Law Times • January 30, 2012
COMMENT
Page 7
Access to justice must play role in articling solutions
H
ere’s an interesting puzzle for you.
There’s a shortage of articling
positions in Ontario. At the same
time, organizations that provide
access to justice in a myriad of ways desperately need articling students but are unable to
pay for them. At the same time, hundreds of
law students are eager to do public interest
work but can’t find it. What’s the answer to
this conundrum?
Last month, the Law Society of Upper
Canada released a consultation report on the
future of articling that raises important questions for both the profession and the public.
The most serious concern is that there are far
fewer articling placements than law school
graduates.
The report presents a variety of options
for consideration. The consultation process
is underway, and I look forward to hearing
people’s perspectives. But it’s interesting that
one option canvassed in the report is the
creation of new articling posiby a number of law students to
tions with a possible focus on
pursue public interest law.
access to justice. The idea is that
The law foundation has
it’s possible to address both access
funded between six and 17
to justice and barriers to entering
positions annually since 2005.
the profession.
However, as the law society
The Law Foundation of
report noted, the law foundaOntario already funds two types
tion doesn’t have the financial
of articling positions that proresources to create the 200 posimote access to justice: public
tions that might close the gap
interest articling fellowships at
between articling applicants
organizations such as Amnesty
and available jobs. The direct
Mark Sandler
International and the Canadian
cost of funding 200 positions
Civil Liberties Association and
would undoubtedly be prothe connecting articling fellowhibitive. But the success of the
ships at community legal clinics serving rural program and the ever-increasing needs tell
areas and linguistic minorities.
us that access to justice must figure promiThese positions enable non-profit orga- nently in any solution to the articling crisis.
nizations and community clinics to extend
For example, one of the options suggested
their reach and advance their mandates in as an alternative to articling is a practical legal
ways that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. training course that students would pay to
In addition, they support the strong desire take. Could working at a non-profit public
Access to
Justice
Reprinted with permission.
© 2012 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd.
interest organization be a component of the
course?
Similarly, if law schools are involved in
delivering the course, as the LSUC report
suggests is a possibility, could they incorporate work to advance access to justice?
Most law schools already deliver experiential
learning that connects their students to those
in need in their communities, so this idea
builds on something that already exists.
I urge all law students, members of the
profession, and faculty to read the LSUC
report carefully and participate in the consultation. The articling crisis is real, but as
is often the case, is also a situation that may
provide an opportunity to create an innovative solution to the puzzle with benefits for
us all.
LT
u Toronto criminal lawyer Mark Sandler
chairs the board of trustees at the Law
Foundation of Ontario.