This is a joint project between the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Osgoode Hall & University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Name of Organization: Justice for Children and Youth
Website of Organization: https://jfcy.org/en/casa/
Organization’s Mandate: Justice for Children and Youth strives to protect and advance the legal rights and dignity of children and youth. Justice for Children and Youth provides legal advice, representation, and assistance to young people under the age of 18 and unstably housed adults up until the age of 25.
Project Name: Clinic and Legal Research Project
Project Type: Research (memoranda used for internal purposes only) & Client services (court forms, shadowing, mock hearings, intake, legal clinic, etc.)
Project Delivery: Remote
Description of Project: Students will work remotely with their assigned lawyer supervisor to assist them with their caseload which can include client-directed work and law reform work. 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 predominately 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, education 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.
Role of Student Volunteers: Students will complete legal research and assist with client intake under the supervision of a lawyer.
Role of Supervising Lawyer(s): The Supervising Lawyer will oversee the research submitted by the student and will provide guidance if questions arise. The lawyer supervisor will review and approve all final deliverables prior to use by the partner organization.
Type of Law:
- Poverty
- Housing
- Human Rights
- Constitutional
- Immigration and Refugee – Administrative
- Family
- Criminal
- Education
Main Project Deliverable: Creating produced content (e.g. research memos, brochures, podcasts, etc.)
Number of Student Placements: 3 students
Hours per week the student volunteer(s) will be expected to work: 4-5 hours/week
Regular shifts or a flexible schedule: Students will be required to commit to a four-hour shift where work will be completed remotely. Ideally shifts will be on a weekday from 9:30am-1:30pm or 1:00-5:00pm depending on the class schedules of the student volunteers.
Is there a workspace provided for the student at the Organization: Students will be working remotely.
Devices and technologies the students will be required to have: Computer, Internet access, Zoom, telephone
Is there an expectation for the student(s) to be bilingual: No, but the ability to speak different languages would be an asset.
Law School Pre-Requisites: None, but criminal law, family law, administrative law and poverty law knowledge help.
Other Requirements or Expectations:
- Legal Writing Interest
- Interest in gaining skills with client interview
- 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.