00:06if you broke your arm you probably go to
00:10the hospital if you had a persistent
00:13cough you might go to a doctor or a
00:15medical clinic but what if you had a
00:18legal problem I don't mean that you've
00:21been arrested or charged with a crime
00:22but what if your landlord sent you an
00:25eviction notice or you found out that
00:27you're being sued or you simply wanted
00:31to make arrangements for end-of-life
00:32care would you know where to turn and
00:36would you be able to afford the services
00:38you need for far too many people the
00:42answer is no I want to convince you that
00:46we should all care about access to
00:48justice now what do I mean by access to
00:51justice simply that you're able to use
00:53the legal system to plan your life and
00:56to resolve disputes now let me tell you
00:59why I care about access to justice you
01:03see I've wanted to be a lawyer since I
01:04was about 12 years old I remember we had
01:09a mock trial in my grade 6 class it was
01:12a treason trial and I was defense
01:14counsel and at the end of the day we won
01:17my client was acquitted and I was hooked
01:21I loved the feeling of being part of
01:24justice being done now fast forward
01:28about 15 years I'm now a lawyer working
01:31in Vancouver and here's the scene that
01:34played out in front of me one day I was
01:36in court waiting for my case to be heard
01:38and up at the front was a woman she was
01:42representing herself without a lawyer
01:43and trying to convince the judge of
01:46something I could tell that the case had
01:49to do with her mortgage there was a
01:51lawyer for the bank there on the other
01:53side too but she was having real
01:56problems with the process and the judge
02:00was getting visibly frustrated now
02:03here's the thing I knew this woman's
02:06story because I had seen her a year
02:09before at a free legal clinic
02:12yet here she was one year later still
02:16trying to deal with her legal problem
02:18still without a lawyer this was the
02:23exact opposite of all those feelings I
02:24loved from that mock trial here the
02:28process was slow and frustrating and at
02:31the end of the day nothing had really
02:32changed when I practiced I had a number
02:36of pro bono clients that is clients for
02:39whom I didn't charge a fee these people
02:42had problems with their landlord or
02:45disputes arising from a family business
02:47many of my clients were women whose
02:51marriages had broken down and whose
02:53husbands had left them with major debt
02:56problems now these weren't
02:58multimillion-dollar problems but they
03:01were big problems for the people who had
03:04them there's an Albert Einstein quote
03:07that captures it well in matters of
03:09truth and justice there is no difference
03:13between large and small problems for
03:16issues concerning the treatment of
03:18people are all the same when I first met
03:22many of these clients they looked tired
03:26and worn out from having to deal with
03:28not only their legal problem but also
03:31from having to try and understand the
03:33legal system now I felt good about being
03:36able to help them understand the law and
03:38help them deal with their legal problem
03:40but the fact is none of them could have
03:43afforded my services my parents couldn't
03:47have afforded my services so I left my
03:52job as a lawyer I returned to school I'm
03:55now doing a PhD and access to justice
03:57trying to improve a legal system that
03:59I've come to see as broken that's why I
04:03care about access to justice now why
04:06should you care by a show of hands who
04:12here has ever signed a rental agreement
04:14go on put up your hands okay how about
04:18bought insurance for anything
04:22how about know somebody who's divorced
04:26how about ever clicked I agree on a new
04:30piece of SAP software a new app without
04:33reading the agreement first okay
04:36almost everybody right but if you've
04:40done any of these things you've done
04:43something that could lead to a legal
04:45problem and research shows that almost
04:5045% of Canadian adults
04:52that's almost 12 million people have had
04:56a legal problem in the last three years
04:58alone and that same research shows that
05:02the vast vast majority of these people
05:05over 90% did not go to a lawyer to deal
05:10with that legal problem and with average
05:13lawyer rates in the hundreds of dollars
05:16an hour this isn't surprising but by
05:20dealing with a legal problem on your own
05:23that can lead to poor health stress
05:27worse legal outcomes or simply giving up
05:31and accepting an injustice
05:39we should all care about access to
05:42justice because most of us will have a
05:45legal problem at some point we just
05:48don't think it's going to happen to us
05:51now here's another reason to care I've
05:55mentioned that legal problems are very
05:57common but the people who are most
05:59severely affected by them are those who
06:02are at or near the margins of society
06:04people who have the fewest resources
06:07with which to oppose injustice recall
06:11the words of Martin Luther King jr. that
06:13an injustice anywhere is a threat to
06:16justice everywhere being able to stand
06:21up against injustice is an important
06:25part of maintaining our human dignity
06:27and believing that your legal system
06:30isn't stacked in favor of the rich and
06:32powerful those who can afford lawyers is
06:35a cornerstone of our society
06:38and of our democracy the Chief Justice
06:42of Canada has called access to justice
06:45the biggest problem facing the legal
06:48profession and I think she's right so
06:53what do we do first let me speak to
06:56those of you who are lawyers law
06:59students paralegals advocates are in
07:01some way connected with the legal system
07:05we need to change how we do things too
07:08often people see the legal system and
07:11law as inaccessible and out of reach
07:15it's like a castle with high walls and
07:19doors that are closed to anybody who
07:21isn't a legal insider or doesn't have
07:23plenty of money this needs to change
07:27does this mean that everybody needs a
07:30no but everybody should know where to
07:35turn if they have a legal problem and
07:37they shouldn't be afraid to do so as
07:40lawyers I think we have an obligation to
07:43make sure that the public believes and
07:46truly believes that the justice system
07:49is fair we can help achieve this by
07:53trying to demystify the law by
07:56broadening who provides legal services
07:58and by making those services more
08:00affordable how well here are four ideas
08:04first collaborate with doctors or social
08:09workers or community agencies and try
08:12and bring law to the people who have
08:14legal problems out in the community
08:17second if you're drafting a contract use
08:21plain language that anybody can
08:23understand third if you're a senior or
08:28retired lawyer donate your time to
08:31mentor a young lawyer who's trying to
08:34improve access and fourth and perhaps
08:37most important dedicate your career in
08:40some way to improving access to justice
08:50so for all of the people who already do
08:54some of these things and there are many
08:57who provide free or low-cost legal
08:59services or who work for legal aid work
09:03in the community or help improve access
09:05to justice in some way thank you for
09:08what you do but the point is that many
09:12of us can do much more so if you're a
09:17lawyer a paralegal and advocate and
09:19particularly if you're a law student I
09:22challenge you to be thoughtful to be
09:26creative and to be bold I challenge you
09:30to broaden and deepen access to your
09:32services particularly for those who need
09:35those services the most and now for
09:38everybody else here are two things first
09:43take notice and second demand change by
09:48take notice I mean don't be cynical or
09:52apathetic about justice a justice system
09:55that is truly accessible is worth
09:57working for and so the next time that
10:00you feel hard done by or cheated or
10:04frustrated take note of that feeling if
10:07it's happened to you it'll happen to
10:09somebody else and the next time that you
10:12see a friend or family members
10:14struggling with an injustice take notice
10:16of that and then demand change just as
10:20we need to change attitudes within the
10:22legal profession we also need to change
10:24attitudes in society more generally it's
10:29time to tear down the walls between the
10:32legal profession and the public we need
10:35to dismantle the idea of law as an
10:47how do we do this well there are many
10:51possible ways but how about this what
10:57about universal legal coverage similar
10:59to universal health care when I ask you
11:04the first questions today what would you
11:06do if you broke your arm or had a
11:07persistent cough you all had an answer
11:11but a hundred years ago before health
11:14care became part of the fabric of
11:16the answer is wouldn't have been that
11:18obvious today we have a health system
11:22that according to a survey done in 2012
11:25is a point of pride for more than 90% of
11:28Canadians and people across the country
11:31use it every day isn't justice worth a
11:35similar commitment and if we know that
11:39everybody is likely to have a legal
11:41problem at some point in their lives but
11:44that they're also not going to
11:45anticipate those problems shouldn't we
11:47do something to help them protect
11:48themselves here's what it could look
11:51like you could pay into a system either
11:53voluntarily or through your taxes that
11:56would provide free or low-cost legal
11:59counseling if and when you need it and
12:01also provide high quality legal
12:03representation if you need that to
12:06defend the lawsuit or change your will
12:09or fight an eviction now if you think
12:15that this is far-fetched remember that
12:18many countries encourage people to save
12:20for retirement through special features
12:23of their tax code that have special
12:26provisions for retirement investments
12:28and here in Canada and many other
12:31countries the health system is funded in
12:33whole or in part through your taxes and
12:36since your taxes already pay for courts
12:40shouldn't they pay for your ability to
12:43be able to access the legal system when
12:45you need it now I don't have all the
12:48answers but my point is this having a
12:52serious conversation about legal
12:55services for everyone
12:57is worthwhile right now it's not part of
13:02the public debate but with the change in
13:05attitudes that could change the idea of
13:10a truly accessible justice system is
13:13something that's so far away that most
13:16of us haven't given it any thought but
13:19everyday justice affects us all and I
13:23believe that it is possible to get there
13:26from here thank you very much
