NSRLP’s Advisory Board assembled in Windsor two weeks ago to review our work during 2016 (see the NSRLP Year in Review: 2016), and set priorities for 2017. As always, our annual face-to-face meeting produced a stimulating and productive discussion.
There was a strong sense among Board members that many of NSRLP’s 2016 projects – for example, the National Database of Professionals Assisting SRLs, as well as ongoing law school projects educating the lawyers of tomorrow about the realities of the self-representation phenomenon – were starting to have a real impact. In looking ahead to 2017, the Board weighed priorities including: developing a database to monitor the emerging SRL jurisprudence; developing new SRL resources for persons with disabilities; expanding the National Database of Professionals Assisting SRLs; and applying for intervenor status at the Supreme Court of Canada in the Pintea v Johns case (to be heard in April 2017).
The Board also heard from Nikki Gershbain, the Executive Director of Pro Bono Students Canada, who will begin working with us in January 2017 as our Law Foundation of Ontario Community Fellow. Nikki will be spearheading a curriculum development project to train lawyers to work as “legal coaches” with the primarily self-represented. Nikki aims to take the coaching concept (which came directly from SRL comments throughout the National SRL Study), and turn it into tenets of “best practice” via training for lawyers who wish to offer this service to clients.
At the end of the Board meeting, Julie Macfarlane, NSRLP’s Director commented: “We’ve achieved more this last year than ever before. The NSRLP is in a place to make a difference now, more than ever.”
i recently had the opportunity to read the latest release from ab/law. it seems the issue around judge camp and his unfortunate statement to the young woman in his presence who had been raped, will not stop for the legal system. the hue and cry about how we have NO EMPATHY for the poor fellow. is just astonishing. where was his sympathy for the rape victim when he famously asked why she couldn’t just keep her knees together. where is empathy in the court when the lawyers of this country are gloating about how they have gotten rid of the self represented? there is no empathy from the legal system at all. they are truly victimizing the public. yet here the same people are, wondering why we have no empathy for judge camp.. the absolute shameless attitude toward how we behave and how we can expect to be treated, seems missing. anyone else want to read this report and comment? this one might actually be worth some response.