but given the prevalence of this issue, the legal clinic would like to see what avenues of redress may be available. 

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Corrections and Conditional Release Act,Criminal Code, Privacy Act, Anti-Terrorism Act, Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Community served: Racialized communities, People living in poverty 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• History of self-directed research 
• Strong research background (e.g. freedom of information requests)
• Background in science or medicine is an asset

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Social Media Primer 

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

What legal issues are related to raising awareness of racism, what are the risks, and when does this bleed into defamation or slander? As this recent lawsuit demonstrates, these questions are very real. Pro Bono counsel at Torys LLP has produced a 45-page primer for BLAC addressing the potential  risks  and  liabilities  which  can  arise  from engaging  in  advocacy  over  social  media.  This legal memo now needs to  be updated and translated into plain language resources  for BLAC to share with the wider community. 

The student will: 

• Update  the  memo:  The  memo  was  produced  in  2020  and  a  supplement  followed  in  2021.  The student will review the memo and update it to include any recent/ongoing cases.
• Create  PLE  resources:  The  student  will  use  Canva  and  Powtoon  to  translate  the  memo  into  an educational campaign (graphics, videos, plain language documents) which will be shared with the public.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Libel and Slander Act, Human Rights Code

Community served: General project - people who use social media to engage in advocacy.

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Understanding of provincial human rights system
• Ability to translate complex legal processes and issues into plain language
• Background in adult education is an asset

ALPHA Education Legal and Historical Research into WWII in Asia 

Partner Organization: Association for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (ALPHA) Education

Project Summary: 

The project will support the ongoing development of the Asian-Pacific Peace Museum by ALPHA Education. In particular, the project will involve the research and development of materials that will support the museum’s exhibits on justice and other legal issues surrounding the legacies of WWII in Asia and the Pacific. The output of the project will be used as add-on information that will later be accessed by museum visitors through QR codes. 

Student  volunteers  will  research  and  develop  plain  language  resources  on  legal  topics  that  are relevant to museum exhibits, using existing resources and research already developed by ALPHA Education.  Student  volunteers  will  also  connect  historical  legal  issues  to  ongoing  and  potential future legal issues in the same general topic, revealing impacts and implications. They may also suggest to museum development staff further considerations in how to discuss international and human rights legal issues for the public. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Human Rights, International Law, Labour Law, Criminal Law, Legal History, Treaty Law

Community served: Children & youth, Racialized communities, Immigrants, refugees & newcomers

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• An  interest  and/or  background  in  history,  international  law,  human  rights,  and  an  interest  in World War II history is an asset. Observance of deadlines, above average (or better) writing skills are also an asset.

All Saints Drop-In Legal Information Clinic 

Partner Organization: All Saints Toronto

Project Summary: 

The All Saints’ Drop-in is a safe, non-judgemental place where people can have coffee, rest, use washroom facilities, see a nurse or social worker, eat a hot meal, and access telephone, wifi, and computer services.

2 student volunteers will provide legal information during the drop-in.The student will gather any legal questions and will spend the following 1-2weeks researching the question (e.g. working on the streets, how the law differentiates sex work andtrafficking, navigating criminal justice system, etc.). The lawyer supervisor will approve the accuracy of the information, and then the student will set up a phone call or in-person meeting with the client to deliver legal information only (likely this will occur on a subsequent drop-in session).

In addition, the student can deliver one presentation during the placement, on a legal issue to be chosen with drop-in clients. The student may produce written materials to be distributed to interested individuals who are unable to attend the sessions. Some clients would also like help applying for pardons.

Staff will be present at the drop-in each week, and are available to attend all presentations to help the students effectively deliver their presentations to the audience. The lawyer supervisor will be available to hear a mockpresentationand must be present during the actual presentation.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Human Right Law, Clinics/Poverty Law, Criminal Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, Domestic violence, Racialized communities

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• No, but multilingualism is an asset.
• Students should understand that the drop-in is a low barrier space; as such, clients may not be sober and may be experiencing mental health difficulties or other challenges during the session. Potential students should think carefully about whether they are able to volunteer in an unpredictable and client-facing environment.
• Preference for experience or interest in social justice or human rights field,working with marginalized communities, particularly sex workers and/ or people who use drugs. Experience navigating the criminal justice system and accessing resources like legal aid and court support, experience with family law and child welfare would also be an asset.

Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic (BSCC) Family Court Support Program

Partner Organization: Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic

Project Summary:

Students will be required to remotely attend a mandatory Clinic orientation session together at an arranged time before their Clinic placement begins.

The Family Court Support Program is funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. Ordinarily Clinic staff are Court-based 4 days per week and meet with clients to provide legal information, referrals, safety planning and support at the three Toronto family courts (311 Jarvis, 361 University, 47 Sheppard). The Clinic administers the English-language Court Support Program in Toronto and makes referrals to the French language Court Support Program (OASIS). The Family Court Support Workers work with duty counsel, Legal Aid Ontario, shelters, Victim/Witness Assistance Workers, and court staff and other external service providers. Court accompaniment is also sometimes provided.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Family Law, with some intersecting issues in immigration and criminal law

Community served: Domestic violence survivors, women, racialized communities

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students will be asked their availability for attending weekly shifts at one of the 3 Toronto courthouses at the beginning of each semester.
• Family law knowledge is preferred, but not necessary. 
• Past work with survivors of violence would be an asset.

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Immigration Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

DVCLS’  immigration  team  provides  summary  advice  and  legal  representation  for various immigration problems. The team works with clients from their catchment area, as well as referrals from West Scarborough Community Legal Services.

In this project, the law student will be responsible for contacting clients via DVCLS’s Zoom Phone app to record their information and a statement of their legal issue(s). The student will then log this information into DVCLS’ statistical case management program. Students will do research into clients’ issues and files.

The  student  will  shadow  the  lawyer  supervisor,  who  will  emphasize  the  legal  issues  and  the relevant  facts  of  each  case and draw  attention to  any  facts  which  may  be  missing.  By  following case files, students will gain awareness of the available referral resources, relevant forms, etc.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Immigration Law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3 hours/week on Friday mornings 

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students will be expected to show up for a regular shift each week (Friday morning from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM)at DVCLS’s office.
• Immigration law is helpful, but not required.
• The ability to learn a computer statistical program.

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Affidavit Intake Project

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

An affidavit is a written document that contains facts that someone swears under oath or affirms are true (source).DVCLS helps clients prepare affidavits and other documents for government, financial, or legal purposes. These include income verification affidavits, daycare subsidy affidavits, notarial true copies, and more.

In this project, students will help the clinic staff worker deal with the clients who have appointments for affidavits or notarial true copies:

• Students will ensure clients follow the clinic’s covid protocols, including answering questions and wearing a suitable mask (the clinic will provide masks if required).
• Students will ensure clients have brought an ID document.•Students will shadow the client-lawyer meetings, which include an interview. 
• Eventually, students will be able to take a more active role under lawyer supervision. Students may be able to conduct the interview independently and draft the affidavit using a template which is then reviewed by a DVCLS lawyer.
• Additional work, such as copying ID documents, copying the completed documents, etc., will take no more than 10% of the students’ time.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Administrative Law, Poverty law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2s

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3 hours (1:30-4:30 PM for each afternoon) on either Tuesday or Thursday

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students  will be  expected  to  show  up  for a regular  shift  each  week (Tuesday  or  Thursday  from 1:30-4:30 PM) at DVCLS’s office in Leaside Park.

The 519 PLE Project

Partner Organization: The 519 Community Centre

Project Summary: 

The 519 serves LGBTQ2S+ folx in the Greater Toronto Area who may be facing barriers to justice. As a result of service delivery switching to a virtual format, The 519 has expanded the scope of its services to broader geographic regions outside of Toronto. In doing so, The 519 has identified a need for more accessible, plain language, public legal education (PLE) content that is queer-positive and affirming, and responsive to changing legal issues stemming from the pandemic. 

Examples of research topics for PLE content include, but are not limited to:

• Landlord & Tenant Rights
• Employment Law
• Harassment and Sexual Assault in the workplace 
• Trans ID Inquiries (Information workshops on name/sex designation change on ID)
• Knowing your right while interacting with the police 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Housing Law, Employment Law, Human Right Law, Criminal Law, Family Law

Community served: LGBTQ+, People living in poverty, Homeless & marginally housed 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Volunteers selected should be able to demonstrate ongoing and meaningful allyship with the LGBTQ2S+ communities. 
• Assets include:
  • Experience working with trans folks, youth, LGBTQ+ communities
  • Preferably Black or POC 
  • Front-line / clinical experience
  • Social work background
  • A strong sense of anti-oppression principles

Full Project Description: 

Student volunteers will be responsible for conducting legal research and drafting plain language PLE content including presentations. All PLE content should be prepared in plain language and avoid the use of legalese so as to be accessible to The 519’s clientele.  As student volunteers gain familiarity with the topic matter and complete PLE content, they will be responsible for delivering PLE presentations in pairs of at least two (2) student volunteers.

Students can expect to complete approximately one (1) PLE presentation per month once PLE content is developed. Student volunteers must include a disclaimer on all PLE content stating:

Student volunteers are only permitted to answer questions from attendees if their responses have been pre-approved by the lawyer supervisor. Any questions where answers have not been pre-approved by the lawyer supervisor must be referred to the lawyer supervisor for follow-up, as student volunteers are not permitted to answer questions which may constitute legal advice.

Student volunteers will be expected to meet with the partner organization at least once per month to provide and update and seek guidance as needed. Student volunteers should take the initiative to schedule pre-determined meeting times with the partner organization contact at the outset of their placement.

Law Students’ Society of Ontario (LSSO) Research and Advocacy Project

Partner Organization: Law Students’ Society of Ontario (LSSO)

Project Summary:

The Law Students’ Society of Ontario is an advocacy body representing undergraduate (JD) law students at Ontario law schools. Their goal is to articulate student needs and concerns to the organizations that govern the legal profession, the universities that administer legal education, and government bodies that regulate post-secondary education and financial aid.

The LSSO is seeking a student to conduct legal research for upcoming projects focusing on access to justice, such as:

• The impact of the Law Society of Ontario’s (LSO) licensing scheme in comparison with other provincial law society on equity seeking groups.
• Accessibility and financial transparency of legal education in Canada, through assistance related to the publication of the LSSO’s upcoming National Tuition Study
• Students will be researching into how provincial governments across Canada are funding law schools and the implications such funding has on law school tuition to produce a comparative analysis
• Student will also look at the difference in tuition on equity seeking groups across Canada and the impact to students’ long-term financial stability with considerations of financial literacy and how this can impact access to justice efforts in the profession.

Type: Other (Policy Reform and Client Advocacy) 

Area(s) of Law: Civil, Administrative, Regulatory Law

Community served: Students, Racialized communities, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-4 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Legal research experience is considered an asset, experience in copywriting, lobbying/public affairs, and/or data analysis is considered an asset.

WomenatthecentrE Transformative Justice Project - Support for Survivors of Human Trafficking & Advancing Gender Equity for Black Women, Black Girls and Black Gender-Diverse People (B-WGGD) in Canada 

Partner Organization: WomenathecentrE

Project Summary:

This project will primarily support WomenatthecentrE's internal research library, including maintaining up-to-date research on various research questions relating to the organization’s work. In addition, it will support WomenatthecentrE's efforts to create and maintain public legal education resources for survivors of gender-based violence on the legal processes that may affect them or their families.

There are two internal initiatives of focus for this project:

1. Embedding Resilience and Grounding Resistance
2. Truth & Transformation: Advancing Gender Equity for Black Women, Black Girls, and Black Gender-Diverse People in Canada

Type: Research & Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: ADR, Criminal Law, Immigration (in context of human trafficking legislation) 

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, Racialized communities 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 5

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but Criminal Law, Legal Research and Writing, and experience working within feminist/intersectional-feminist legal theories, would be assets. 
• Knowledge and understanding of gender-based violence is required. Any social work experience, gender studies, and/or experience working within an anti-oppression framework would be an asset.  

The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (CCTEHT) Privacy Legislation Research Project 

Partner Organization: The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking 

Project Summary: 

The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (“CCTEHT”) is launching a partnership with the Risk Management Association of Canada (RMA) to better understand how to collect incriminating data on traffickers in a way that balances justice and privacy considerations. Today, there is increasing fear that technology is outpacing current privacy regulations which has created two challenges for Canadians: first, some technology companies are leveraging the outdated privacy legislation to collect all forms of private data, raising important privacy and civil liberty concerns. Other technology companies, by contrast, are reluctant to use their advanced tools without clear privacy framework, meaning that the capabilities to catch traffickers are not being fully utilized. Within this context, the CCTEHT and RMA are working together to assess current legal and privacy frameworks and to propose a new approach that balances civil liberties and the need to stop trafficking.

CCTEHT is seeking student support to produce a detailed memo that analyzes privacy laws at the provincial and federal level, and then compare those laws to the current technology. This will allow for the students to identify gaps in the legislation which will inform the work of the CCTEHT. 

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Criminal Law, Constitutional Law 

Community served: Human trafficking impacts many of community groups. This analysis will lead to a greater understanding of human trafficking case law and jurisprudence as it relates to vulnerable groups generally, and may provide insight into how specific groups are impacted.  

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Criminal Law, Legal Research and Writing
• Recommended preparation: Privacy Law, Administrative Law, Human Rights Law
• Ideally, student volunteers ought to have experience or demonstrated interest in equity initiatives and a good understanding of the systemic issues and barriers facing diverse communities interacting with law enforcement agencies and officials.

York Centre for Public Policy and Law (YCPPL) - Criminal Court Decision Research Project 

Partner Organization: York Centre for Public Policy and Law (YCPPL)

Project Summary: 

The YCPPL draws together legal experts, social scientists and others from the public policy sector to address issues of access to justice, human rights and social policy, accountability and ethics in the public sector and the globalization of public policy. As a collaborative interdisciplinary research centre their mandate is to engage in and support research that meets the needs of the broader community, in particular the needs of government and public policy makers, non- governmental organizations, citizen advocacy groups and social movements in Canada.

This project examines judicial trends in criminal cases in the Ontario Court of Justice and the Ontario Superior Court. Students will be assigned a single judge and review all criminal decisions made by that judge, entering various data points related to each case and drafting memoranda on any potential trends that emerge. The students’ research will then be turned into a research paper or report drafted by the supervisor, who will draw conclusions from the students’ work.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Criminal 

Community served: Racialzied communities, Children & youth, Indigenous 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: none

 

Rainbow Railroad Intake & Research Project 

Partner Organization: Rainbow Railroad

Project Summary: 

Students will assist Rainbow Railroad staff with legal research around immigration laws in countries where our clients reside with a focus on the Emergency Travel Support (ETS) and Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR). Students may compose briefing documents on specific sets of immigration and human rights laws for non-lawyer staff in order to enhance understanding of conditions and relationships in these countries. Students may also assist lawyers and caseworkers in drafting cover letters and immigration claim summaries. All legal research and draft cover letters will be reviewed and approved by the supervising lawyer prior to use by the partner organization.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Immigration and Refugee, Human Rights

Community served: LGBTQ+, Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, Trans and gender diverse individuals 

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• It is preferable that the students be able to come to the office on Tuesday and/or Thursdays for their allotted work of 3-5 hours per week. 
• No, but additional languages are an asset. Specifically, speaking Farsi, Russian, Turkish, French or Arabic are huge assets.
• Relevant educational/volunteer and/or work experience would be an asset. Those with personal lived experience that relates to our clients are encouraged to apply – i.e. those with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions and/or those from regions where we work internationally (Caribbean, Africa, South-Central Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East).

HanVoice Refugee Resettlement Research Project

Partner Organization: HanVoice

Project Summary: 

Currently, North Koreans escaping North Korea are in danger. In addition to the danger they face, the journey requires travelling 5,000 km to get to safety. If these individuals are caught trying to escape, they face harsh punishment, including forced labour, forced abortions, brutal beating and torture. Through a historic pilot project, HanVoice aims to resettle 5 North Korean families in 2 years. The aim of this program is to assist North Koreans resettle and succeed in Canada. This is done by identifying vulnerable families, train and educate sponsors to support these families and coordinating their resettlement.

With PBSC, HanVoice aims to build upon previous research to determine where this pilot project can be replicated to assist more North Koreans. With the help of the students, HanVoice is aiming to publish a report to the public summarizing their findings and research about this program and how and where it can be replicated.

The students will be in charge of researching the law of other jurisdictions in comparison to Canada to see where this project can be replicated. They will also be tasked with summarizing these findings into a report to be published to the general public by HanVoice.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Immigration and Refugee Law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, Children & youth

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Proficiency in Korean is helpful.
• Students with a political science or international relations (especially prior knowledge on Korean peninsula issues) background are preferred, but not required.

Refugee Law Office Internship

Partner Organization: Refugee Law Office 

Project Summary: 

​​Students will work directly with RLO staff on case files, including test cases, which may include refugee claims, pre-removal risk assessments (PRRA), humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) applications, temporary resident permits, danger opinions, applications for Ministerial Relief, detention reviews, deportation appeals, judicial review applications. 

Work may include legal and/or country of origin research, drafting submissions, Federal Court memos, affidavits and/or client narratives. All legal memoranda and draft submissions will be reviewed and approved by the supervising lawyer.

Students may work directly with clients to help them prepare their case by way of gathering evidence and/or preparing testimony, under supervision of a lawyer or CLW. Best efforts will be made to ensure students also have an opportunity to observe oral proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board and/or Federal Court.

Type: Research & Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Immigration & Refugee, Human Rights, Constitutional Law 

Community served: Immigrants, refugees, & newcomers, Racialized c communities, People living with mental health challenges 

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Be  enrolled  in,  or  have  completed,  at  least  one  course  in  refugee,  immigration,  and/or  forced migration law and/or international human rights.
• A demonstrated interest and/or experience in human rights, immigration and refugee issues.

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Immigration Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

DVCLS’  immigration  team  provides  summary  advice  and  legal  representation  for various immigration problems. The team works with clients from their catchment area, as well as referrals from West Scarborough Community Legal Services.

In this project, the law student will be responsible for contacting clients via DVCLS’s Zoom Phone app to record their information and a statement of their legal issue(s). The student will then log this information into DVCLS’ statistical case management program. Students will do research into clients’ issues and files.

The  student  will  shadow  the  lawyer  supervisor,  who  will  emphasize  the  legal  issues  and  the relevant  facts  of  each  case and draw  attention to  any  facts  which  may  be  missing.  By  following case files, students will gain awareness of the available referral resources, relevant forms, etc.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Immigration Law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3 hours/week on Friday mornings 

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students will be expected to show up for a regular shift each week (Friday morning from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM)at DVCLS’s office.
• Immigration law is helpful, but not required.
• The ability to learn a computer statistical program.

The 519 Refugee Mock Hearing Program

Partner Organization: The 519 Community Centre

Project Summary: 

Over the past decade there have been various legislative changes that have resulted in significantly increased wait times for refugee claimants from the time of application to the date of their hearing. The 519 Refugee Mock Hearing Program provides support and guidance to LGBTQ+ refugee claimants. The individuals supported through the mock hearing are claimants who have and upcoming hearing with the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) to determine whether they can be granted Convention Refugee Status based on their Sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and/or sexual characteristics (SOGIE-SC claims). 

This program allows individuals to get guidance on how to effectively tell their life experience to a stranger through written and oral testimonies. The mock hearing provides an opportunity for claimants get assistance with drafting/structuring their narrative/claim; have a paper review claim or a simulated hearing with the student volunteers and lawyer supervisor – a practicing immigration and refugee lawyer in the province of Ontario. The objective of the mock hearing familiarizes claimants with the hearing process in an affirming environment and provide an opportunity for the claimant to take a more critical look at the implications or their claim.

Type: Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Immigration and Refugee Law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, LGBTQ+, Trans and gender diverse individuals

Who can apply: 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Generally, mock hearings take place on Wednesdays. Student volunteers will be assigned two mock hearings per month and are expected to work with the partner organization to determine which dates are most appropriate.
• Given the focus of the clinic and clientele served, students that identify as BIPOC are encouraged to apply. Additional assets include:
  • Experience in clinical, client-facing, and/or tribunal settings
  • Experience working with LGBTQ+ communities and survivors of trauma.
• Volunteers should b able to demonstrate ongoing and meaningful allyship with the LGBTQ+/queer and trans communities.

Federation of Metro Tenants Associations (FMTA) Tenant Rights Project 

Partner Organization: Federation of Metro Tenants Association (FMTA) 

Project Summary:

Component 1: Tenant Rights Research Project 

Students will be encouraged to develop public legal education materials on tenancy rights based on their research findings. The ultimate purpose of this component is to provide different ways of accessing information to ensure it is impactful for a broader audience. 

Component 2: Tenant Rights Videos 

Students would create storyboards to plan out the content of the videos and consult  with the partner organization to determine whether the videos should be produced  by the students or if the partner organization would like to have their own  volunteers/staff create the final content 

Type: Research & Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Housing & Human Rights 

Community served: Precariously employed individuals, Seniors, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Experience working with tenancy rights would be an asset 
• Experience and/or interest in matters heard by the Landlord and Tenant Board 
• Knowledge of the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act would be an asset 
• Experience using Westlaw and/or CanLII for legal research

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Joint Tenancy Research Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary: 

When the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) was enacted in 2006, Toronto was generally more affordable than it is today. The RTA was never written to contemplate issues of joint tenancy among many individuals sharing one lease. The goal of this project is to create PLE resources to help make information surrounding joint tenancies accessible to those in the KBCLS Catchment.

The students will do research on questions including:

• How does the RTA apply in a joint tenancy situation with multiple roommates all on the same lease signed at the same time?
• How do joint tenancies affect individuals when they want to leave their lease but other roommates want to remain?
• Address common issues and questions that arise with joint tenancies re what is a tenant versus what is a roommate occupant
• And other questions developed in consultation with KBCLS

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Housing Law, Administrative Law

Community served: Homeless & marginally houses, People living in poverty, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• N/A. Will provide a primer on housing law

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Client Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary:

Students will assist with the intake of clients at KBCLS. Students will be trained on the types of law that callers need information on and KBCLS intake procedures. Students will then provide the callers with legal information, referrals, or gather the information needed to process the intake.

The students will be performing general intake duties under the supervision of KBCLS staff. Staff will be available, in person and remotely, to assist students.

Type: Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Housing, Administrative, Immigation, Social Assistance, Employment Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 8 

Commitment: 4-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• This project requires student volunteers to be at KBCLS’s clinic. KBCLS and PBSC Lincoln Alexander will follow public health directives. If public health directives don’t allow for in-person activities, the project will be done remotely. 

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Tenant Application Clinic Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary: 

Individuals in the KBCLS catchment often approach the clinic for assistance with tenant applications. Tenant applications are document intensive, require extensive amounts of time, and can be confusing to tenants. Students will be trained to help individuals in the KBCLS catchment fill out tenant applications and gather evidence for their eventual hearings. Students will, with supervision from the supervising lawyer, develop a theory of the case and work with clients to complete applications and gather and organize evidence. KBCLS does not represent individuals on these applications due to resource issues. The project exists to ensure tenants have clear and coherent tenant applications with adequate evidence that puts them in the best position to self-represent at the Landlord and Tenant Board.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Housing, Administrative Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty, People libing with disabilities and chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 10 (two students will be assigned to one client file) 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• N/A. Will provide a primer on housing law.
• Clinic/social justice experience is an asset but not required.
• This project requires student volunteers to be at KBCLS’s clinic. KBCLS and PBSC Lincoln Alexander will follow public health directives. If public health directives don’t allow for in-person activities, the project will be done remotely. 

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Housing (Renovictions) Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

Renovictions are becoming an increasingly pressing and widespread problem in the city of Toronto. Renoviction happens when a landlord renovates a unit to raise its rent and does not allow the previous tenant(s) to return to the property, often illegally. In addition to displacing (a) tenant(s), renoviction removes affordable rental units from Toronto. To respond to this problem, DVCLS is advocating for the City of Toronto to create new regulations and policies around renovictions. This is especially challenging because regulations must be created via municipal bylaws, since the authority to change housing laws rests with the province.  

The student will work with DVCLS’ Housing team, and potentially Toronto City Councillors, to advocate against renovictions:

• Conduct research on other jurisdictions (e.g. New Westminster) to see if their policies may be applicable to Toronto.
• Monitor and analyze Doug Ford’s “stronger mayors” proposal to determine whether this may impact the City ofToronto’s ability to combat renovictions. 
• Work with the Housing Team on deputations to the City of Toronto’s Housing and Planning Committee on Renoviction policy

Students will also research and write housing articles for DVCLS’ website about relevant issues in landlord and tenant law.

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Municipal Law, Landlord and Tenant Law

Community served: People living in poverty, Homeless & marginally housed

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Some knowledge of housing issues is helpful.
• Computer & technology skills.

The 519 PLE Project

Partner Organization: The 519 Community Centre

Project Summary: 

The 519 serves LGBTQ2S+ folx in the Greater Toronto Area who may be facing barriers to justice. As a result of service delivery switching to a virtual format, The 519 has expanded the scope of its services to broader geographic regions outside of Toronto. In doing so, The 519 has identified a need for more accessible, plain language, public legal education (PLE) content that is queer-positive and affirming, and responsive to changing legal issues stemming from the pandemic. 

Examples of research topics for PLE content include, but are not limited to:

• Landlord & Tenant Rights
• Employment Law
• Harassment and Sexual Assault in the workplace 
• Trans ID Inquiries (Information workshops on name/sex designation change on ID)
• Knowing your right while interacting with the police 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Housing Law, Employment Law, Human Right Law, Criminal Law, Family Law

Community served: LGBTQ+, People living in poverty, Homeless & marginally housed 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Volunteers selected should be able to demonstrate ongoing and meaningful allyship with the LGBTQ2S+ communities. 
• Assets include:
  • Experience working with trans folks, youth, LGBTQ+ communities
  • Preferably Black or POC 
  • Front-line / clinical experience
  • Social work background
  • A strong sense of anti-oppression principles

Full Project Description: 

Student volunteers will be responsible for conducting legal research and drafting plain language PLE content including presentations. All PLE content should be prepared in plain language and avoid the use of legalese so as to be accessible to The 519’s clientele.  As student volunteers gain familiarity with the topic matter and complete PLE content, they will be responsible for delivering PLE presentations in pairs of at least two (2) student volunteers.

Students can expect to complete approximately one (1) PLE presentation per month once PLE content is developed. Student volunteers must include a disclaimer on all PLE content stating:

Student volunteers are only permitted to answer questions from attendees if their responses have been pre-approved by the lawyer supervisor. Any questions where answers have not been pre-approved by the lawyer supervisor must be referred to the lawyer supervisor for follow-up, as student volunteers are not permitted to answer questions which may constitute legal advice.

Student volunteers will be expected to meet with the partner organization at least once per month to provide and update and seek guidance as needed. Student volunteers should take the initiative to schedule pre-determined meeting times with the partner organization contact at the outset of their placement.

LSO Digital Compendium of Bilingual Cases

Partner Organization: Law Society of Ontario

Project Summary: 

The   project   will   involve   reviewing   the   Standard   Operating   Procedure   for   the   existing Compendium;  Review the current initial batch of cases for accuracy of quotes and search terms;  Obtain  the  balance  of  cases  to  be  added,  prepare  initial  translations  via  Deepl.com  software;  obtain approval on the translations;  Add approved translations;  Present the final compendium at end of project to the French Prosecutions Working Group. 

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Administrative Law

Community served: General project

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-4 hours/week; once a month as there is a 1 hour monthly meeting of the French Prosecutions Working Group at which the student will have to attend.

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Must be bilingual in English and French, both written and spoken

LSO Internship Project - Litigation Services 

Partner Organization: Law Society of Ontario

Project Summary: 

This Department prosecutes licensees who have been accused of serious misconduct.The student would be supporting the work of the department by conducting research on casespecific issues or on broader policy issues, conducting case analysis, including pulling key documents and preparing proof charts.The student would also be able to attend hearings.

Type: Internship

Area(s) of Law:  Administrative Law

Community served: General project 

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Administrative Law and Civil Procedure would be helpful but not required 
• An interest in advocacy 

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Affidavit Intake Project

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

An affidavit is a written document that contains facts that someone swears under oath or affirms are true (source).DVCLS helps clients prepare affidavits and other documents for government, financial, or legal purposes. These include income verification affidavits, daycare subsidy affidavits, notarial true copies, and more.

In this project, students will help the clinic staff worker deal with the clients who have appointments for affidavits or notarial true copies:

• Students will ensure clients follow the clinic’s covid protocols, including answering questions and wearing a suitable mask (the clinic will provide masks if required).
• Students will ensure clients have brought an ID document.•Students will shadow the client-lawyer meetings, which include an interview. 
• Eventually, students will be able to take a more active role under lawyer supervision. Students may be able to conduct the interview independently and draft the affidavit using a template which is then reviewed by a DVCLS lawyer.
• Additional work, such as copying ID documents, copying the completed documents, etc., will take no more than 10% of the students’ time.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Administrative Law, Poverty law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2s

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3 hours (1:30-4:30 PM for each afternoon) on either Tuesday or Thursday

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students  will be  expected  to  show  up  for a regular  shift  each  week (Tuesday  or  Thursday  from 1:30-4:30 PM) at DVCLS’s office in Leaside Park.

Halton Community Legal Services Clinic Assistance Project 

Partner Organization: Halton Community Legal Services 

Project Summary: 

Students  will  work remotely with  their  assigned Lawyer Supervisor  to  assist  them  with  their caseload.  Typical   tasks   include legal   research, litigation document preparation, hearing preparation, client follow up, and letter writing. Students will also have opportunities to engage with the clinic’s community development work and public legal education activities.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Administrative, Housing, Labour and Employment, Human Rights, Poverty, Social Assistance

Community served: People living in poverty, precariously employed individuals, homeless & marginally housed 

Who can apply: 2Ls only

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 

Commitment: 4-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Legal Writing Interest
• Interest in Social Justice and Human Rights
• Experience interacting with members of the public is an asset
• Experience working within an anti-oppression framework is an asset
• Ability to work well in a team setting

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Anti-Black Racism in Ontario’s Education System

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

In this project, a student will research three potential avenues of collective redress for systemic anti-Black racism within Ontario’s education system: class actions, Charter challenges, and group Human Rights Tribunal applications. Students will focus  on three main ways in which anti-Black racism can manifest–suspensions, expulsions, and streaming (i.e. dividing students into academic or applied tracks)–and weigh the pros and cons of each course of action.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Education Act, Human Rights Code, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Class Proceedings Act

Community served: Racialized communities, Children & youth 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• History of self-directed research 
• Strong research background (e.g. freedom of information requests)

Women's Multicultural Resource & Counseling Centre (WMRCC) Research Project 

Partner Organization: Women’s Multicultural Resource & Counseling Centre (WMRCC)

Project Summary: 

​​WMRCC offers a variety of resources, services, and counselling for all women, regardless of race, culture, social identity, religion, sexual orientation, class, age, income, immigration status and ability. All WMRCC services are free, and no one is turned away. Women who come to WMRCC to access support often face intersecting legal issues, and experience systematic barriers to access legal information. Basic legal information in a variety of key areas would help (1) the staff and volunteers be more informed about issues that often arise in the context of counseling or support services, as well as (2) empower the women seeking support at WMRCC to understand their rights and next steps they can take to address their legal issues. 

The aim of this project is to develop a Legal Information Guide (in digital format / can also be printed if needed) specific to the legal challenges multicultural women, and those who have experienced (or continue to experience) gender-based violence, face. Students should focus on how the legal system can be better informed by an anti-oppression and anti-Black racism framework.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Human Rights, Family Law, Criminal Law

Community served: Women, Racialized communities, People living with mental health challenges

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but family, criminal, immigration, constitutional, human rights, legal research and writing, labour and employment, and administrative law would be helpful. 
• Experience working with feminist and/or intersectional-feminist legal theory would be an asset.

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Human Rights Applications Project

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

BLAC regularly  receives  more  requests  for  assistance with  Human  Rights  Tribunalof  Ontario (HRTO)applications than  the  clinic  can  fulfill.  The  goal  of  this  project  will  be  to  allow  clients  to help themselves, even if BLAC does not have the capacity to represent them. 

The  student  will  create  a  resourcewhich  will  help  clients  complete  applications  regarding discrimination,   specifically   anti-Black   racism,in   services,   accommodation   (i.e.   housing, occupancy),  contracts,  and  employment.  The  resource  should  allow clients  to  answer  relatively straightforward/plain  language  questions  and  receive  a  completed  form  which  is  ready  to  be reviewed by BLAC and/or filed at the HRTO. 

The  student will investigate  potential  tech  solutions  for  this  resource,  such  as  a  more simple pdf/fillable  form or more complex AI/wizard.The student can  look  at other examples  of similar tools  (Steps  to  Justice,  Human  Rights  Legal  Support  Centre,  etc)  or  see  if  there  is  a  software engineer/tech company willing to volunteer to help.

Additionally,  the  student will research  how  the  HRTO  may  be  using  administrative  processes(notice  of  intent  to  dismiss)to unjustly dismiss applications on the basis that they “fall outside their mandate,” and try to address this through the resource. For example, the resource should ask  specific  questions  to  try  and  find  the  nexus  between  the  ‘unfairness’  the  person  is experiencing and the related ground of discrimination.

Type: Public Legal Education, Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Human Rights

Community served: Racialized communities, Self-represented litigants, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Understanding of provincial human rights system
• Ability to translate complex legal processes and issues into plain language
• Background in adult education is an asset

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Medical Racism 

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

Anti-Black  racism  within  the  medical  system,  including  mistreatment  and  disparities,  has  been documented through social science evidence and more. In the past few years, BLAC has received several requests for assistance from people who suspected that the negative medical outcomes experienced by their family members were due to anti-Black racism. BLAC does not currently deal with medical malpractice cases, but given the prevalence of this issue, the legal clinic would like to see what avenues of redress may be available. 

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Corrections and Conditional Release Act,Criminal Code, Privacy Act, Anti-Terrorism Act, Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Community served: Racialized communities, People living in poverty 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• History of self-directed research 
• Strong research background (e.g. freedom of information requests)
• Background in science or medicine is an asset

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Social Media Primer 

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

What legal issues are related to raising awareness of racism, what are the risks, and when does this bleed into defamation or slander? As this recent lawsuit demonstrates, these questions are very real. Pro Bono counsel at Torys LLP has produced a 45-page primer for BLAC addressing the potential  risks  and  liabilities  which  can  arise  from engaging  in  advocacy  over  social  media.  This legal memo now needs to  be updated and translated into plain language resources  for BLAC to share with the wider community. 

The student will: 

• Update  the  memo:  The  memo  was  produced  in  2020  and  a  supplement  followed  in  2021.  The student will review the memo and update it to include any recent/ongoing cases.
• Create  PLE  resources:  The  student  will  use  Canva  and  Powtoon  to  translate  the  memo  into  an educational campaign (graphics, videos, plain language documents) which will be shared with the public.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Libel and Slander Act, Human Rights Code

Community served: General project - people who use social media to engage in advocacy.

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Understanding of provincial human rights system
• Ability to translate complex legal processes and issues into plain language
• Background in adult education is an asset

ALPHA Education Legal and Historical Research into WWII in Asia 

Partner Organization: Association for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (ALPHA) Education

Project Summary: 

The project will support the ongoing development of the Asian-Pacific Peace Museum by ALPHA Education. In particular, the project will involve the research and development of materials that will support the museum’s exhibits on justice and other legal issues surrounding the legacies of WWII in Asia and the Pacific. The output of the project will be used as add-on information that will later be accessed by museum visitors through QR codes. 

Student  volunteers  will  research  and  develop  plain  language  resources  on  legal  topics  that  are relevant to museum exhibits, using existing resources and research already developed by ALPHA Education.  Student  volunteers  will  also  connect  historical  legal  issues  to  ongoing  and  potential future legal issues in the same general topic, revealing impacts and implications. They may also suggest to museum development staff further considerations in how to discuss international and human rights legal issues for the public. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Human Rights, International Law, Labour Law, Criminal Law, Legal History, Treaty Law

Community served: Children & youth, Racialized communities, Immigrants, refugees & newcomers

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• An  interest  and/or  background  in  history,  international  law,  human  rights,  and  an  interest  in World War II history is an asset. Observance of deadlines, above average (or better) writing skills are also an asset.

All Saints Drop-In Legal Information Clinic 

Partner Organization: All Saints Toronto

Project Summary: 

The All Saints’ Drop-in is a safe, non-judgemental place where people can have coffee, rest, use washroom facilities, see a nurse or social worker, eat a hot meal, and access telephone, wifi, and computer services.

2 student volunteers will provide legal information during the drop-in.The student will gather any legal questions and will spend the following 1-2weeks researching the question (e.g. working on the streets, how the law differentiates sex work andtrafficking, navigating criminal justice system, etc.). The lawyer supervisor will approve the accuracy of the information, and then the student will set up a phone call or in-person meeting with the client to deliver legal information only (likely this will occur on a subsequent drop-in session).

In addition, the student can deliver one presentation during the placement, on a legal issue to be chosen with drop-in clients. The student may produce written materials to be distributed to interested individuals who are unable to attend the sessions. Some clients would also like help applying for pardons.

Staff will be present at the drop-in each week, and are available to attend all presentations to help the students effectively deliver their presentations to the audience. The lawyer supervisor will be available to hear a mockpresentationand must be present during the actual presentation.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Human Rights Law, Clinics/Poverty Law, Criminal Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, Domestic violence, Racialized communities

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• No, but multilingualism is an asset.
• Students should understand that the drop-in is a low barrier space; as such, clients may not be sober and may be experiencing mental health difficulties or other challenges during the session. Potential students should think carefully about whether they are able to volunteer in an unpredictable and client-facing environment.
• Preference for experience or interest in social justice or human rights field,working with marginalized communities, particularly sex workers and/ or people who use drugs. Experience navigating the criminal justice system and accessing resources like legal aid and court support, experience with family law and child welfare would also be an asset.

The 519 Trans ID Clinic

Partner Organization: The 519 Community Centre

Project Summary: 

The Trans ID Clinic provides free legal information, form-filling services and referrals in a learning space that strives to be trans-positive, non-judgmental, anti-oppressive and inclusive. PBSC law student volunteers and lawyer supervisors work collaboratively to assist trans and gender diverse individuals with obtaining new pieces of identification.

Students will meet with clients via Webex from their home. During the meeting, they will assist clients to fill in gender marker applications. Students will use a 519 email address when emailing clients and if required to telephone a client, will do so from a blocked number. Students are not permitted to give out their personal contact information to clinic clients.

Student volunteers will be expected to meet with the partner organization at least once per month to provide and update and seek guidance as needed. Student volunteers should take the initiative to schedule pre-determined meeting times with the partner organization contact at the outset of their placement.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Administrative law, Human rights law, Poverty law

Community served: Trans and gender diverse individuals, People living in poverty, Homeless & marginally housed 

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Given the background of clients being served, we welcome applications from trans and gender diverse, Black or POC students. Volunteers selected should be able to demonstrate ongoing and meaningful allyship with the trans community. 
• Assets include:
  • Experience working with Trans folks, youth, LGBTQ+ Communities
  • Front-line/clinical experience
  • Social work background
  • A strong sense of anti-oppression principles

Centre for Immigrant and Community Services (CICS) Consent and Privacy Legal Research Project

Partner Organization: Centre for Immigrant and Community Services

Project Summary: 

Centre for Immigrant and Community Services (CICS) is a not-for-profit organization that assists newcomers in Canada in settling and integrating. CICS provides services to clients of all age ranges, from early year children, youth, adults to seniors. CICS also offers specialized services in employment, language training, mental health, housing, etc.

At CICS, we respect clients' right to privacy and protect their confidential information. To better support our clients, we strive to continuously improve our practices of seeking informed consent and protecting clients' privacy.

CICS is now looking for student volunteers to help CICS review and improve our current documents, policies and practices regarding consent, confidentiality and privacy issues.

The student volunteers will be responsible for:

• Conducting legal research on consent, privacy and confidentiality topics, such as privacy laws, health privacy, privacy and kids, etc.;
• Drafting a research memo containing the findings;
• Presenting the research findings to the internal teams to provide information and training on consent, confidentiality and privacy topics.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Legislation relevant to consent, privacy, and confidentiality in Ontario

Community served: Immigrants, People living with mental health challenges, Children and youth

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to an Osgoode student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Privacy laws, Privacy law and information management in health care – an asset, Privacy rights of children and teens – an asset
• Proficiency in Mandarin and/or Cantonese is an asset
• Experience in a non-profit setting is an asset.

Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic (BSCC) Family Court Support Program

Partner Organization: Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic

Project Summary:

Students will be required to remotely attend a mandatory Clinic orientation session together at an arranged time before their Clinic placement begins.

The Family Court Support Program is funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. Ordinarily Clinic staff are Court-based 4 days per week and meet with clients to provide legal information, referrals, safety planning and support at the three Toronto family courts (311 Jarvis, 361 University, 47 Sheppard). The Clinic administers the English-language Court Support Program in Toronto and makes referrals to the French language Court Support Program (OASIS). The Family Court Support Workers work with duty counsel, Legal Aid Ontario, shelters, Victim/Witness Assistance Workers, and court staff and other external service providers. Court accompaniment is also sometimes provided.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Family Law, with some intersecting issues in immigration and criminal law

Community served: Domestic violence survivors, women, racialized communities

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students will be asked their availability for attending weekly shifts at one of the 3 Toronto courthouses at the beginning of each semester.
• Family law knowledge is preferred, but not necessary. 
• Past work with survivors of violence would be an asset.

WomenatthecentrE Family Law Project 

Partner Organization: WomenatthecentrE

Project Summary: 

The PBSC & WomenatthecentrE Children’s Rights & Family Law Research and Education partnership will support WomenatthecentrE's internal research library, including maintaining up-to-date research on various research questions relating to the organization’s work. In addition, it will support WomenatthecentrE's efforts to create and maintain public legal education resources for survivors of gender-based violence on the legal processes that may affect them or their families. 

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Family, Children and Youth, Child Protection

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, self-represented litigants 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: 

• None, but Family Law, Children and the Law, and experience working within feminist/intersectional-feminist legal theories would be assets. 
• Knowledge and understanding of gender-based violence is required. Any social work experience, gender studies, and/or experience working within an anti-oppression framework would be an asset. 
• Graphic design experience would be a major asset
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills
• Experience developing educational materials/instructional guides or courses
• Experience working within an anti-oppression framework 

FACL Community Outreach Program 

Partner Organization: Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL)

Project Summary: 

The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL) has developed a remote community outreach program to identify and address knowledge gaps related to various legal fields for Asian community members. The aim of the program is to partner with community organizations to create and provide public legal education in the form of presentations, workshops, webinars, recorded videos, social media/blog posts and plain language resources. This project involves developing a Family Law power-point presentation and creating accompanying pamphlets for community members to take away in various topics, including family law. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: General project 

Community served: Racialized communities, Linguistic minorities, women

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: none

Arab Community Centre of Toronto (ACCT) Family Law and RTA Research Project

Partner Organization: The Arab Community Centre of Toronto

Project Summary: 

In order to assist the ACCT with the diverse issues their clients face, students will be tasked with creating pamphlets that summarize the general state of the law. The different topics include:

• Divorce and child custody 
• Tenants and landlord rights and responsibilities 
• Spousal abuse and legal proceedings 
• Employment (health and safety, discrimination in the workplace)

Following their completion, these pamphlets will be distributed to ACCTs clients. Each student will select one topic and complete the research and pamphlet for it. If the organization finds that this is too much work for the student, students may pair up and the number of topics can be cut down.

Students will be tasked with completing and compiling research to create plain language information pamphlets on the topics outlined above. If the students have time and are able to, they may present their research on one of these topics. However, this is optional. 

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Family law and the Residential Tenancies Act

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, Linguistic minorities, Racialized communities

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• The student is expected to work professionally and punctually with good time-management skills. 
• As they will be working remotely, they should maintain good remote communication.

METRAC Gender Based Violence PLE and Research Project

Partner Organization: METRAC Action on Violence (Metropolitan Action Committee on ViolenceAgainst Women and Children)

Project Summary: 

The project will centre on preparing and presenting Public Legal Education (PLE) presentations for Toronto area community groups, including shelters for women affected by partner violence.

Students will work with METRAC’s legal information materials, to conduct legal research and to develop and adapt new presentation materials as needed. PLE presentations will explain in clear language, various aspects of the law and legal processes that women are likely to encounter,some of which may be related to information posted on the OWJN and FLEW websites.(www.owjn.org; www.onefamilylaw.ca, external link).

The final outputs of the project may include PLE PowerPoint presentations and/or other written resources, which will be used by students to conduct legal information presentations for the community. Students may also prepare articles, case-comments or blog-style posts on various legal issues in collaboration with METRAC staff.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Family, Criminal, Human Rights Law

Community served: Domestic violence survivors, Women, Indigenous

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• It would be helpful for students to have a basic understanding of one or more areas of: family law; immigration law; labour/employment law; human rights law; privacy law; criminal law,especially as it may impact survivors of gender-based violence.Experience with public presentations in plain and clear language is also considered an asset but is not essential as training on these skills will be provided
• Given the sensitivity of a shelter environment and working with women exposed to violence, this PBSC placement is limited to woman-identified volunteers. Students must have an awareness ofand interest in social justice, human rights, feminism, applied anti-oppression/anti-racism practices,and gender-based violence against women, Two-Spirit, Nonbinary and trans issues. 
• Previous Experience with plain language communications and/or community presentations is considered an asset. Candidates should have demonstrated ability to work independently. Where a student is identified as having difficulty committing adequate time or engagement with the project, the supervisor will schedule a meeting to discuss a satisfactory solution, including but not limited to reasonable accommodations and early departure from the project.

Luke’s Place Client Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Luke’s Place

Project Summary: 

Component 1

Legal Education: students will assist in the preparation and delivery of public legal education workshops and written materials provided to women about various aspects of family law. 

Component 2

Note taking: students will sit-in on ILA consultations between women and volunteer lawyers and take detailed notes, which will then be provided to women following the meeting. 

Component 3

Research: students will assist in researching services for women in the community and preparing a list of lawyers accepting Legal Aid Certificates in various communities across Ontario.  

Component 4 (*potential)

Court accompaniment: If possible, students will accompany women to court appearances, including motions and conferences. Their role will be to provide support and take detailed notes, which will then be provided to women following the appearance.  

Type: Client Services, Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Family Law

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, Self-represented litigants

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Some work flexible but will otherwise sign up to help with client appointments at least once/week for one hour
• Background and interests in working with women who have experienced intimate partner violence would be an asset

ODJA Internship Project 

Partner Organization: Ontario Deputy Judges Association

Project Summary:

Component 1:

The ODJA provides their members with resources to assist in decision-making. There are two resource lists that are out of date: 1) Caswell Seminar materials and documents, and 2) research memorandums created by Student Volunteers from previous years.

Component 2:

In addition, it is anticipated that the courts will begin opening up towards the end of 2021. This means that additional research opportunities may arise as the project progresses and the situation with COVID-19 evolves.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Civil Litigation 

Community served: This project covers various areas of law addressed by Small Claims Courts, and as such, this project serves a diverse clientele from a vast array of backgrounds, geographic locations, and socio-economic statuses. 

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but an interest in Small Claims Court matters and judicial internships would be preferred. Experience and/or interest in civil litigation would be an asset.

Law Students’ Society of Ontario (LSSO) Research and Advocacy Project

Partner Organization: Law Students’ Society of Ontario (LSSO)

Project Summary:

The Law Students’ Society of Ontario is an advocacy body representing undergraduate (JD) law students at Ontario law schools. Their goal is to articulate student needs and concerns to the organizations that govern the legal profession, the universities that administer legal education, and government bodies that regulate post-secondary education and financial aid.

The LSSO is seeking a student to conduct legal research for upcoming projects focusing on access to justice, such as:

• The impact of the Law Society of Ontario’s (LSO) licensing scheme in comparison with other provincial law society on equity seeking groups.
• Accessibility and financial transparency of legal education in Canada, through assistance related to the publication of the LSSO’s upcoming National Tuition Study
• Students will be researching into how provincial governments across Canada are funding law schools and the implications such funding has on law school tuition to produce a comparative analysis
• Student will also look at the difference in tuition on equity seeking groups across Canada and the impact to students’ long-term financial stability with considerations of financial literacy and how this can impact access to justice efforts in the profession.

Type: Other (Policy Reform and Client Advocacy) 

Area(s) of Law: Civil, Administrative, Regulatory Law

Community served: Students, Racialized communities, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-4 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Legal research experience is considered an asset, experience in copywriting, lobbying/public affairs, and/or data analysis is considered an asset.

 

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Income Maintenance Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

DVCLS’ Income Maintenance team provides information, advice, and assistance related to income assistance, including Ontario Works (often still called welfare), Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), and more. In recognition of the fact that many of the Income Maintenance team’s clients would benefit from the support of social workers or other community resources, DVCLS has recently sent out a survey to assess what resources are available in community agencies. At this stage, DVCLS seeks a student to explore how DVCLS’ legal workers can get access to social work assistance as required for their clients.

Type: Research, Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Contract Law, Disability Law

Community served: People living in poverty, People living with disabilities chronic illness 

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• This project includes both research and client-facing responsibilities. Students will be able to complete their research work virtually and from home.However, students will be asked to complete their client-related(phone) work from the clinic, to benefit from the support of DVCLS’ intake workers
• Some knowledge of ODSP/OW legislation is helpful.
• Ability to work with a variety of staff/computer competent.

Self-Represented Tax-Payers Project

Partner Organization: This project is run by Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) and supported by lawyer supervisors.

Project Summary: 

Students will build a database for self-represented taxpayers which explains common issues in plain language. Each year, research will focus on one deserving issue (eg., disability tax credit claims) and students will research and write about aspects of these claims. As capacity permits, students can also take on a basic overview of tax procedure for self-represented litigants. 

Students will also be responsible for publicizing their work to ensure it reaches the community, e.g. through PSBC’s website, by reaching out to community organizations, etc. This aspect of the project should take no more than 10% of students’ time.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Tax Law

Community served: People living in poverty, Self-represented litigants, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses 

Who can apply: 2Ls and 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1-2 

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students should have completed, or be concurrently enrolled in, Canadian Income Tax Law. Students taking Canadian Income Tax Law as a co-requisite should be aware that they may find this project more challenging and may need to spend some of their volunteer hours conducting additional research to catch up.
• Students should have a demonstrated interest in tax law, which can be shown by completing at least one tax course. Students should also be strong communicators.

Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY) Digital PLE Project 

Partner Organization: Justice for Children and Youth

Project Summary: 

The  student  will  work  remotely  to  build  a  library  of  public  legal  education  materials  designed  specifically  to  be  disseminated  on  the  Justice  for  Children  and  Youth’s  social  media  pages.  The  student will use their research skills and creativity to develop schematic PLE materials that can be posted  on  social  media.  The  primary  platform  is  Instagram,  but  posts  will  also  be  created  for Facebook and Twitter. The topics for the digital PLE materials (social media posts) will be provided by JFCY staff and/or will be developed in collaboration with JFCY staff. The student volunteer will be  invited  to  attend  the  weekly  scheduled  meetings  with  the  other  student  volunteers  at  JFCY,  and  this  may  create  opportunities  for  student  input  for  PLE  topics  to  be  covered  through  this  project. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Poverty, Housing, Human Rights, Constitutional, Immigration and Refugee, Administrative, Family, Criminal 

Community served: Children & youth, Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but criminal law, family law, administrative law, and/or poverty law knowledge would help

Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY) Clinic Project 

Partner Organization: Justice for Children and Youth

Project Summary: 

Students will work remotely with their assigned lawyer supervisor to assist them with their caseload. Typical tasks include legal research, client follow up and letter writing.

Although each student may get the opportunity to sit in on an intake meeting between a client and their supervisor, students will predominantly be engaging in research-based work on a broad range of topics.

Examples of potential research topics may include child welfare, human rights claims, privacy matters, immigration matters, criminal law or administrative law matters. All students are closely supervised and are given regular feedback on task performance. Each student will submit their research directly to their supervisor.

Pursuant to organizational and institutional regulations, students may be able to volunteer in the clinic during the winter term.

Type: Client Services, Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Poverty, Housing, Human Rights, Constitutional, Immigration and Refugee, Administrative, Family, Criminal

Community served: Children & youth, Homeless & marginally housed, LGBTQ+

Who can apply: 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 4-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but criminal law, family law, administrative law and poverty law knowledge help.
• Legal Writing Interest
• Interest in gaining skills with client interviews
• Experience working with youth is an asset
• Experience working within an anti-oppression framework is an asset
• Other: Students are expected to work within a social justice, anti-oppression and children’s rights framework. Justice for Children and Youth is an inclusive and safe space. Students should be interested in legal research and have strong memo writing skills.

Federation of Metro Tenants Associations (FMTA) Tenant Rights Project 

Partner Organization: Federation of Metro Tenants Association (FMTA) 

Project Summary:

Component 1: Tenant Rights Research Project 

Students will be encouraged to develop public legal education materials on tenancy rights based on their research findings. The ultimate purpose of this component is to provide different ways of accessing information to ensure it is impactful for a broader audience. 

Component 2: Tenant Rights Videos 

Students would create storyboards to plan out the content of the videos and consult  with the partner organization to determine whether the videos should be produced  by the students or if the partner organization would like to have their own  volunteers/staff create the final content 

Type: Research & Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Housing & Human Rights 

Community served: Precariously employed individuals, Seniors, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Experience working with tenancy rights would be an asset 
• Experience and/or interest in matters heard by the Landlord and Tenant Board 
• Knowledge of the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act would be an asset 
• Experience using Westlaw and/or CanLII for legal research

Arab Community Centre of Toronto (ACCT) Family Law and RTA Research Project

Partner Organization: The Arab Community Centre of Toronto

Project Summary: 

In order to assist the ACCT with the diverse issues their clients face, students will be tasked with creating pamphlets that summarize the general state of the law. The different topics include:

• Divorce and child custody 
• Tenants and landlord rights and responsibilities 
• Spousal abuse and legal proceedings 
• Employment (health and safety, discrimination in the workplace)

Following their completion, these pamphlets will be distributed to ACCTs clients. Each student will select one topic and complete the research and pamphlet for it. If the organization finds that this is too much work for the student, students may pair up and the number of topics can be cut down.

Students will be tasked with completing and compiling research to create plain language information pamphlets on the topics outlined above. If the students have time and are able to, they may present their research on one of these topics. However, this is optional. 

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Family law and the Residential Tenancies Act

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, Linguistic minorities, Racialized communities

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• The student is expected to work professionally and punctually with good time-management skills. 
• As they will be working remotely, they should maintain good remote communication.

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Tenant Application Clinic Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary: 

Individuals in the KBCLS catchment often approach the clinic for assistance with tenant applications. Tenant applications are document intensive, require extensive amounts of time, and can be confusing to tenants. Students will be trained to help individuals in the KBCLS catchment fill out tenant applications and gather evidence for their eventual hearings. Students will, with supervision from the supervising lawyer, develop a theory of the case and work with clients to complete applications and gather and organize evidence. KBCLS does not represent individuals on these applications due to resource issues. The project exists to ensure tenants have clear and coherent tenant applications with adequate evidence that puts them in the best position to self-represent at the Landlord and Tenant Board.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Housing, Administrative Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty, People libing with disabilities and chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 10 (two students will be assigned to one client file) 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• N/A. Will provide a primer on housing law.
• Clinic/social justice experience is an asset but not required.
• This project requires student volunteers to be at KBCLS’s clinic. KBCLS and PBSC Lincoln Alexander will follow public health directives. If public health directives don’t allow for in-person activities, the project will be done remotely. 

 

The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (CCTEHT) Privacy Legislation Research Project 

Partner Organization: The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking 

Project Summary: 

The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (“CCTEHT”) is launching a partnership with the Risk Management Association of Canada (RMA) to better understand how to collect incriminating data on traffickers in a way that balances justice and privacy considerations. Today, there is increasing fear that technology is outpacing current privacy regulations which has created two challenges for Canadians: first, some technology companies are leveraging the outdated privacy legislation to collect all forms of private data, raising important privacy and civil liberty concerns. Other technology companies, by contrast, are reluctant to use their advanced tools without clear privacy framework, meaning that the capabilities to catch traffickers are not being fully utilized. Within this context, the CCTEHT and RMA are working together to assess current legal and privacy frameworks and to propose a new approach that balances civil liberties and the need to stop trafficking.

CCTEHT is seeking student support to produce a detailed memo that analyzes privacy laws at the provincial and federal level, and then compare those laws to the current technology. This will allow for the students to identify gaps in the legislation which will inform the work of the CCTEHT. 

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Criminal Law, Constitutional Law 

Community served: Human trafficking impacts many of community groups. This analysis will lead to a greater understanding of human trafficking case law and jurisprudence as it relates to vulnerable groups generally, and may provide insight into how specific groups are impacted.  

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Criminal Law, Legal Research and Writing
• Recommended preparation: Privacy Law, Administrative Law, Human Rights Law
• Ideally, student volunteers ought to have experience or demonstrated interest in equity initiatives and a good understanding of the systemic issues and barriers facing diverse communities interacting with law enforcement agencies and officials.

METRAC Gender Based Violence PLE and Research Project

Partner Organization: METRAC Action on Violence (Metropolitan Action Committee on ViolenceAgainst Women and Children)

Project Summary: 

The project will centre on preparing and presenting Public Legal Education (PLE) presentations for Toronto area community groups, including shelters for women affected by partner violence.

Students will work with METRAC’s legal information materials, to conduct legal research and to develop and adapt new presentation materials as needed. PLE presentations will explain in clear language, various aspects of the law and legal processes that women are likely to encounter,some of which may be related to information posted on the OWJN and FLEW websites.(www.owjn.org; www.onefamilylaw.ca, external link).

The final outputs of the project may include PLE PowerPoint presentations and/or other written resources, which will be used by students to conduct legal information presentations for the community. Students may also prepare articles, case-comments or blog-style posts on various legal issues in collaboration with METRAC staff.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Family, Criminal, Human Rights Law

Community served: Domestic violence survivors, Women, Indigenous

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• It would be helpful for students to have a basic understanding of one or more areas of: family law; immigration law; labour/employment law; human rights law; privacy law; criminal law,especially as it may impact survivors of gender-based violence.Experience with public presentations in plain and clear language is also considered an asset but is not essential as training on these skills will be provided
• Given the sensitivity of a shelter environment and working with women exposed to violence, this PBSC placement is limited to woman-identified volunteers. Students must have an awareness ofand interest in social justice, human rights, feminism, applied anti-oppression/anti-racism practices,and gender-based violence against women, Two-Spirit, Nonbinary and trans issues. 
• Previous Experience with plain language communications and/or community presentations is considered an asset. Candidates should have demonstrated ability to work independently. Where a student is identified as having difficulty committing adequate time or engagement with the project, the supervisor will schedule a meeting to discuss a satisfactory solution, including but not limited to reasonable accommodations and early departure from the project.

Luke’s Place Client Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Luke’s Place

Project Summary: 

Component 1

Legal Education: students will assist in the preparation and delivery of public legal education workshops and written materials provided to women about various aspects of family law. 

Component 2

Note taking: students will sit-in on ILA consultations between women and volunteer lawyers and take detailed notes, which will then be provided to women following the meeting. 

Component 3

Research: students will assist in researching services for women in the community and preparing a list of lawyers accepting Legal Aid Certificates in various communities across Ontario.  

Component 4 (*potential)

Court accompaniment: If possible, students will accompany women to court appearances, including motions and conferences. Their role will be to provide support and take detailed notes, which will then be provided to women following the appearance.  

Type: Client Services, Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Family Law

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, Self-represented litigants

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Some work flexible but will otherwise sign up to help with client appointments at least once/week for one hour
• Background and interests in working with women who have experienced intimate partner violence would be an asset

Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic (BSCC) Family Court Support Program

Partner Organization: Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic

Project Summary:

Students will be required to remotely attend a mandatory Clinic orientation session together at an arranged time before their Clinic placement begins.

The Family Court Support Program is funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. Ordinarily Clinic staff are Court-based 4 days per week and meet with clients to provide legal information, referrals, safety planning and support at the three Toronto family courts (311 Jarvis, 361 University, 47 Sheppard). The Clinic administers the English-language Court Support Program in Toronto and makes referrals to the French language Court Support Program (OASIS). The Family Court Support Workers work with duty counsel, Legal Aid Ontario, shelters, Victim/Witness Assistance Workers, and court staff and other external service providers. Court accompaniment is also sometimes provided.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Family Law, with some intersecting issues in immigration and criminal law

Community served: Domestic violence survivors, women, racialized communities

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students will be asked their availability for attending weekly shifts at one of the 3 Toronto courthouses at the beginning of each semester.
• Family law knowledge is preferred, but not necessary. 
• Past work with survivors of violence would be an asset.

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Income Maintenance Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

DVCLS’ Income Maintenance team provides information, advice, and assistance related to income assistance, including Ontario Works (often still called welfare), Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), and more. In recognition of the fact that many of the Income Maintenance team’s clients would benefit from the support of social workers or other community resources, DVCLS has recently sent out a survey to assess what resources are available in community agencies. At this stage, DVCLS seeks a student to explore how DVCLS’ legal workers can get access to social work assistance as required for their clients.

Type: Research, Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Contract Law, Disability Law

Community served: People living in poverty, People living with disabilities chronic illness 

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• This project includes both research and client-facing responsibilities. Students will be able to complete their research work virtually and from home.However, students will be asked to complete their client-related(phone) work from the clinic, to benefit from the support of DVCLS’ intake workers
• Some knowledge of ODSP/OW legislation is helpful.
• Ability to work with a variety of staff/computer competent.

Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY) Digital PLE Project 

Partner Organization: Justice for Children and Youth

Project Summary: 

The  student  will  work  remotely  to  build  a  library  of  public  legal  education  materials  designed  specifically  to  be  disseminated  on  the  Justice  for  Children  and  Youth’s  social  media  pages.  The  student will use their research skills and creativity to develop schematic PLE materials that can be posted  on  social  media.  The  primary  platform  is  Instagram,  but  posts  will  also  be  created  for Facebook and Twitter. The topics for the digital PLE materials (social media posts) will be provided by JFCY staff and/or will be developed in collaboration with JFCY staff. The student volunteer will be  invited  to  attend  the  weekly  scheduled  meetings  with  the  other  student  volunteers  at  JFCY,  and  this  may  create  opportunities  for  student  input  for  PLE  topics  to  be  covered  through  this  project. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Poverty, Housing, Human Rights, Constitutional, Immigration and Refugee, Administrative, Family, Criminal 

Community served: Children & youth, Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but criminal law, family law, administrative law, and/or poverty law knowledge would help

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Employment Project

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

DVCLS’ employment law team deals with a wide variety of legal issues, including precarious employment situations, wrongful dismissal, and financial support related to the return of pandemic benefits. 

In this project,the student will conduct research into the legal issues raised by specific client case files to support the employment law team. 

The student will also produce and present public legal education materials on employment law topics, especially pandemic benefits. This area is particularly pressing because the original benefits were applied in an over-broad, ambiguous way. The student will look into what the terminology used in official communications about the benefits means, as well as whether there have been prior cases that have gone to litigation. Students may present their work to the general public or to community agencies.

Additional administrative work, such as organizing casework precedents or government policies into electronic folders, will take no more than 10% of the student’s time.

Type: Public Legal Education, Research, Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Employment Law

Community served: People living in poverty, Precariously employed individuals, Immigrants, refugees & newcomers

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• The schedule is flexible.
• Some knowledge of employment legislation and case law is helpful; ideally, the student will have taken employment law as a pre-or co-requisite. 
• Interpersonal skills, computer competency.

Halton Community Legal Services Clinic Assistance Project 

Partner Organization: Halton Community Legal Services 

Project Summary: 

Students  will  work remotely with  their  assigned Lawyer Supervisor  to  assist  them  with  their caseload.  Typical   tasks   include legal   research, litigation document preparation, hearing preparation, client follow up, and letter writing. Students will also have opportunities to engage with the clinic’s community development work and public legal education activities.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Administrative, Housing, Labour and Employment, Human Rights, Poverty, Social Assistance

Community served: People living in poverty, precariously employed individuals, homeless & marginally housed 

Who can apply: 2Ls only

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 

Commitment: 4-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Legal Writing Interest
• Interest in Social Justice and Human Rights
• Experience interacting with members of the public is an asset
• Experience working within an anti-oppression framework is an asset
• Ability to work well in a team setting

 

ODJA Internship Project 

Partner Organization: Ontario Deputy Judges Association

Project Summary:

Component 1:

The ODJA provides their members with resources to assist in decision-making. There are two resource lists that are out of date: 1) Caswell Seminar materials and documents, and 2) research memorandums created by Student Volunteers from previous years.

Component 2:

In addition, it is anticipated that the courts will begin opening up towards the end of 2021. This means that additional research opportunities may arise as the project progresses and the situation with COVID-19 evolves.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Civil Litigation 

Community served: This project covers various areas of law addressed by Small Claims Courts, and as such, this project serves a diverse clientele from a vast array of backgrounds, geographic locations, and socio-economic statuses. 

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but an interest in Small Claims Court matters and judicial internships would be preferred. Experience and/or interest in civil litigation would be an asset.

LSO Internship Project - Litigation Services 

Partner Organization: Law Society of Ontario

Project Summary: 

This Department prosecutes licensees who have been accused of serious misconduct.The student would be supporting the work of the department by conducting research on casespecific issues or on broader policy issues, conducting case analysis, including pulling key documents and preparing proof charts.The student would also be able to attend hearings.

Type: Internship

Area(s) of Law:  Administrative Law

Community served: General project 

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Administrative Law and Civil Procedure would be helpful but not required 
• An interest in advocacy 

LSO Digital Compendium of Bilingual Cases

Partner Organization: Law Society of Ontario

Project Summary: 

The   project   will   involve   reviewing   the   Standard   Operating   Procedure   for   the   existing Compendium;  Review the current initial batch of cases for accuracy of quotes and search terms;  Obtain  the  balance  of  cases  to  be  added,  prepare  initial  translations  via  Deepl.com  software;  obtain approval on the translations;  Add approved translations;  Present the final compendium at end of project to the French Prosecutions Working Group. 

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Administrative Law

Community served: General project

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-4 hours/week; once a month as there is a 1 hour monthly meeting of the French Prosecutions Working Group at which the student will have to attend.

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Must be bilingual in English and French, both written and spoken

Self-Represented Tax-Payers Project

Partner Organization: This project is run by Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) and supported by lawyer supervisors.

Project Summary: 

Students will build a database for self-represented taxpayers which explains common issues in plain language. Each year, research will focus on one deserving issue (eg., disability tax credit claims) and students will research and write about aspects of these claims. As capacity permits, students can also take on a basic overview of tax procedure for self-represented litigants. 

Students will also be responsible for publicizing their work to ensure it reaches the community, e.g. through PSBC’s website, by reaching out to community organizations, etc. This aspect of the project should take no more than 10% of students’ time.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Tax Law

Community served: People living in poverty, Self-represented litigants, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses 

Who can apply: 2Ls and 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1-2 

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students should have completed, or be concurrently enrolled in, Canadian Income Tax Law. Students taking Canadian Income Tax Law as a co-requisite should be aware that they may find this project more challenging and may need to spend some of their volunteer hours conducting additional research to catch up.
• Students should have a demonstrated interest in tax law, which can be shown by completing at least one tax course. Students should also be strong communicators.

WomenatthecentrE Transformative Justice Project - Support for Survivors of Human Trafficking & Advancing Gender Equity for Black Women, Black Girls and Black Gender-Diverse People (B-WGGD) in Canada 

Partner Organization: WomenathecentrE

Project Summary:

This project will primarily support WomenatthecentrE's internal research library, including maintaining up-to-date research on various research questions relating to the organization’s work. In addition, it will support WomenatthecentrE's efforts to create and maintain public legal education resources for survivors of gender-based violence on the legal processes that may affect them or their families.

There are two internal initiatives of focus for this project:

1. Embedding Resilience and Grounding Resistance
2. Truth & Transformation: Advancing Gender Equity for Black Women, Black Girls, and Black Gender-Diverse People in Canada

Type: Research & Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: ADR, Criminal Law, Immigration (in context of human trafficking legislation) 

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, Racialized communities 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 5

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but Criminal Law, Legal Research and Writing, and experience working within feminist/intersectional-feminist legal theories, would be assets. 
• Knowledge and understanding of gender-based violence is required. Any social work experience, gender studies, and/or experience working within an anti-oppression framework would be an asset.  

WomenatthecentrE Family Law Project 

Partner Organization: WomenatthecentrE

Project Summary: 

The PBSC & WomenatthecentrE Children’s Rights & Family Law Research and Education partnership will support WomenatthecentrE's internal research library, including maintaining up-to-date research on various research questions relating to the organization’s work. In addition, it will support WomenatthecentrE's efforts to create and maintain public legal education resources for survivors of gender-based violence on the legal processes that may affect them or their families. 

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Family, Children and Youth, Child Protection

Community served: Women, Domestic violence survivors, self-represented litigants 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: 

• None, but Family Law, Children and the Law, and experience working within feminist/intersectional-feminist legal theories would be assets. 
• Knowledge and understanding of gender-based violence is required. Any social work experience, gender studies, and/or experience working within an anti-oppression framework would be an asset. 
• Graphic design experience would be a major asset
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills
• Experience developing educational materials/instructional guides or courses
• Experience working within an anti-oppression framework

Women's Multicultural Resource & Counseling Centre (WMRCC) Research Project 

Partner Organization: Women’s Multicultural Resource & Counseling Centre (WMRCC)

Project Summary: 

​​WMRCC offers a variety of resources, services, and counselling for all women, regardless of race, culture, social identity, religion, sexual orientation, class, age, income, immigration status and ability. All WMRCC services are free, and no one is turned away. Women who come to WMRCC to access support often face intersecting legal issues, and experience systematic barriers to access legal information. Basic legal information in a variety of key areas would help (1) the staff and volunteers be more informed about issues that often arise in the context of counseling or support services, as well as (2) empower the women seeking support at WMRCC to understand their rights and next steps they can take to address their legal issues. 

The aim of this project is to develop a Legal Information Guide (in digital format / can also be printed if needed) specific to the legal challenges multicultural women, and those who have experienced (or continue to experience) gender-based violence, face. Students should focus on how the legal system can be better informed by an anti-oppression and anti-Black racism framework.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Criminal Law, Family Law, Human Rights

Community served: Women, Racialized communities, People living with mental health challenges

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but family, criminal, immigration, constitutional, human rights, legal research and writing, labour and employment, and administrative law would be helpful. 
• Experience working with feminist and/or intersectional-feminist legal theory would be an asset.

Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY) Clinic Project 

Partner Organization: Justice for Children and Youth

Project Summary: 

Students will work remotely with their assigned lawyer supervisor to assist them with their caseload. Typical tasks include legal research, client follow up and letter writing.

Although each student may get the opportunity to sit in on an intake meeting between a client and their supervisor, students will predominantly be engaging in research-based work on a broad range of topics.

Examples of potential research topics may include child welfare, human rights claims, privacy matters, immigration matters, criminal law or administrative law matters. All students are closely supervised and are given regular feedback on task performance. Each student will submit their research directly to their supervisor.

Pursuant to organizational and institutional regulations, students may be able to volunteer in the clinic during the winter term.

Type: Client Services, Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Poverty, Housing, Human Rights, Constitutional, Immigration and Refugee, Administrative, Family, Criminal

Community served: Children & youth, Homeless & marginally housed, LGBTQ+

Who can apply: 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 4-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• None, but criminal law, family law, administrative law and poverty law knowledge help.
• Legal Writing Interest
• Interest in gaining skills with client interviews
• Experience working with youth is an asset
• Experience working within an anti-oppression framework is an asset
• Other: Students are expected to work within a social justice, anti-oppression and children’s rights framework. Justice for Children and Youth is an inclusive and safe space. Students should be interested in legal research and have strong memo writing skills.

Rainbow Railroad Intake & Research Project

Partner Organization: Rainbow Railroad

Project Summary: 

Students will assist Rainbow Railroad staff with legal research around immigration laws in countries where our clients reside with a focus on the Emergency Travel Support (ETS) and Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR). Students may compose briefing documents on specific sets of immigration and human rights laws for non-lawyer staff in order to enhance understanding of conditions and relationships in these countries. Students may also assist lawyers and caseworkers in drafting cover letters and immigration claim summaries. All legal research and draft cover letters will be reviewed and approved by the supervising lawyer prior to use by the partner organization.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Immigration and Refugee, Human Rights

Community served: LGBTQ+, Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, Trans and gender diverse individuals 

Who can apply: 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• It is preferable that the students be able to come to the office on Tuesday and/or Thursdays for their allotted work of 3-5 hours per week. 
• No, but additional languages are an asset. Specifically, speaking Farsi, Russian, Turkish, French or Arabic are huge assets.
• Relevant educational/volunteer and/or work experience would be an asset. Those with personal lived experience that relates to our clients are encouraged to apply – i.e. those with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions and/or those from regions where we work internationally (Caribbean, Africa, South-Central Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East).

The 519 PLE Project

Partner Organization: The 519 Community Centre

Project Summary: 

The 519 serves LGBTQ2S+ folx in the Greater Toronto Area who may be facing barriers to justice. As a result of service delivery switching to a virtual format, The 519 has expanded the scope of its services to broader geographic regions outside of Toronto. In doing so, The 519 has identified a need for more accessible, plain language, public legal education (PLE) content that is queer-positive and affirming, and responsive to changing legal issues stemming from the pandemic. 

Examples of research topics for PLE content include, but are not limited to:

• Landlord & Tenant Rights
• Employment Law
• Harassment and Sexual Assault in the workplace 
• Trans ID Inquiries (Information workshops on name/sex designation change on ID)
• Knowing your right while interacting with the police 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Housing Law, Employment Law, Human Right Law, Criminal Law, Family Law

Community served: LGBTQ+, People living in poverty, Homeless & marginally housed 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Volunteers selected should be able to demonstrate ongoing and meaningful allyship with the LGBTQ2S+ communities. 
• Assets include:
  • Experience working with trans folks, youth, LGBTQ+ communities
  • Preferably Black or POC 
  • Front-line / clinical experience
  • Social work background
  • A strong sense of anti-oppression principles

Full Project Description: 

Student volunteers will be responsible for conducting legal research and drafting plain language PLE content including presentations. All PLE content should be prepared in plain language and avoid the use of legalese so as to be accessible to The 519’s clientele.  As student volunteers gain familiarity with the topic matter and complete PLE content, they will be responsible for delivering PLE presentations in pairs of at least two (2) student volunteers.

Students can expect to complete approximately one (1) PLE presentation per month once PLE content is developed. Student volunteers must include a disclaimer on all PLE content stating:

Student volunteers are only permitted to answer questions from attendees if their responses have been pre-approved by the lawyer supervisor. Any questions where answers have not been pre-approved by the lawyer supervisor must be referred to the lawyer supervisor for follow-up, as student volunteers are not permitted to answer questions which may constitute legal advice.

Student volunteers will be expected to meet with the partner organization at least once per month to provide and update and seek guidance as needed. Student volunteers should take the initiative to schedule pre-determined meeting times with the partner organization contact at the outset of their placement.

The 519 Trans ID Clinic

Partner Organization: The 519 Community Centre

Project Summary: 

The Trans ID Clinic provides free legal information, form-filling services and referrals in a learning space that strives to be trans-positive, non-judgmental, anti-oppressive and inclusive. PBSC law student volunteers and lawyer supervisors work collaboratively to assist trans and gender diverse individuals with obtaining new pieces of identification.

Students will meet with clients via Webex from their home. During the meeting, they will assist clients to fill in gender marker applications. Students will use a 519 email address when emailing clients and if required to telephone a client, will do so from a blocked number. Students are not permitted to give out their personal contact information to clinic clients.

Student volunteers will be expected to meet with the partner organization at least once per month to provide and update and seek guidance as needed. Student volunteers should take the initiative to schedule pre-determined meeting times with the partner organization contact at the outset of their placement.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Administrative law, Human rights law, Poverty law

Community served: Trans and gender diverse individuals, People living in poverty, Homeless & marginally housed 

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Given the background of clients being served, we welcome applications from trans and gender diverse, Black or POC students. Volunteers selected should be able to demonstrate ongoing and meaningful allyship with the trans community. 
• Assets include:
  • Experience working with Trans folks, youth, LGBTQ+ Communities
  • Front-line/clinical experience
  • Social work background
  • A strong sense of anti-oppression principles

Centre for Immigrant and Community Services (CICS) Consent and Privacy Legal Research Project

Partner Organization: Centre for Immigrant and Community Services

Project Summary: 

Centre for Immigrant and Community Services (CICS) is a not-for-profit organization that assists newcomers in Canada in settling and integrating. CICS provides services to clients of all age ranges, from early year children, youth, adults to seniors. CICS also offers specialized services in employment, language training, mental health, housing, etc.

At CICS, we respect clients' right to privacy and protect their confidential information. To better support our clients, we strive to continuously improve our practices of seeking informed consent and protecting clients' privacy.

CICS is now looking for student volunteers to help CICS review and improve our current documents, policies and practices regarding consent, confidentiality and privacy issues.

The student volunteers will be responsible for:

• Conducting legal research on consent, privacy and confidentiality topics, such as privacy laws, health privacy, privacy and kids, etc.;
• Drafting a research memo containing the findings;
• Presenting the research findings to the internal teams to provide information and training on consent, confidentiality and privacy topics.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Legislation relevant to consent, privacy, and confidentiality in Ontario

Community served: Immigrants, People living with mental health challenges, Children and youth

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to an Osgoode student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Privacy laws, Privacy law and information management in health care – an asset, Privacy rights of children and teens – an asset
• Proficiency in Mandarin and/or Cantonese is an asset
• Experience in a non-profit setting is an asset.

HanVoice Refugee Resettlement Research Project

Partner Organization: HanVoice

Project Summary: 

Currently, North Koreans escaping North Korea are in danger. In addition to the danger they face, the journey requires travelling 5,000 km to get to safety. If these individuals are caught trying to escape, they face harsh punishment, including forced labour, forced abortions, brutal beating and torture. Through a historic pilot project, HanVoice aims to resettle 5 North Korean families in 2 years. The aim of this program is to assist North Koreans resettle and succeed in Canada. This is done by identifying vulnerable families, train and educate sponsors to support these families and coordinating their resettlement.

With PBSC, HanVoice aims to build upon previous research to determine where this pilot project can be replicated to assist more North Koreans. With the help of the students, HanVoice is aiming to publish a report to the public summarizing their findings and research about this program and how and where it can be replicated.

The students will be in charge of researching the law of other jurisdictions in comparison to Canada to see where this project can be replicated. They will also be tasked with summarizing these findings into a report to be published to the general public by HanVoice.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Immigration and Refugee Law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, Children & youth

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Proficiency in Korean is helpful.
• Students with a political science or international relations (especially prior knowledge on Korean peninsula issues) background are preferred, but not required.

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Immigration Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

DVCLS’  immigration  team  provides  summary  advice  and  legal  representation  for various immigration problems. The team works with clients from their catchment area, as well as referrals from West Scarborough Community Legal Services.

In this project, the law student will be responsible for contacting clients via DVCLS’s Zoom Phone app to record their information and a statement of their legal issue(s). The student will then log this information into DVCLS’ statistical case management program. Students will do research into clients’ issues and files.

The  student  will  shadow  the  lawyer  supervisor,  who  will  emphasize  the  legal  issues  and  the relevant  facts  of  each  case and draw  attention to  any  facts  which  may  be  missing.  By  following case files, students will gain awareness of the available referral resources, relevant forms, etc.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Immigration Law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3 hours/week on Friday mornings 

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students will be expected to show up for a regular shift each week (Friday morning from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM)at DVCLS’s office.
• Immigration law is helpful, but not required.
• The ability to learn a computer statistical program.

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Affidavit Intake Project

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

An affidavit is a written document that contains facts that someone swears under oath or affirms are true (source).DVCLS helps clients prepare affidavits and other documents for government, financial, or legal purposes. These include income verification affidavits, daycare subsidy affidavits, notarial true copies, and more.

In this project, students will help the clinic staff worker deal with the clients who have appointments for affidavits or notarial true copies:

• Students will ensure clients follow the clinic’s covid protocols, including answering questions and wearing a suitable mask (the clinic will provide masks if required).
• Students will ensure clients have brought an ID document.•Students will shadow the client-lawyer meetings, which include an interview. 
• Eventually, students will be able to take a more active role under lawyer supervision. Students may be able to conduct the interview independently and draft the affidavit using a template which is then reviewed by a DVCLS lawyer.
• Additional work, such as copying ID documents, copying the completed documents, etc., will take no more than 10% of the students’ time.

Type: Client Services

Area(s) of Law: Administrative Law, Poverty law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2s

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3 hours (1:30-4:30 PM for each afternoon) on either Tuesday or Thursday

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Students  will be  expected  to  show  up  for a regular  shift  each  week (Tuesday  or  Thursday  from 1:30-4:30 PM) at DVCLS’s office in Leaside Park.

The 519 Refugee Mock Hearing Program

Partner Organization: The 519 Community Centre

Project Summary: 

Over the past decade there have been various legislative changes that have resulted in significantly increased wait times for refugee claimants from the time of application to the date of their hearing. The 519 Refugee Mock Hearing Program provides support and guidance to LGBTQ+ refugee claimants. The individuals supported through the mock hearing are claimants who have and upcoming hearing with the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) to determine whether they can be granted Convention Refugee Status based on their Sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and/or sexual characteristics (SOGIE-SC claims). 

This program allows individuals to get guidance on how to effectively tell their life experience to a stranger through written and oral testimonies. The mock hearing provides an opportunity for claimants get assistance with drafting/structuring their narrative/claim; have a paper review claim or a simulated hearing with the student volunteers and lawyer supervisor – a practicing immigration and refugee lawyer in the province of Ontario. The objective of the mock hearing familiarizes claimants with the hearing process in an affirming environment and provide an opportunity for the claimant to take a more critical look at the implications or their claim.

Type: Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Immigration and Refugee Law

Community served: Immigrants, refugees & newcomers, LGBTQ+, Trans and gender diverse individuals

Who can apply: 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Generally, mock hearings take place on Wednesdays. Student volunteers will be assigned two mock hearings per month and are expected to work with the partner organization to determine which dates are most appropriate.
• Given the focus of the clinic and clientele served, students that identify as BIPOC are encouraged to apply. Additional assets include:
  • Experience in clinical, client-facing, and/or tribunal settings
  • Experience working with LGBTQ+ communities and survivors of trauma.
• Volunteers should b able to demonstrate ongoing and meaningful allyship with the LGBTQ+/queer and trans communities.

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Client Intake Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary:

Students will assist with the intake of clients at KBCLS. Students will be trained on the types of law that callers need information on and KBCLS intake procedures. Students will then provide the callers with legal information, referrals, or gather the information needed to process the intake.

The students will be performing general intake duties under the supervision of KBCLS staff. Staff will be available, in person and remotely, to assist students.

Type: Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Housing, Administrative, Immigation, Social Assistance, Employment Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, People living in poverty, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 8 

Commitment: 4-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• This project requires student volunteers to be at KBCLS’s clinic. KBCLS and PBSC Lincoln Alexander will follow public health directives. If public health directives don’t allow for in-person activities, the project will be done remotely.

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS) Joint Tenancy Research Project 

Partner Organization: Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services (KBCLS)

Project Summary: 

When the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) was enacted in 2006, Toronto was generally more affordable than it is today. The RTA was never written to contemplate issues of joint tenancy among many individuals sharing one lease. The goal of this project is to create PLE resources to help make information surrounding joint tenancies accessible to those in the KBCLS Catchment.

The students will do research on questions including:

• How does the RTA apply in a joint tenancy situation with multiple roommates all on the same lease signed at the same time?
• How do joint tenancies affect individuals when they want to leave their lease but other roommates want to remain?
• Address common issues and questions that arise with joint tenancies re what is a tenant versus what is a roommate occupant
• And other questions developed in consultation with KBCLS

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Housing Law, Administrative Law

Community served: Homeless & marginally houses, People living in poverty, People living with disabilities & chronic illnesses

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 3

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• N/A. Will provide a primer on housing law

Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS) Housing (Renovictions) Project 

Partner Organization: Don Valley Community Legal Services (DVCLS)

Project Summary: 

Renovictions are becoming an increasingly pressing and widespread problem in the city of Toronto. Renoviction happens when a landlord renovates a unit to raise its rent and does not allow the previous tenant(s) to return to the property, often illegally. In addition to displacing (a) tenant(s), renoviction removes affordable rental units from Toronto. To respond to this problem, DVCLS is advocating for the City of Toronto to create new regulations and policies around renovictions. This is especially challenging because regulations must be created via municipal bylaws, since the authority to change housing laws rests with the province.  

The student will work with DVCLS’ Housing team, and potentially Toronto City Councillors, to advocate against renovictions:

• Conduct research on other jurisdictions (e.g. New Westminster) to see if their policies may be applicable to Toronto.
• Monitor and analyze Doug Ford’s “stronger mayors” proposal to determine whether this may impact the City ofToronto’s ability to combat renovictions. 
• Work with the Housing Team on deputations to the City of Toronto’s Housing and Planning Committee on Renoviction policy

Students will also research and write housing articles for DVCLS’ website about relevant issues in landlord and tenant law.

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Municipal Law, Landlord and Tenant Law

Community served: People living in poverty, Homeless & marginally housed

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Some knowledge of housing issues is helpful.
• Computer & technology skills.

All Saints Drop-In Legal Information Clinic 

Partner Organization: All Saints Toronto

Project Summary: 

The All Saints’ Drop-in is a safe, non-judgemental place where people can have coffee, rest, use washroom facilities, see a nurse or social worker, eat a hot meal, and access telephone, wifi, and computer services.

2 student volunteers will provide legal information during the drop-in.The student will gather any legal questions and will spend the following 1-2weeks researching the question (e.g. working on the streets, how the law differentiates sex work andtrafficking, navigating criminal justice system, etc.). The lawyer supervisor will approve the accuracy of the information, and then the student will set up a phone call or in-person meeting with the client to deliver legal information only (likely this will occur on a subsequent drop-in session).

In addition, the student can deliver one presentation during the placement, on a legal issue to be chosen with drop-in clients. The student may produce written materials to be distributed to interested individuals who are unable to attend the sessions. Some clients would also like help applying for pardons.

Staff will be present at the drop-in each week, and are available to attend all presentations to help the students effectively deliver their presentations to the audience. The lawyer supervisor will be available to hear a mockpresentationand must be present during the actual presentation.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Human Right Law, Clinics/Poverty Law, Criminal Law 

Community served: Homeless & marginally housed, Domestic violence, Racialized communities

Who can apply: 1Ls and 2Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• No, but multilingualism is an asset.
• Students should understand that the drop-in is a low barrier space; as such, clients may not be sober and may be experiencing mental health difficulties or other challenges during the session. Potential students should think carefully about whether they are able to volunteer in an unpredictable and client-facing environment.
• Preference for experience or interest in social justice or human rights field,working with marginalized communities, particularly sex workers and/ or people who use drugs. Experience navigating the criminal justice system and accessing resources like legal aid and court support, experience with family law and child welfare would also be an asset.

York Centre for Public Policy and Law (YCPPL) - Criminal Court Decision Research Project 

Partner Organization: York Centre for Public Policy and Law (YCPPL)

Project Summary: 

The YCPPL draws together legal experts, social scientists and others from the public policy sector to address issues of access to justice, human rights and social policy, accountability and ethics in the public sector and the globalization of public policy. As a collaborative interdisciplinary research centre their mandate is to engage in and support research that meets the needs of the broader community, in particular the needs of government and public policy makers, non- governmental organizations, citizen advocacy groups and social movements in Canada.

This project examines judicial trends in criminal cases in the Ontario Court of Justice and the Ontario Superior Court. Students will be assigned a single judge and review all criminal decisions made by that judge, entering various data points related to each case and drafting memoranda on any potential trends that emerge. The students’ research will then be turned into a research paper or report drafted by the supervisor, who will draw conclusions from the students’ work.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Criminal 

Community served: Racialzied communities, Children & youth, Indigenous 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 2

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: none

Refugee Law Office Internship

Partner Organization: Refugee Law Office 

Project Summary: 

​​Students will work directly with RLO staff on case files, including test cases, which may include refugee claims, pre-removal risk assessments (PRRA), humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) applications, temporary resident permits, danger opinions, applications for Ministerial Relief, detention reviews, deportation appeals, judicial review applications. 

Work may include legal and/or country of origin research, drafting submissions, Federal Court memos, affidavits and/or client narratives. All legal memoranda and draft submissions will be reviewed and approved by the supervising lawyer.

Students may work directly with clients to help them prepare their case by way of gathering evidence and/or preparing testimony, under supervision of a lawyer or CLW. Best efforts will be made to ensure students also have an opportunity to observe oral proceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board and/or Federal Court.

Type: Research & Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Immigration & Refugee, Human Rights, Constitutional Law 

Community served: Immigrants, refugees, & newcomers, Racialized c communities, People living with mental health challenges 

Who can apply: 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Be  enrolled  in,  or  have  completed,  at  least  one  course  in  refugee,  immigration,  and/or  forced migration law and/or international human rights.
• A demonstrated interest and/or experience in human rights, immigration and refugee issues.

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Anti-Black Racism in Ontario’s Education System

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

In this project, a student will research three potential avenues of collective redress for systemic anti-Black racism within Ontario’s education system: class actions, Charter challenges, and group Human Rights Tribunal applications. Students will focus  on three main ways in which anti-Black racism can manifest–suspensions, expulsions, and streaming (i.e. dividing students into academic or applied tracks)–and weigh the pros and cons of each course of action.

Type: Research

Area(s) of Law: Education Act, Human Rights Code, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Class Proceedings Act

Community served: Racialized communities, Children & youth 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• History of self-directed research 
• Strong research background (e.g. freedom of information requests)

FACL Community Outreach Program 

Partner Organization: Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL)

Project Summary: 

The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL) has developed a remote community outreach program to identify and address knowledge gaps related to various legal fields for Asian community members. The aim of the program is to partner with community organizations to create and provide public legal education in the form of presentations, workshops, webinars, recorded videos, social media/blog posts and plain language resources. This project involves developing a Family Law power-point presentation and creating accompanying pamphlets for community members to take away in various topics, including family law. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: General project 

Community served: Racialized communities, Linguistic minorities, women

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers: none

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Human Rights Applications Project

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

BLAC regularly  receives  more  requests  for  assistance with  Human  Rights  Tribunalof  Ontario (HRTO)applications than  the  clinic  can  fulfill.  The  goal  of  this  project  will  be  to  allow  clients  to help themselves, even if BLAC does not have the capacity to represent them. 

The  student  will  create  a  resourcewhich  will  help  clients  complete  applications  regarding discrimination,   specifically   anti-Black   racism,in   services,   accommodation   (i.e.   housing, occupancy),  contracts,  and  employment.  The  resource  should  allow clients  to  answer  relatively straightforward/plain  language  questions  and  receive  a  completed  form  which  is  ready  to  be reviewed by BLAC and/or filed at the HRTO. 

The  student will investigate  potential  tech  solutions  for  this  resource,  such  as  a  more simple pdf/fillable  form or more complex AI/wizard.The student can  look  at other examples  of similar tools  (Steps  to  Justice,  Human  Rights  Legal  Support  Centre,  etc)  or  see  if  there  is  a  software engineer/tech company willing to volunteer to help.

Additionally,  the  student will research  how  the  HRTO  may  be  using  administrative  processes(notice  of  intent  to  dismiss)to unjustly dismiss applications on the basis that they “fall outside their mandate,” and try to address this through the resource. For example, the resource should ask  specific  questions  to  try  and  find  the  nexus  between  the  ‘unfairness’  the  person  is experiencing and the related ground of discrimination.

Type: Public Legal Education, Client Services 

Area(s) of Law: Human Rights

Community served: Racialized communities, Self-represented litigants, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Understanding of provincial human rights system
• Ability to translate complex legal processes and issues into plain language
• Background in adult education is an asset

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Medical Racism 

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

Anti-Black  racism  within  the  medical  system,  including  mistreatment  and  disparities,  has  been documented through social science evidence and more. In the past few years, BLAC has received several requests for assistance from people who suspected that the negative medical outcomes experienced by their family members were due to anti-Black racism. BLAC does not currently deal with medical malpractice cases, but given the prevalence of this issue, the legal clinic would like to see what avenues of redress may be available. 

Type: Public Legal Education, Research

Area(s) of Law: Corrections and Conditional Release Act,Criminal Code, Privacy Act, Anti-Terrorism Act, Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Community served: Racialized communities, People living in poverty 

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• History of self-directed research 
• Strong research background (e.g. freedom of information requests)
• Background in science or medicine is an asset

Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) Social Media Primer 

Partner Organization: Black Legal Action Centre

Project Summary: 

What legal issues are related to raising awareness of racism, what are the risks, and when does this bleed into defamation or slander? As this recent lawsuit demonstrates, these questions are very real. Pro Bono counsel at Torys LLP has produced a 45-page primer for BLAC addressing the potential  risks  and  liabilities  which  can  arise  from engaging  in  advocacy  over  social  media.  This legal memo now needs to  be updated and translated into plain language resources  for BLAC to share with the wider community. 

The student will: 

• Update  the  memo:  The  memo  was  produced  in  2020  and  a  supplement  followed  in  2021.  The student will review the memo and update it to include any recent/ongoing cases.
• Create  PLE  resources:  The  student  will  use  Canva  and  Powtoon  to  translate  the  memo  into  an educational campaign (graphics, videos, plain language documents) which will be shared with the public.

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Libel and Slander Act, Human Rights Code

Community served: General project - people who use social media to engage in advocacy.

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1 **Note priority will be given to a UofT student but, Lincoln Alexander students may still apply**

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Understanding of provincial human rights system
• Ability to translate complex legal processes and issues into plain language
• Background in adult education is an asset

ALPHA Education Legal and Historical Research into WWII in Asia 

Partner Organization: Association for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (ALPHA) Education

Project Summary: 

The project will support the ongoing development of the Asian-Pacific Peace Museum by ALPHA Education. In particular, the project will involve the research and development of materials that will support the museum’s exhibits on justice and other legal issues surrounding the legacies of WWII in Asia and the Pacific. The output of the project will be used as add-on information that will later be accessed by museum visitors through QR codes. 

Student  volunteers  will  research  and  develop  plain  language  resources  on  legal  topics  that  are relevant to museum exhibits, using existing resources and research already developed by ALPHA Education.  Student  volunteers  will  also  connect  historical  legal  issues  to  ongoing  and  potential future legal issues in the same general topic, revealing impacts and implications. They may also suggest to museum development staff further considerations in how to discuss international and human rights legal issues for the public. 

Type: Public Legal Education

Area(s) of Law: Human Rights, International Law, Labour Law, Criminal Law, Legal History, Treaty Law

Community served: Children & youth, Racialized communities, Immigrants, refugees & newcomers

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-5 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• An  interest  and/or  background  in  history,  international  law,  human  rights,  and  an  interest  in World War II history is an asset. Observance of deadlines, above average (or better) writing skills are also an asset.

Law Students’ Society of Ontario (LSSO) Research and Advocacy Project

Partner Organization: Law Students’ Society of Ontario (LSSO)

Project Summary:

The Law Students’ Society of Ontario is an advocacy body representing undergraduate (JD) law students at Ontario law schools. Their goal is to articulate student needs and concerns to the organizations that govern the legal profession, the universities that administer legal education, and government bodies that regulate post-secondary education and financial aid.

The LSSO is seeking a student to conduct legal research for upcoming projects focusing on access to justice, such as:

• The impact of the Law Society of Ontario’s (LSO) licensing scheme in comparison with other provincial law society on equity seeking groups.
• Accessibility and financial transparency of legal education in Canada, through assistance related to the publication of the LSSO’s upcoming National Tuition Study
• Students will be researching into how provincial governments across Canada are funding law schools and the implications such funding has on law school tuition to produce a comparative analysis
• Student will also look at the difference in tuition on equity seeking groups across Canada and the impact to students’ long-term financial stability with considerations of financial literacy and how this can impact access to justice efforts in the profession.

Type: Other (Policy Reform and Client Advocacy) 

Area(s) of Law: Civil, Administrative, Regulatory Law

Community served: Students, Racialized communities, People living in poverty

Who can apply: 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls

Number of Student Volunteer Positions: 1

Commitment: 3-4 hours/week

Special Requirements for Student Volunteers:

• Legal research experience is considered an asset, experience in copywriting, lobbying/public affairs, and/or data analysis is considered an asset.