Past and current DLS student caseworkers reflect on their experiences and their impacts on the community
As part of the U of T Law reunion on October 20, 2022, the Faculty of Law celebrated the 50th anniversary of Downtown Legal Services (DLS), U of T Law’s community legal clinic and clinical education program which provides legal services to over 2,000 low-income families and residents in Toronto every year. After opening remarks by Dean Jutta Brunnée, DLS Director Prasanna Balasundaram moderated a panel discussion with student caseworker Nina Patti (2L) and former client Rossana Ibarra.
Each year, approximately 140 law students provide legal services under supervising lawyers through DLS to University students and low-income families and residents of Toronto, including those who are particularly vulnerable and at the intersection of overlapping social barriers. The DLS clinical legal education program focuses on a critical and reflective legal practice that seeks to challenge the underlying social realities of the law and legal institutions.Ultra Vires reached out to current and former student caseworkers to ask about their roles in DLS and their impacts on the community. We posed the following question: what is something from your experience that will stick with you throughout law school and your career beyond?
Fatima Aamir (2L, Summer 2022 and Fall 2022 Full-Time Caseworker, Immigration and Refugee Division)
One thing that I have learnt from my clinic/poverty law experience is that low-income people brush up against the law multiple times. They often face multiple, overlapping oppressions, such as precarious immigration status, temporary housing, and exploitative working conditions. Race, class, and gender often intersect to produce many of these vulnerabilities. When you’re poor, you’ll encounter the law more frequently, which takes a lot out of you. From filling out social assistance forms and updating those forms when you change your housing situation, to keeping careful track of documents and evidence, that most people would normally throw away, because of an ongoing immigration matter. All of these are things that poor, marginalized people have to stay on top of. To merely exist within the administrative state as a poor, marginalized person requires much that you don’t see.
I have learnt that clinic lawyers can help support people through these frustrating realities—I have learned to be proactive about checking in with clients regularly to make sure they are feeling heard, and if I am unable to support them in something, to be proactive about seeking referrals that address their concerns. I have also learnt about managing client expectations and the importance of not overpromising anything to a client. It’s been really hard for me personally because I always want to reassure clients and not have them worry. Still, my client experiences at DLS have taught me that part of being empathetic is understanding that they are frustrated and not worsening those frustrations by promising them an outcome that you cannot guarantee. The unfortunate reality is that the law is never applied evenhandedly or neutrally, as law school might have you believe. Depending on the decision-maker, outcomes can differ rather markedly, so I think it’s important to assure clients that you’re trying your best to reduce that randomness, but ultimately you cannot guarantee them an outcome.
Justin Nathens (2L, Summer 2022 and Fall 2022 Full-Time Caseworker, Criminal Law & University Offences Division)
I have worked with DLS since 1L when I volunteered for the record suspensions program. Working with clients to navigate the criminal legal system has intensified my understanding of its oppressive nature and disproportionate deleterious impacts on low-income and otherwise marginalized communities. My experience at DLS has motivated me to pursue a career in criminal defence work, ideally continuing to work with low-income clients, so that I can play a role in mitigating these impacts.
Further, working as a DLS caseworker elucidates the access to justice crisis. The legal system is incredibly obtuse, and designed for the convenience of Crowns, judges, and court staff. Aside from limited interactions with duty counsel, self-represented accused get very little help in navigating the system, and often receive worse resolution outcomes. Witnessing the ways in which the Court treats self-represented accused emphasizes the cruelty of the legal system and has impressed upon me the unfairness inherent to the criminal process.”
Marie Fiedler (3L, 2022–23 Part-Time Caseworker, Housing Division)
Had it not been for my clinic experience, I would not have had the opportunity to learn tenant defence law. While Property Law is a mandatory class for 1Ls at U of T Law, at most, I’ve heard of professors dedicating one day of class to landlord-tenant law. DLS is one of the only opportunities that U of T Law students have to gain substantive and practical knowledge in many areas within poverty law.
Shae Rothery (3L, Summer 2021 and Fall 2021 Full-Time Caseworker, Employment Law & Academic Appeals Division)
Following my time as a student caseworker, I’ve recognized just how unique of an opportunity DLS provides for students like myself to gain hands-on legal experience to complement our law school education. DLS provided me with an incredible opportunity to learn on my feet and work through legal issues alongside staff lawyers and peers in a supportive and non-judgmental environment. The staff lawyers at DLS are particularly attuned to the needs of students—striking a balance through their supervision between supporting caseworkers and providing us with the trust and autonomy needed to grow on our own. Beyond substantive law, DLS allowed me to learn the practice of law by working one-on-one with staff lawyers and clients at the clinic. The habits and skills I developed as a DLS caseworker followed me into subsequent work as a law student, and I hope to continue carrying these into my career beyond law school.
Harry Myles (3L, Fall 2021 Full-Time Caseworker, Housing Division)
Working at DLS was an incredible experience in teaching me practical legal skills while illustrating the failures of our legal system to adequately address the housing crisis and confront the overwhelming power differential between landlords and tenants. The resilience and solidarity of my clients was truly inspiring and reinforced my career ambitions to support communities against exploitation and oppression.
