+ PBSC-UVic Training Session2011-2012

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PBSC MandatePBSC aims

(1) to provide vulnerable communities with legal services free of charge,

(2) to provide law students with out-of-the classroom legal experience, and

(3) to instill the pro bono ethic in future lawyers from their first day of law school.

+Pro Bono Students Canada The only national pro bono program in Canada

Has been serving the legal profession for 15 years

Operates 23 Canadian law school chapters

Approximately 1500 volunteers nationwide

Runs almost 500 projects every year

Provides 120,000 hours of legal services each year

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PBSC Structure

National Offic

e

• PBSC has a National Office that supports and guides the work of students hired to run PBSC’s 22 chapters from coast to coast

Local

Chapters

• All 23 law schools in the country house a local PBSC chapter

• Each year approximately 40 law students are hired to run these local chapters

Program Coordinators

• PBSC Program Coordinators develop placements in the community and monitor the projects throughout the year;

• Your Program Coordinator is here to make sure your volunteer experience with PBSC is an excellent one!

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How PBSC Works

PBSC increases access to justice by partnering with:

Not-for-profit

Organizations Legal Clinics and Law

Help Centres Government Agencies Courts and Tribunals Lawyers working on

Pro Bono files

+What Do PBSC Volunteers Do? Legal Research and Writing – summarize

legislation and write case briefs for non-profit organizations and pro bono lawyers

Clinical Projects – assist lawyers by conducting client intake, providing information to clients, assisting with document preparation

Public Presentations – develop and deliver legal information seminars to members of the public who do not have access to lawyers; create plain language documents for the public

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What is Required from PBSC Students?

General PBSC Training

Westlaw Canada Training

Student Agreement Form

3–5 Hours per Week on Your PBSC Project

On-line, end-of-year survey

+Timeline 2011-2012

+PBSC Timeline

PBSC General Training (this is it!)

PBSC-Westlaw Canada Training

Make Contact with your Organization

Make Contact with your Lawyer Supervisor (if he or she is not also from your organization)

Meet With Your Organization and Supervising Lawyer

Develop a Work Plan and have it approved by your Organization and Supervising Lawyer

Begin Working on your Placement

September October

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First Meeting

Prior to the meeting, gather background information

Ask for more details about your assigned project

Make sure to take careful notes!

Ask: Where should I begin with my

research? Are there any special

resources available that I can use?

Do you have examples of similar work that I can review?

What would you like the final product to look like?

Is there anything else I need to know?

What to Discuss

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Develop A Work Plan

Discuss how you should work through the project with your supervisor

Devise a schedule with timelines and benchmarks you will need to hit

Set a final deadline and dates for a number of regular ‘check-ins’ along the way

Draft the work plan and ask your organization and lawyer supervisor to approve it

What it Should Contain

+PBSC Timeline

Continue Working on Your Project

Make yourself available to the Program Coordinator for Monitoring

Check in with your Organization and Lawyer Supervisor about where your project is at (if applicable)

Attend PBSC’s Fall Community Building Event!

Exam Time. We have made it clear to your Organization that this month, you will not be working on your PBSC project. Good luck!

November December

+PBSC Timeline

Resume Work on Your Project

Consider Applying to be a 2012-2013 Program Coordinator

Consider Applying to be a 2012-2013 National Office Coordinator

Continue Working on Your Project

Respond to the second Monitoring telephone call

January February

+PBSC Timeline

Submit Your Final Project (if Applicable) before the Exam Period Begins

Attend PBSC’s Final Appreciation Event!

Complete PBSC’s on-line, End of Year Survey

Your project should be completed and submitted at this point, so you can focus on your exams.

March April

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Potential Challenges You Might Face:

Time ManagementDisengagementWithdrawal

+Legal Advice vs. Legal Information

+Legal Information vs. Legal Advice

Law Students CAN provide legal information. Although the line between legal information and legal advice can be blurry, it is critical that all PBSC volunteers understand the distinction:

Legal information is a general, objective description of the state of the law and not based on a specific set of facts

Legal advice is a subjective opinion about how the law applies to a specific set of facts

Legal Information Legal Advice

+Sample Disclaimer for Written Documents

“This document does not contain legal advice. Pro Bono students Canada is a student

organization. This document was prepared with the assistance of PBSC law student

volunteers. PBSC students are not lawyers and they are not authorized to provide legal

advice. This document contains general discussion of certain legal and related issues

only. If you require legal advice, please consult with a lawyer.”

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ConclusionWe are here to help: contact us for

assistance at any point in the year!

Office Hours this term: Friday, 1-2pm

Contact us by e-mail at pbsc.uvic@gmail.com, and stay updated via our website: http://www.probonostudents.ca/chapter/victoria

Good luck with your placement!

“The context you’re graduating into is a bit worrying for me, so I want to paint a brief contextual picture of what may be lying in wait for you when you graduate. And I tell you this not to spook you, but to prepare you for the frenetically fluid, intellectually sclerotic, rhetorically tempestuous, ideologically polarized and economically narcissistic rhetoric that will be clamouring for your attention when you finish law school. It’s a context that will try to cauterize your commitment and it will condescend to your compassion. Resist. How? By thinking about the other context, the humane one, that brought you into Pro Bono Students Canada’s fold.”

- Hon. Madam Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella, Supreme Court of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario