Speaking Truth to LSUC: Debt burden, Social Justice and the 2015 Bencher Election
When: Tues, March 17, Noon
Where: Farmer Conference Room
We need to talk. More specifically, the Law Society needs to talk to students about access to justice. The A2justice coalition for the first time is running a candidate for bencher in the April 30, 2015 bencher election.
Why should students care? The Law Society of Upper Canada has long been trying to manage a crisis that extends far beyond the problem of articling. The trajectory for social justice careers is dismal and diminishing in the face of a growing debt burden and stop gap measures meant to produce more lawyers without regard for how lawyering is done and whether social justice career options are even tenable in a growing sea of pro bono expectations.
A2justice is seeking to build a critical mass of support for a platform of issues to be presented in the upcoming bencher election. Catalyzed by important benchmarks such as the September 2014 Just or Bust report spearheaded by the LSSO, we are seeking to bring issues of training, pedagogy and structural problems of student debt financing front and center to LSUC as issues of access to justice and social justice law practice.
On March 17, 2015, we hope to hear your concerns and suggestions for how the Law Society should be responding to these issues. Bring your debt, bring your passion and bring your voice.
Visit our Bencher Platform and endorsement of Yavar Hameed for bencher at: a2justice.ca.