Dean Camille Cameron welcomed a group of five local SRLs to Windsor Law on March 3rd for “Bring a SRL to School Day”. Noting that two of the group had previously used the school’s law library and had been assisted by the school’s law librarians, Dean Cameron underlined Windsor Law’s commitment to make its library accessible to the public. This set the tone for the day, which was welcoming and inclusive for the SRL guests.
Over the course of the day, Derek Parry, Hedi Tremblay, Jason Nassr, Jim Johnston and Lori Murphy attended classes in Evidence, Family Law, Contracts Law and The Legal Profession, and engaged in discussion with faculty and students. At lunchtime, a panel of three SRLs described to students what they believed that that future lawyers needed to know and to understand about the SRL experience.
The SRLs were enthusiastic students – “I really enjoyed my day!” – “loved all the classes!” Law student and NSRLP RA Erin Chesney commented: “Bring a SRL to School Day was a very educational experience for both the SRL participants and the students. The SRLs in my courses were able to hold their own and actively contribute to the class discussions using their lived experience. From talking with the SRLs, they felt that their input was valued and they thoroughly enjoyed soaking in all the legal education that they could.” Reflecting on the lunchtime panel presentations, her colleague Tamara Thomas said that the day “brought into sharp relief how dehumanizing the legal process can be, and how quickly we can forget that we are not dealing with a computable set of factors, but with real human beings.”
NSRLP will be working to promote an annual Bring a SRL to Law School Day in law schools across Canada. Please contact Julie at julie.macfarlane@uwindsor.ca if you are interested in discussing how your own school might organize such an event.
