The Workers' Resource Centre sees common scenarios where workers do not understand their rights and options, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. For someone experiencing legal issues in the workplace for the first time, navigating the system for information and help can be a dauting task. … [Read more...]
Assisting the Client Living with the Effects of Serious Mental Illness
What are the challenges involved when working with clients living with psychotic illnesses, and what is some practical advice for their lawyers and advocates? I was asked to write an article on the challenges that those experiencing mental illnesses face when engaging with the legal system. What … [Read more...]
Working with Clients Who Have Experienced Family Violence: Being client-centered and trauma-informed
Calgary Legal Guidance's Domestic Violence Family Law program is constantly learning and growing to better hear, understand and serve its clients. Calgary Legal Guidance (CLG) is a non-profit organization offering a range of legal services to those who cannot easily access Legal Aid or other paid … [Read more...]
Access to Justice During COVID-19 and the Jordan Case
How are delays in court processes due to COVID-19 considered when assessing the Jordan time limits for the right to be tried within a reasonable time? In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Since then, the pandemic has affected the functioning of many … [Read more...]
Celebrating 50 Years of Pro Bono in Alberta
Calgary Legal Guidance started in 1972 through the work of law students wanting to help people experiencing poverty and homelessness in the city. A half century ago, a group of law students decided to do something to help the many people experiencing poverty and homelessness in Calgary, Alberta. … [Read more...]
Know Your Rights: A CNIB advocacy project
Providing resources about discrimination for partially-sighted, blind and Deafblind individuals in Ontario, the project is now growing nationally. About CNIB CNIB is a non-profit organization driven to change what it is to be blind today. We deliver innovative programs and powerful advocacy that … [Read more...]
The Critical Role of Public Legal Education in Societies Governed by the Rule of Law
At some point in high school, we learn that we live in a nomocracy, which is a fancy ten-cent word for a society governed by the rule of law. The whole “governed by the rule of law” thing is an especially important quality of democracies like ours. It includes the following rights: All of … [Read more...]
A2J and Public Legal Education in 2020 in Alberta
What is justice? It is widely stated that we have an access to justice (A2J) crisis in Canada. You will get a variety of answers, though, if you ask people what they think this means and what we can do about it. As Lois Gander points out in her article in this issue of LawNow, one reason is that … [Read more...]
Retaining a Lawyer
You have asked your friends, looked at websites and finally settled on a lawyer who seems to be a good fit for your case. But before you become a client of that lawyer, you must first retain them. Unfortunately, retaining a lawyer is not always straightforward. The process involves checking whether … [Read more...]
BearPaw Media and Education: Indigenous public legal education in Alberta
What is BearPaw Media and Education? As a department of Native Counselling Services of Alberta (NCSA), we produce and distribute free, multimedia Indigenous public legal education and information (PLEI). Our resources are for Indigenous people, by Indigenous people in Alberta and include … [Read more...]
