Welcome to season 7 of Jumping Off the Ivory Tower! For our season opener, (and our 75th episode!) we’re featuring a conversation with three Law Practice Program (LPP) candidates – “almost” lawyers – who, along with their classmates, participated in two extended sessions with a group of almost 20 self-represented litigants in the fall of 2021.
Jesse Frohlich
This was NSRLP’s first in-school program to include self-reps in a small group, discussion-based exploration of their experiences in the legal system. Judging by the comments of both the candidates and the self-reps, the program (developed by NSRLP along with Chris Bentley, LPP Director), was an outstanding success. Julie’s conversation with Jesse Frohlich, Laurene Williams and Zainab Asadullah reveals the insights and new understandings they discovered as a result of their structured conversations with up to four different self-reps.
Laurene Williams
Jesse Frohlich attended law school in Glasgow, Scotland and has always had a thirst for travel and adventure. He has been to more countries than years he’s been alive. When not on calls, Jesse can often be found with a record spinning next to his desk.
Zainab Asadullah
Laurene Williams is a Student-at-Law who is currently completing the second part of Ryerson’s Law Practice Program at the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors at Ryerson University. She previously completed post-graduate studies in Alternative Dispute Resolution and Human Resources Management at Humber College. Laurene enjoys volunteering and community engagement and is passionate about the advancement of those in her community.
Zainab Asadullah is a Student-at-Law at AA Law Group where she is learning the ropes of family law in a legal aid context. She is a long-time advocate against Islamophobia and hopes to apply her legal skills to serve underserved communities in Canada and the United States. You can find her on twitter at twitter.com/zainabdotcom.
In Other News
Charlotte Sullivan
Welcome to one of our new Other News “correspondents”: NSRLP Research Assistant and law student Charlotte Sullivan!
This week Charlotte discusses: a piece from the Law Times on expanding access to remote hearing technologies; and an op-ed discussing the recent proposal by the Law Society of Ontario to expand Family Legal Services Provider Licences to paralegals for certain specified services. (Unlike Ms. Boulby, NSRLP supports this proposal. We have posted extensively about this issue – see below for links to more information.)
“Ontario allots $65 million to expand access to remote hearing technology” (Law Times)
“COVID-19 and the courts: Feb. 21, 2022 update” (Canadian Lawyer)
“What access to justice looks like in family law” (Sarah Boulby opinion piece, The Lawyer’s Daily)
NSRLP’s “Letter in Support of Paralegals”
NSRLP’s “The Law Society of Ontario and Paralegals: A Timeline”
Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Charlotte Sullivan; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.
