Law Students
Student Volunteers
First year students who engage in PBSC placements quickly learn practical skills that cannot be had from classes and texts. They develop confidence as legal scholars, and they rapidly improve their ability to deal with clients, to dissect complex legal issues, and to answer difficult questions of law.
Upper year students enrich the program’s knowledge base, and can be effective mentors to first year participants. Moreover, upper year students benefit from the mentorship experience as they develop their own leadership skills and engage with the law from a new perspective.
A student is required to work from three hours a week to ten hours a week on a project during the academic year. Projects usually last from late September to March (with a break in December for exams).
Once a match is made students are required to attend a training session at the beginning of the academic year and sign agreements that they will act professionally with regards to the project. During the school year, students will be required to meet with the PBSC Coordinator. The PBSC office will also ask students to fill out evaluation forms periodically during the year to see how placements are going and what support the PBSC office can provide.
Other requirements of students are to act professionally when dealing with their organization. A student who is unable to meet a deadline or attend a scheduled meeting must clearly inform the affected organization so that alternative arrangements can be made. Beyond that, students are required to enjoy themselves and to try to learn as much as they can while working with their organization.
“This year I was placed at an organization that helps newly arrived immigrants and refugees access services and navigate immigration procedures. The experience has been very beneficial. Not only have I gained practical legal experience but I have also found a field of law that I’m interested in pursuing as a career. Pro Bono is a great program because it supplements the theoretical knowledge acquired in class with real-life experience that brings everything into focus.”
- Mairi Springate, PBSC student at McGill, placed with Montreal City Mission in 2006-2007
Student Coordinators
PBSC coordinators can have a tremendous impact on students, law schools, the legal community, and the greater community. As PBSC coordinators, you set an example to law students through your dedication and commitment to the pro bono ethic. You visibly represent PBSC to faculty, students, public interest organizations and lawyers. You are the force that mobilizes volunteers, earns the confidence of faculty, lawyers and project supervisors, and provides organizations with much-needed resources.
You need to inspire and to motivate students in all years to join PBSC. Many first year students have only the haziest notion of what it means to be a lawyer, and they often lack confidence working with precedents or statutes and doing legal research. Yet first year students who engage in PBSC placements quickly learn practical skills that cannot be had from classes and texts. They develop confidence as legal scholars, and they rapidly improve their ability to deal with clients, to dissect complex legal issues, and to answer difficult questions of law. Upper year students enrich the program’s knowledge base, and can be effective mentors to first year participants. Moreover, upper year students benefit from the mentorship experience as they develop their own leadership skills and engage with the law from a new perspective.
You have the chance to put your mark on your school’s program; a mark that will potentially affect generations of students to come. Don’t miss this opportunity; embrace it.
“My experience as PBSC coordinator has shown me how much law students can do to support their community, and I am eager to see how our contributions as lawyers will influence access to justice in the years to come.”
Azure-Dee Farago, University of Saskatchewan PBSC Coordinator 2005-2007
