We are pleased to announce our newest Access to Justice All-Stars: the team at Rise Women’s Legal Centre of Vancouver! Since May 2016, Rise has been helping women in the community in a substantial and impressive way, offering services in family law, wills drafting, and immigration applications for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. The Rise team provides these legal services to those self-identifying as women, including women who support themselves by selling or trading sex. Rise legal services are primarily provided by senior law students from the University of British Columbia, under the supervision of fully licensed lawyers. The students are able to offer unbundled legal services, court representation, assistance with preparation for court, and referrals.
This work is part of an effort to increase Access to Justice for the large proportion of the BC community that has been historically underserved. This requires innovation and creativity. “We are constantly trying new things and adapting and tweaking the program to try and improve our ability to assist our clients while leveraging whatever resources are available to us,” Kim Hawkins, the Centre’s Executive Director, told us.
Legal aid services are disproportionately accessed by women, who have been most affected by significant cuts to British Columbia’s legal aid program since 2002. Lindsay, whose story is featured on the Rise website, said this about the Legal Centre and its services: “I felt validated, heard, and most importantly I felt seen. […] I met with my legal student . . . she, together with her mentor, did more for me in an hour than all of the lawyers I had been dealing with over the last 11 years. They put all of their heart, soul and enthusiasm and effort into getting results for their clients – really showing through their performance the desire to excel in the legal field.” Rise is, “far more than a legal centre, it is a place to connect, a community of like-minded legal professionals who are truly making a difference by advocating on behalf of people, who without them, may have to settle for the current situation they are in.”
In integrating students into their practice, Rise provides a tremendous opportunity not only for women in need of legal help, but also to UBC’s law students. The students involved will leave law school with a deep understanding of the social injustices that are faced by women and self-represented litigants. Rise is both promoting Access to Justice, and influencing the future of the legal profession by increasing student understanding of the SRL phenomenon, and how to work effectively with SRLs in their own practice.
Great work Rise Women’s Legal Centre – and congratulations!
Written by Kaila Scarrow, NSRLP RA
Great work! I’m wondering if a similar program is offered in Toronto, Ontario.