What are the goals of PBSC?
For organizations and lawyers: to provide under-represented and disadvantaged communities with pro bono legal services and to give public interest organizations and agencies access to highly skilled and committed volunteers.
For law students: to encourage students to volunteer in their communities, to provide students an opportunity to put their skills into practice, and to assist law students in assessing viable career options.
How can PBSC help you?
As a non-profit organization, you may have legal questions but lack the financial resources to compensate legal counsel. PBSC student volunteers have the skills to research your legal issues at no cost to your organization. We will match you with students who meet the skill and interest requirements for your projects.
Student work must be supervised by a lawyer. If your organization does not have a lawyer on staff, PBSC can find a lawyer to supervise the student’s work at no cost to you.
What kind of projects can students undertake?
- Client intake and interviewing
- Contribute to advocacy work
- Draft manuals for internal use at your organization
- Perform public legal education, including presenting workshops and writing brochures
- Produce policy or background papers
- Provide legal information for clients
- Provide litigation support to lawyers working pro bono on a particular case
- Research legal issues relevant to your organization’s work
- Update materials, including conducting by-law research
PBSC cannot provide legal advice and should not be used as a substitution for consultation with a lawyer.
Commitment
Students are expected to contribute 3-5 hours per week to the PBSC program. In return, we ask your organization to ensure that the student will have adequate and relevant responsibilities while volunteering their time.
How to Benefit
- Contact the program coordinators who will be happy to answer any questions, mail you an application, or visit your office to discuss projects.
- Submit a Project Description Form (PDF, 619KB) to the program coordinators ([email protected]) and provide us with a clear description of the project or projects you have in mind for student involvement.
- Sign the Organization Agreement Form (PDF, 643KB)
Please note that our projects begin in October and run until the end of March. If you would like a student to begin working with your organization at another time of the year, please contact us directly.
