Law Student Volunteers
As part of our Legal Referral Service, law students from Dalhousie Law School through Pro Bono Students Canada, commit their time and growing legal knowledge throughout the school year, in the initial step of this program. They speak with reachAbility clients, record the relevant information, and help find a volunteer lawyer who will give the client their initial consultation. The law student positions are on a voluntary basis, whereby the students work from our office for a couple of hours once a week each. There are also ongoing projects and kits within Legal Programming, that law students are welcome to volunteer their time in.
John Landry
John Landry is the Coordinator for the reachAbility's Legal Referral Service. He has volunteered at reachAbility for the past year through Pro Bono Students Canada, and is working here on grant for the summer of 2007. John will then continue on at reachAbility as a volunteer, heading up the Legal Referral Service in the fall.
John has a joint Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English and Psychology from Trent University, and is now studying law at Dalhousie University. He learned about reachAbility through Pro Bono Students Canada and decided to volunteer so that he could get involved with the Halifax community, putting his "legal education to good use".
John says,
My experience at reachAbility is helping me refine my oral communication skills with clients, as well as my ability to pinpoint legal issues within a large quantity of information.
Samina Thind
Samina Thind is a volunteer for reachAbility's Legal Referral Service. She has volunteered at reachAbility for the past year (the Legal Referral Service runs throughout the school year on a volunteer basis, where one law student comes in for about two hours per day), and is working here on grant for the summer of 2007. Samina will then continue on at reachAbility as a volunteer for the Legal Referral Service throughout the 2007-2008 school year.
Samina has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Dalhousie University, and has continued on there, studying law. In wanting to do some volunteer work as a law student, Pro Bono Students Canada connected her with reachAbility.
Samina enjoys the challenge in finding lawyers for persons with disabilities, who need some advice on their legal issue. She appreciates the feedback and gratification of clients who have been helped in their quests. She feels it will help her in her future law pursuits, as she would like to continue working with persons with disabilities, and mental health disabilities in particular.
Samina says,
I am learning and understanding more about persons with disabilities just by volunteering with reachAbility.
You can get involved by Volunteering!
If you are studying law and would like to volunteer your time, while becoming more aware of disability-related issues, contact:
Legal Services -- (902) 429-5878 or legal@reachability.org.
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