Pleading their case

>>McGill's student-run legal clinic wants to fry some bigger fish. Too bad they're not allowed

by PHILIP PREVILLE

Fact: law students in other provinces are allowed to argue certain types of cases before the courts. Many law schools, such as Osgoode in Toronto and Dalhousie in Halifax, even have their own legal-aid clinics where students can work for credit.

In Quebec, however, law students have no such opportunity. They can't even give legal advice over the phone. They can only give "information": they can explain to people what their legal options are, but can't recommend one option over the other.

Over the years, the McGill Legal Information Clinic has mastered this limited task. Over 75 of McGill's 500-odd law students volunteer at the clinic, answering dozens of calls a day, setting people's minds straight, explaining what their rights are and what they can do to protect them.

But it's still a limited task, and the student-run clinic would like to do more. "We want to get our hands dirty a bit more," says law student Meg Steele, executive director of the McGill Clinic. "There's a call from students to get a bit more practical experience while we're still in school."

The Clinic has now established a committee to look into the possibility of expanding their role. In an ideal world, they'd set up a legal-aid-style clinic of their own for people who can't afford legal advice. But Steele says it will be an uphill battle: they would need the support of the law faculty and the university administration, not to mention the Quebec Bar Association--which sets the rules on what students can and cannot do.

Step up to the Bar

Law student Patrick McEvenue, Steele's predecessor as the McGill Clinic's director, says the Bar might be the biggest hurdle. "My theory is that lawyers want to protect any advice they can charge for," McEvenue says. "But with the kinds of people we're looking to serve, it's not as though we'd be stealing any well-paying clients."

McEvenue notes that fewer and fewer people in Quebec receive legal aid because the government has not changed the eligibility criteria since the 1970s: you can only receive legal aid if you earn less than $8,500 per year. "Basically, you have to earn less than minimum wage to receive legal aid," he says. "The Clinic refers people to legal aid all the time. Maybe we can help with the caseload."

The Bar denies that Quebec's rules are more stringent than other provinces, and says it would welcome the students' proposal. "I think they may have a point," says Bar spokesperson Leon Bedard. "The problem is that all practitioners must be insured, and no one will insure students. If someone is poorly represented, they need to be able to take action against their lawyer. The rules are there for the public's protection."

McEvenue and Steele are aware of the problem. In order to expand their operations, the Clinic would have to be supervised by a lawyer--which means it would no longer be 100 per cent student-run. It's a trade-off they're willing to consider.

As for poorly representing their clients, says McEvenue: "Perhaps the Bar is worried that students will give poor advice and bring the profession into disrepute, but it seems to me that lawyers already to a good job of that."

Anti-poverty roots

In the meantime, the Clinic is focusing on expanding its work in areas where they are allowed to operate, such as community advocacy. According to Steele, the clinic gets lots of calls about landlord disputes, employment rights and family-law issues--to the point where they know those laws inside out, and can pinpoint where problems most often arise. "We are allowed to bring together people who have similar problems, and we can help them organize themselves," says McEvenue. "We can also talk to our professors, who often consult with the government about amending laws, and tell them what kinds of problems might need fixing."

Says Steele: "The Clinic was originally conceived as an anti-poverty group, and we'd like to return to those roots." :

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