First survey ranking law firms supporting access to justice through pro bono work set for early 2023
Pro Bono Ontario has confirmed its participation as a partner for Canadian Lawyer’s new 5-Star Pro Bono Firms special report that will celebrate law firms providing important legal services to those who may not be able to afford it.
“We believe that everyone has a role to play in increasing access to justice in Canada,” says Gordon Currie, Chair of Pro Bono Ontario. “We are excited to partner with Canadian Lawyer Magazine on this initiative, the first of its kind in Canada, to measure and recognize the work that our law firms are doing to help people address their legal problems.”
Currie adds: “No matter how small some of these legal problems may seem, they are highly disruptive and destabilizing.”
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Pro Bono Ontario is an access-to-justice charity founded in 2001 and is one of six provincial pro bono organizations operating between British Columbia and Nova Scotia. Its mission is to harness the skills and commitment of volunteer lawyers to address low-income Ontarians’ unmet civil law problems to help them lead secure, healthy, and productive lives. The organization delivers on this mission by developing and directly managing pro bono programs that allow lawyers to provide high-quality legal services to those who cannot afford a lawyer or qualify for government-funded legal assistance.
Since its creation, PBO has provided direct legal services to 300,000 clients who had nowhere else to turn for their everyday legal problems.
The Canadian Lawyer special report on pro bono law firms will rank the law firms across the country on their institutional, firm-wide commitment to provide pro bono legal services to low-income and disadvantaged individuals. The survey will ask law firms to detail their pro bono efforts in 2022 and how they co-ordinate their lawyers’ pro bono activities.
As part of the Canadian Lawyer’s special reports process, legal professionals across Canada are invited to complete the survey when it goes online in the new year.