Vancouver labour lawyer offers free notarization services downtown
Abudi Awaysheh believes in the importance of labour law. As a student at the University of Western Ontario, he served as an organizer and chief steward for his graduate student workers’ union, a Public Service Alliance of Canada local. After graduating from law school, he spent more than a decade in-house at PSAC, handling labour matters across the country. However, he was dissatisfied with several aspects of his practice.
The first was the politics involved in working with labour unions, which Awaysheh says can sometimes overshadow the legal aspects of working in the field. The second was how “things took so much time,” he says.
“Lastly, I wasn’t representing anybody, really, from my community,” Awaysheh says, adding from what he’s observed in Vancouver, where he practises, “most Muslims don't have unionized jobs. I wasn't really able to reach that many people just doing unionizing work.”
To remedy his predicament, Awaysheh did two things. First, he launched his own law firm this year, Awaysheh Law, which specializes in labour law as well as matters involving family law, employment law, and human rights law.
In January, Awaysheh also began offering pro bono legal services, including free notarizations, nearly every Friday at the Ajyal Islamic Centre in downtown Vancouver. The centre holds three services on Fridays to ensure that all congregants get a chance to participate in a customary community prayer. Awaysheh typically attends the first prayer service and meets with potential clients after.
Awaysheh says he feels uniquely positioned to help members of his community. In addition to being fluent in both English and Arabic, he was born and raised in Damascus, with stints in Montreal and Ottawa before he moved to London to study at Western – a background that he says gives him insight into the specific needs of Muslim immigrants.
“I have the ability to operate in both cultures,” Awaysheh says.
He adds that his pro bono services are open to anyone in need, noting that he has also provided notarization services to Christian and Hindu clients.
Awaysheh didn’t always plan to be a lawyer. After earning a bachelor of science degree from Western, he pursued a master’s degree in pathology with the aim of becoming a science professor. That dream fizzled out, however, after a supervisor told him the realities of the academic job market made it unlikely he would ever achieve his goal.
The idea to pursue law came when Awaysheh was working with his graduate student union and met a labour lawyer for the first time. He eventually received his law degree from the University of Victoria Faculty of Law and went on to work at both WorkSafeBC and PSAC before launching Awaysheh Law this year.
Awaysheh says he’s still “figuring out logistics” for the legal services he provides on Fridays. While he is excited about his firm's future, he also emphasized the role of his Friday services in ensuring that many members of the Muslim community have access to a lawyer.
“That’s what I do. Ten percent of my time, I’ve given to my community,” he says. “Because I think that's the right thing to do.”