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PBSC-UVic Training Session
2011-2012
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PBSC Mandate
PBSC aims
(1)
to provide vulnerable communities
with legal services free of charge,
(2)
to provide law students with out-ofthe classroom legal experience, and
(3)
to instill the pro bono ethic in future
lawyers from their first day of law
school.
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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
 Runs
1500 volunteers nationwide
almost 500 projects every year
 Provides
120,000 hours of legal services each year
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PBSC Structure
National
Office
Local
Chapters
• PBSC has a National Office that supports and guides the work of
students hired to run PBSC’s 22 chapters from coast to coast
• 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
• 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
Program
experience with PBSC is an excellent one!
Coordinators
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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

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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
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2011-2012
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PBSC Timeline
September

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)
October

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
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First
Meeting
What to Discuss

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?
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Develop A
Work Plan
What it Should Contain
 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
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PBSC Timeline
November

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!
December
 Exam Time. We
have
made it clear to your
Organization that this
month, you will not be
working on your PBSC
project. Good luck!
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PBSC Timeline
January
 Resume Work
Project
February
on Your
 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
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PBSC Timeline
March
 Submit Your
Final
Project (if Applicable)
before the Exam
Period Begins
 Attend
PBSC’s Final
Appreciation Event!
 Complete
PBSC’s online, End of Year
Survey
April
 Your
project should be
completed and
submitted at this point,
so you can focus on
your exams.
Potential Challenges You
Might Face:
 Time
Management
 Disengagement
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 Withdrawal
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Legal Information
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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

Legal information is a
general, objective
description of the state of
the law and not based on a
specific set of facts
Legal Advice

Legal advice is a subjective
opinion about how the law
applies to a specific set of
facts
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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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Conclusion
 We
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/victo
ria
 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