off to carnegie!
I start volunteering with LSLAP next week. I've been assigned to the Carnegie Clinic, my first choice, which means that I'll be spending at least two days a week in the Downtown Eastside (Tuesday nights at the LSLAP clinic, Thursday afternoons at the Learning Exchange). I'm psyched, because I've become really attached to the folks in the DTES over the last 8 months, and feel like this is something tangible I can give back to the community, rather than just siphoning off their knowledge when I hang out at the Learning Exchange.
Yet, I'm perturbed by the number of people (at the law school or from elsewhere in my life) who've reacted to my clinic assignment with disdain, concern, or outright fear. Why is it that when I mention Main & Hastings, someone inevitably responds with a story of walking home from the clubs surrounded by "junkies and dealers and drunkards"?
What's sad is that the DTES always gets singled out for "miscreant behaviour" even though drug & alcohol ab/use seethes throughout the rest of the Lower Mainland. Just because you can't see it behind those white picket fences doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Sometimes when I walk down Hastings, I think that it has even more of a community feel than other Vancouver neighbourhoods - if only because there are people out and about on the street.
Sigh. In any event, I can't help but wonder why they call LSLAP a poverty law clinic. Why can't it just be a "law clinic"? Granted, it serves low-income folks (an individual client can't have more than a $20,000 gross annual income). But we assist clients with a wide range of problems (i.e. representing clients in criminal court or small claims court, depending on the matter; and doing limited solicitor's work). I suppose it's called poverty law because it's meant to serve poor people. But the problems that our clients present aren't necessarily those related to income (i.e. illegal search & seizure, drug possession, breach of contract, property problems) - though their problems may certainly be worsened by poverty.
Maybe I'm just quibbling over semantics.
In any event, I'm sure I'll have more insights after next Tuesday.
Yet, I'm perturbed by the number of people (at the law school or from elsewhere in my life) who've reacted to my clinic assignment with disdain, concern, or outright fear. Why is it that when I mention Main & Hastings, someone inevitably responds with a story of walking home from the clubs surrounded by "junkies and dealers and drunkards"?
What's sad is that the DTES always gets singled out for "miscreant behaviour" even though drug & alcohol ab/use seethes throughout the rest of the Lower Mainland. Just because you can't see it behind those white picket fences doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Sometimes when I walk down Hastings, I think that it has even more of a community feel than other Vancouver neighbourhoods - if only because there are people out and about on the street.
Sigh. In any event, I can't help but wonder why they call LSLAP a poverty law clinic. Why can't it just be a "law clinic"? Granted, it serves low-income folks (an individual client can't have more than a $20,000 gross annual income). But we assist clients with a wide range of problems (i.e. representing clients in criminal court or small claims court, depending on the matter; and doing limited solicitor's work). I suppose it's called poverty law because it's meant to serve poor people. But the problems that our clients present aren't necessarily those related to income (i.e. illegal search & seizure, drug possession, breach of contract, property problems) - though their problems may certainly be worsened by poverty.
Maybe I'm just quibbling over semantics.
In any event, I'm sure I'll have more insights after next Tuesday.
posted by drunken monkey at 7:43 PM
3 Comments:
Really? I am excited for you! Carnegie has a lot of clients, and many of them go to court at 222 Main, which is fantastic experience for you. But LSLAP has the same low income criteria everywhere, so even in Richmond (where I volunteered last year) had some good cases where I really felt I was helping. Good luck!!
I'm also excited - and I'm glad you're excited for me! It'll be nice to put my legal education "to work", so to speak.
In any event, I think I was quibbling more about the semantics of describing LSLAP as a "poverty law clinic" than the actual clinic itself. I can't wait for next Tuesday...all my friends who've done their LSLAP clinic already say that it's the coolest feeling ever - to feel like you're actually helping people with their legal problems. I'll post more as I get more experience!
Hope you had fun at Carnegie! It's good to hear that people are having fun with LSLAP. It's really quite the amazing feeling after your first clinic and you realize that there are these people who are your clients with problems that they expect you to solve for them. Quite the burden, but it's also such a great thing to be able to help people with their problems.
Speaking of which, this is amazingly funny. I almost wish I wrote it.
Ah, LSLAP is a poverty law clinic because at its core, that's the service it provides. LSLAP helps out people who cannot afford lawyers and really have nowhere else to turn. The core of what LSLAP does is poverty law related - social assistance (welfare) appeals, EI appeals, WCB claims and appeals, wills for people who owns very little, but is still very important to them, CPP appeals, tenants' rights, so on and so forth. LSLAP also has a public education component to help people represent themselves in court. The poverty law clinic part of LSLAP is where LSLAP started and came from, and where LSLAP continues to be attached to in a major way. Hope that makes sense. :)
Post a Comment
<< Home