The Edmonton Community Legal Centre is a not-for-profit organization providing free legal advice to low income Albertans with the help of 400 volunteers each year including 300 volunteer lawyers. This past weekend we held a kick-off event for Access to Justice Week, our 5th annual legal Advice-A-thon on Sat Sept 28 in Edmonton City Hall. Advice-A-thon is not only a venue for free legal advice, it is also a fundraiser, with volunteer lawyers asking for donation pledges from their colleagues and
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Student Legal Services is a not-for-profit organization run by law students at the University of Alberta and was established to provide the low-income community with free legal information and assistance. The organization was created in the summer of 1969 by fourteen law students who had a passion for access to justice and who were inspired by the student legal clinics emerging across Canada. During the early years, the law students assisted individuals with a variety of matters
In 2015, through generous community support, the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law established the Public Interest Law Clinic. Like many clinical teaching programs across Canada, JD students at UCalgary’s Faculty of Law earn credit for research, writing, and advocacy that strives for systemic change in public law matters such as public health, human rights, equality, poverty, and
Laws are supposed to protect people from being wronged by others. Once someone has been wronged, laws are intended to step in to make sure that the situation is made right.
But what happens when obstacles prevent people from accessing the justice system? Many Canadians cannot afford a $30,000 two day trial, let alone lawyers’ fees to file an application. Even the time commitment to see a matter through may be enough of a deterrent to keep people from trying altogether. |