Vancouver, British Columbia, April 21, 2022 – Access Pro Bono has released a Call for Support document in aim of raising funds for its innovative Everyone Legal Clinic.

The Clinic launches in May 2022 as a world-first virtual public interest law teaching clinic and legal practice incubator, and as one of the first projects approved by the Law Society of BC’s Innovation Sandbox. It aims to increase access to justice for all British Columbians, regardless of their identity, income or location, while also increasing the diversity of BC’s legal profession.

In the Clinic’s first year of operations, 25 articling students and five new notaries will receive unprecedented skills training, before providing free and affordable legal services to several thousand British Columbians. Dozens of volunteer lawyer mentors will join 16 supervising lawyers and several APB staff to remotely train, manage and support the 30 clinicians as they complete their legal training.

The Clinic prioritizes the admission of law graduates who self-identify as members of one or more of the following groups:

• Indigenous People
• People of Colour and racialized individuals
• People with disabilities
• LGBTQ2S+ people

The Clinic also prioritizes law graduates who seek to practice in an underserved BC community, and who have previous clinical experience serving vulnerable people. It will provide a supportive and engaging educational experience for law graduates with foreign credentials. The Clinic’s first cohort of 25 articling students is a diverse and accomplished group that is 75% BIPOC and 25% Indigenous.

“The Everyone Legal Clinic is practical, and aims to stimulate innovation and diversity among new legal service providers. It could be replicated throughout Canada, and it has evaluation and knowledge sharing components to inform other access to justice initiatives.

I am delighted that the McLachlin Fund was able to provide support for this project, and I hope others will follow suit.”

— The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, 17th Chief Justice of Canada