Lisa Trabucco is an Assistant Professor at Windsor Law, with a special interest in access to justice and paralegals. In this week’s episode, Julie talks to Lisa about her just-completed doctoral dissertation, “The Regulation of Paralegals in Ontario: Increased Access to Justice?” Lisa’s study explored the work of paralegal representatives at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, and while the data is not yet clear on whether more people have access to justice as a result of the additional choice of a paralegal, Lisa’s empirical research shows that paralegal outcomes at the tribunal compare very favourably with those achieved by lawyer representatives.

As we wait for the outcome from the Law Society of Ontario’s consultation on expanding the scope of paralegal practice to some family matters (second time around after the Bonkalo Report in 2016), we ask: if the regulator says no again, will there be a revolution among family litigants who cannot afford the (most costly) services of a lawyer?

In Other News - Guest Other News Correspondent Randi Druzin shares the following stories: Ontario Superior Court in Windsor recently denied a man interim custody of his kids because of his views on COVID-19 – some legal experts view this ruling as significant because it articulates new standards and language specific to COVID-19; a recent Lawyer’s Daily advice column advocates legal coaching for lawyers looking to scale back their practices while still helping people with legal problems; in June the UK’s Access to Justice Foundation will hold walks in various locations to raise money for frontline legal advice services, a fundraiser especially necessary in light of the strain placed on the system by the pandemic.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/the-long-wait-for-paralegals-in-ontario/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Randi Druzin; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

The Long Wait for Family Paralegals In Ontario

On today’s episode Julie talks to Heather Savigny, formerly Professor of Gender Studies at De Montfort University in Leicester in the United Kingdom. Heather supported a student – whom she had witnessed being sexually harassed by a male faculty member at a departmental social – in bringing a complaint. The result was not what Heather expected: she ended up leaving the university after being bullied and threatened with discipline for supporting the student, who was distraught when the man who harassed her returned to work despite the complaint being upheld. Heather’s experience is unfortunately consistent with what many students and faculty who become involved in trying to hold faculty sexual harassers to account describe.

Heather’s most recent book, Cultural Sexism: The Politics of Feminist Rage in the #MeToo Era, is published by Bristol University Press.

In Other News - Guest Other News Correspondent Randi Druzin shares the following stories: on March 18th, the Canadian government announced its support for Éducaloi, an organization that works for better access to justice in Quebec; in Ontario, the provincial government has announced a new multi-year plan, “Justice Accelerated,” to speed up access to the justice system; and The National Collaboration for Youth Mental Health has purchased the rights to the screenplay for “The Vexatious Litigant,” a satirical comedy about the life of a self-represented litigant who cannot afford a lawyer and who struggles to gain access to the justice system.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/how-universities-fail-to-protect-students/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Randi Druzin; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

How Universities Fail to Protect Students

Today’s episode features the story of a family self-represented litigant, who was originally represented by two different lawyers. She spent $20,000 on her first lawyer – resolving an uncontentious custody issue – but made no progress toward child support or division of assets. The second lawyer cost her another $25,000 – and still didn’t resolve child support, division of assets, or divorce. Her best efforts to obtain any information about what her money had been spent on, or to hold her lawyers to account via their professional regulator (the Law Society of Ontario) led… nowhere. Jana Saracevic and Nancy Cameron Q.C. comment.

Among other things, this story illustrates the shortcomings of the Law Society of Ontario’s Compensation Fund, which offers no protection for many forms of negligence, only dishonesty, which is narrowly defined. There are no public reports describing how many claims are received and how many are met.

In Other News: Guest Other News Correspondent Jordan Furlong focuses today on breaking news from the Law Society of Ontario: The Law Society’s Technology Task Force has released a report calling for the establishment of a Regulatory Sandbox for Innovative Technological Legal Services. (A Regulatory Sandbox is essentially a safe space for innovation, to try out new types of services that are prohibited by current regulations but look like they could be beneficial to the public.) The report includes a motion to be brought before Convocation later this month for approval of the Sandbox for a five-year pilot-program period.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/what-is-my-lawyer-spending-my-money-on/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Jordan Furlong; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

What is My Lawyer Spending My Money On?

Zelda Perkins exploded into public view in 2017, the first woman to break a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) signed with Harvey Weinstein decades earlier. Zelda worked as a Production Assistant for Miramax and for several years worked directly with Harvey Weinstein on his film projects. 

Zelda describes signing the non-disclosure agreement in her early twenties as feeling like having “guns pointed at me from every side” – by Weinstein’s lawyer but also by her own lawyer, who told her that she had no alternative but to sign. Over the years she regretted this over and over again – she found she could not explain to prospective employers why she had left Miramax, and her career in Hollywood film production effectively ended. She also began to hear about numerous other allegations against Weinstein and realized that his behaviour was serial, and that he had gone far beyond harassment and raped a number of women. She began to look for a journalist and a publication that were willing to break the story and risk the wrath of the most powerful man in Hollywood at the time. She knew that she could face an aggressive legal response from Weinstein if she broke her NDA – but she was ready.

Since then, others inspired by her example have spoken up about the widespread use of NDAs to gag those who could warn about serial harassers, rapists, and bullies.  

In other news: Guest Other News Correspondent Jordan Furlong gives an update on news earlier this month about the possibility of a legal regulatory sandbox in Ontario: since our last episode the Law Society of Ontario has approved the sandbox pilot! Jordan explains what happened at the LSO, including some of the objections raised to the sandbox, and he reflects on what comes next: “We don’t really know, and while that’s kind of scary to some people, for me, it’s more exhilarating. It means we finally have a chance for Canada’s largest province to really encourage innovation in legal services, with a goal towards improving access. And that’s manifestly a goal worth taking chances for.”

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/ndas-protecting-abusers-since-the-90s/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Jordan Furlong; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

NDAs: Protecting Abusers Since the '90s

Trevor Farrow is a well-known Access to Justice advocate and researcher who has been pushing forward system change in the justice system via the Canadian Civil Justice Forum, which he heads. Randi Druzin is an author and freelance journalist, who has had her own self-represented litigant journey, and is a passionate advocate for system change. Their conversation opens with Randi asking Trevor, “but isn’t the pace of change glacial?” and they go on to discuss what research can contribute to new ideas and innovations that focus on the users, the role of research, how to get “buy-in” to change from insiders, and continuing prejudices against SRLs.

In other news: Guest Other News Correspondent Katie Pfaff focuses on Bill C-3, which requires sexual assault training for new judges, and has now become law; the bill requires the Canadian Judicial Council to report on continuing education seminars offered on matters related to sexual assault law and social context. It also amends the Criminal Code to require judges to state their reasoning for their decision in sexual assault proceedings on the record. Katie also brings us the related story of the federal government’s new multi-million-dollar budgetary commitments to investments promoting women’s socioeconomic equality (including early learning and the childcare system), and a national initiative promoting independent legal advice and representation for sexual assault survivors, and pilot programs for intimate partner violence survivors.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/legal-system-change-are-we-still-just-tinkering/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Katie Pfaff; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

Legal System Change: Are We Still Just Tinkering?

Today’s podcast focuses on the experiences of people with cognitive disabilities (PWCD) who are trying to navigate the courts without a lawyer. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have heard increasingly from SRLs with cognitive disabilities about their lack of accommodation from the courts. It seemed that the accommodation processes in place – for example in Ontario, via an Accessibility Co-ordinator in each courthouse – had broken down. SRLs described making applications for accommodations in open court, disclosing private medical information to the other side, and having to “duke it out” over necessary accommodations to enable them to meaningfully participate in their own case.

In preparation for Julie’s recent presentation to the Ontario Courts Accessibility Committee, chaired by Associate Chief Justice Fairburn, on this topic, two NSRLP research assistants, Silvia Battaglia and Shannon Meikle, reached out to SRLs with cognitive disabilities and asked them to speak about their experiences seeking court accommodations. They discovered that almost all the SRLs were unaware of the presence of Accessibility Coordinators in their courthouses, or the process for requesting accommodations before a hearing. Their descriptions of feeling like there was no one to help them are captured in excerpts from the interviews, recorded with their permission. Their experiences are shocking and heartbreaking, and frustrating, since there is a process for seeking accommodations that is intended to be private, responsive, and to remove such requests from an adversarial setting. The problem? Almost no one knows about it, or how to use it.

This episode also uses a short clip from a podcast recorded in 2017 with Judy Gayton, an SRL whose devastating experience in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench was covered by CBC, and who describes graphically and poignantly the impact of her brain injury on her cognitive processing.

In Other News: Guest Other News Correspondent Katie Pfaff today focuses on access to justice for Indigenous people in Canada. In the wake of the discovery of the graves of 215 Indigenous children at the Kamloops residential school, Chief Justice Richard Wagner states that there must be more education for the bench to understand Indigenous history and the histories of other cultures and communities. Katie’s second news story focuses on a settlement reached to include hundreds Indigenous people who were left out of the residential schools' class action compensation protocols. 

We would also encourage our listeners to read Windsor Law Acting Dean Beverly Jacobs’ recent piece in The Conversation, “Investigate discovery of 215 children’s graves in Kamloops as a crime against humanity.”

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/struggling-for-accommodation/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Katie Pfaff; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

Struggling For Accommodation

Today’s season finale was a labour of love! Working with guests ages 4 and up is, well, challenging, for both interviewer (Julie) and production editor (Brauntë). But it was well worth it!

For this episode, Julie talked with Ryann, Quinlan, Ava, Wyatt, Ezzo, and Jennah (occasionally interrupted by younger sister Emma), along with their moms (who we tried to keep out of the conversation…) about whether they could remember before the pandemic (no, or only sort-of), what it’s like to wear a mask all the time, how online schooling can be both fun and frustrating (mostly frustrating), and what it’s like to spend all day every day at home with your parents and siblings. Julie also talked with 12-year-old Uma for a more measured, reflective take on the same questions.

For our outro, we asked Jennifer Muller, an NSRLP Advisory Board member, past podcast guest (in fact, Jennifer kicked off this season, and she was our first ever podcast guest!), and access to justice advocate, to comment on what the kids said about their experience of lockdown and pandemic . Jennifer is also a K-12 schools counsellor for the North Vancouver School Board and has been listening to kids talk about the pandemic and its impact on them for the past 16 months. 

We had a lot of fun making this podcast and we hope you enjoy these authentic childrens’ voices telling it like it is!

In Other News: The wonderful Jordan Furlong (legal markets analyst and former podcast guest) wraps up Other News this season on a positive note with a roundup of encouraging stories from around the access to justice sphere, including an innovation sandbox, a Truth and Reconciliation initiative, and the nomination of Justice Mahmud Jamal to the Supreme Court.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/a-kids-eye-view-of-the-pandemic/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Jordan Furlong; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

A Kid's Eye View Of The Pandemic

Welcome to season 7 of Jumping Off the Ivory Tower! For our season opener, (and our 75th episode!) we’re featuring a conversation with three Law Practice Program candidates – “almost” lawyers – who, along with their classmates, participated in two extended sessions with a group of almost 20 self-represented litigants in the fall of 2021. 

This was NSRLP’s first in-school program to include self-reps in a small group, discussion-based exploration of their experiences in the legal system. Judging by the comments of both the candidates and the self-reps, the program (developed by NSRLP along with Chris Bentley, LPP Director), was an outstanding success. Julie’s conversation with Jesse Frohlich, Laurene Williams and Zainab Asadullah reveals the insights and new understandings they discovered as a result of their structured conversations with up to four different self-reps.

In Other News: Welcome to one of our new Other News “correspondents,” NSRLP Research Assistant and law student Charlotte Sullivan! This week Charlotte discusses: a piece from the Law Times on expanding access to remote hearing technologies; and the recent proposal by the Law Society of Ontario to expand Family Legal Services Provider Licences to paralegals for certain specified services. (Unlike Ms. Boulby, NSRLP supports this proposal. We have posted extensively about this issue – see below for links to more information.)

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/a-new-generation-of-lawyers/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Charlotte Sullivan; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

A New Generation of Lawyers

This episode of Jumping Off the Ivory Tower features Julie’s conversation with Teresa Donnelly, the Treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario and the leader of Ontario’s legal profession elected by its “Convocation” or parliament.

Teresa has a background as a prosecutor with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, where she was a member of the Sexual Violence Advisory Group whose work focused on sexual violence prosecutions and on improving the victim’s experience in the criminal justice system. Her commitment to a fairer criminal justice system and her consciousness of the impact of trauma on mental health – for lawyers as well as survivors of violence – are reflected both in her conversation with Julie and in her priorities as Treasurer. Teresa is also the leader of the Ontario profession at a time where there is a special focus on regulation, and some moves towards expansion of licensing: a sandbox for innovative tech legal services, paralegals offering some family services alongside lawyers (the subject of ongoing argument and resistance from the Family Bar), and just what the role of the regulator should be in controlling the space in which legal services are offered.  

In Other News: Welcome to another new Other News “correspondent”: NSRLP Research Assistant and law student Shannon Meikle!
This week Shannon discusses: a new Family Violence law tort that has been established at the Ontario Superior Court thanks to an SRL who argued she deserved additional damages for the spousal abuse she suffered throughout her marriage; and, a new petition before the House of Commons that seeks to hold judges accountable for their mistakes.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/leading-the-ontario-legal-profession/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Shannon Meikle; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

Leading the Ontario Legal Profession

Ilana Luther is the Director of our newest chapter, NSRLP East, based in the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University in Halifax. NSRLP East has been in existence for just under a year, but has already achieved a lot (check out their website!) and is reaching out to SRLs across Atlantic Canada in order to highlight their particular issues and challenges. Ilana is an Advisory Board member for the national NSRLP organization, and works closely with national staff to plan and prioritize goals and strategies. This conversation introduces listeners to Ilana, and her commitment to policy reform after beginning in legal practice and becoming disillusioned with, as she puts it, “pushing people through a broken system.” Ilana describes how she first recognized the disconnect between system and users when she worked in child protection; she has since gone on to work in many areas of law reform as the Director of the Access to Justice and Law Reform Institute, adding Director of NSRLP East to her busy resume in the summer of 2021. We’re excited to introduce you to Ilana and to NSRLP East!

In Other News: This week our In Other News Correspondent is Research Assistant Charlotte Sullivan. Charlotte discusses: a piece from the Law Times on the recent debate in Ontario regarding a minimum wage for articling students; a story from the Lawyer’s Daily on a historic first at the Supreme Court of Canada: an intervention by Nunavut Legal Aid; and a story from Slaw about a new tort of family violence in Ontario following the ground-breaking case of Ahluwalia v Ahluwalia.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/proudly-introducing-nsrlp-east/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Charlotte Sullivan; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

Proudly Introducing NSRLP East

Following the recent Ontario decision in Ahluwalia, which established a new tort of family violence, this episode explores the work of two women and two organizations working to try to protect victims of violence. Deepa Mattoo, Executive Director of the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic in Toronto, speaks to Julie about what the Clinic does to serve marginalized and vulnerable women and the range of services they offer to help rebuild lives, as well as her ideas for ways that an over-stretched system could work better and serve more people. Reflecting on Deepa’s interview, Humera Jabir of West Coast LEAF talks about her work on test case litigation and other strategies to try to expand support and legal assistance to those experiencing family violence, especially single parents. 

In Other News: This week our In Other News Correspondent is Research Assistant Shannon Meikle. This week Shannon discusses: new family law legislation from Nova Scotia, the Superior Court of Justice announcement about a partial in-person return to court hearings for family lawyers, and Chief Justice Richard Wagner’s statement that he’s “enormously preoccupied” with the access to justice issues that arise out of Canadians being forced to self-represent at the Supreme Court.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/confronting-family-violence/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Shannon Meikle; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

Confronting Family Violence

This week Julie talks with our new Executive Director, Jennifer Leitch! You can read more about Jennifer on our website, including Moya McAlister’s blog interview with her. That post, as well as today’s episode, delves into why Jennifer made the radical career switch from commercial litigator with a big Bay Street law firm to Access to Justice advocate, and now Director of NSRLP. Jennifer expands on her thinking about the future, both for the legal system and for the NSRLP, and conveys a sense of urgency, practicality, and also, crucially, vision.

Jennifer’s conversation with Julie is prefaced by comments from three SRLs (Jennifer Muller, Jeff Rose-Martland, and Karin Turkington) who describe why NSRLP is important, what qualities the Director needs, and what their challenges are likely to be. 

In Other News: This week our In Other News Correspondent is Research Assistant Shannon Meikle. This week Shannon discusses: a recent article calling for the LSO to be held publicly accountable for its actions, even if that means dissolution or reform; legislation recently passed in the Yukon seeking to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families involved with the child welfare system, as well as address the over-representation of Indigenous children and youth in care; and the province of Manitoba being awarded $1.6 million dollars in funding to implement provisions to make court documents in divorce proceedings available in both official languages.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/nsrlps-new-captain/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Shannon Meikle; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

NSRLP's New Captain

Since the murder of George Floyd and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement there has been a new focus on the development of anti-Black racism training, and education on the impact of racism on our lives, relationships, and beliefs. 

Moya McAlister and Siddika Jessa are both creating workshops and safe spaces for conversation and education on race and racism. In this episode, Julie asks them how they manage these (often) uncomfortable discussions and interactions in a way that deepens our understanding of our own assumptions and biases, and gives us all the chance to rethink and do better.

Moya McAlister is Communications Manager for NSRLP. She is also Board Director of Black Women of Forward Action, a Windsor-based group that advocates for anti-Black racism initiatives at a community and municipal level, and supports Black women entrepreneurs and students. Moya was previously featured in our episode, “Living Black Lives.” 

Siddika Jessa has also previously taken part in the podcast, for the episode, “The Courage of Your Convictions,” when she described how some members of her community responded to her son’s same-sex marriage. Since then, Siddika has founded WiderLens, which delivers training workshops in the faith community, as well as the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. Wider Lens focuses on training in communication, emotional intelligence, anti-racism, and diversity.

In Other News: This week our In Other News Correspondent is Research Assistant Shannon Meikle. This week Shannon discusses: the Ontario government’s plan to combine courthouses in North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough; an update to the discussion surrounding the LSO’s ability to facilitate justice; and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s appointment of three new judges, all women.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/talking-about-racism-is-uncomfortable-and-necessary/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Shannon Meikle; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

Talking About Racism is Uncomfortable - And Necessary

The vast majority of self-represented litigants cannot afford full representation in legal services – and yet most of them are continuing to search for assistance that is affordable to them. In this episode, Julie speaks with Marcus Sixta, of CrossRoads Law, about his pioneering legal coaching practice, Coach My Case. Marcus is a leading innovator in the development of legal services that are tailored to client needs and pocket books, such as offering different tiers of assistance and working collaboratively to assess and meet needs. He believes in utilizing the skills of paralegals and lawyers, as well as a range of services, from procedural navigation, to issue identification, to hearings coaching. 

Leona Harvie, who provides the reflection in this episode, is a former self-represented litigant who now works as a divorce coach, providing support and legal information to family law clients. She can be found at letstalkdivorcecanada.com and on Instagram where her handle is letstalkdivorcecanada. 

NSRLP has been developing a National Directory of Professionals Assisting Self-Represented Litigants since 2016; it contains the names and details of professionals across the country who offer legal coaching.

In Other News: This week our In Other News Correspondent is Research Assistant Charlotte Sullivan. This week Charlotte discusses: the Attorney General of British Columbia announcing new rules of procedure for the British Columbia Court of Appeal; a piece on parental relocation cases in family law; and the controversial Bill 96, recently passed by the National Assembly of Québec.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/you-drive-the-bus-with-a-coach-in-your-corner/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Charlotte Sullivan; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

You Drive the Bus - With a Coach in Your Corner

In today’s episode, Julie talks to Bernie Mayer and Jackie Font-Guzmán about the ideas they explore in their new book, The Neutrality Trap: Disrupting and Connecting for Social Change (Wiley, 2022).

Two long-time mediators and mediation teachers, Bernie and Jackie describe their growing disillusionment with the way mediation is sometimes offered to family and other litigants: as a panacea that will smooth over rough edges and produce an “agreement,” which will be able to resolve underlying differences. Bernie and Jackie both speak to their personal experience of conflicts that reflect larger societal power differences and systems, and reflect on the danger that a more superficial, “make nice” approach reinforces existing inequalities and injustices. Going behind the headlines (“he is a monster!” “she is impossible!”), while messy, uncomfortable, and often worse, can produce a more realistic path for moving forward, and allows each party to explore their own truth.

Bernie Mayer was a founding partner of CDR Associates, and has provided conflict intervention for families, communities, universities, corporations, and governmental agencies throughout North America and internationally for over 35 years. Bernie is Emeritus Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Creighton University. He has worked in child welfare, mental health, substance abuse treatment, and psychotherapy. His earlier books include: Beyond Neutrality, and The Conflict Paradox.

Jackie Font-Guzmán is the inaugural Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Eastern Mennonite University. Previously she was professor of conflict and peacebuilding at Creighton University. Jackie has provided mediation, facilitation, and consulting services to many international and transnational organizations. She previously worked in law and health policy.

In Other News: This week our In Other News Correspondent is Research Assistant Charlotte Sullivan. Charlotte discusses: a news release from the Department of Justice on advancing reconciliation through addressing the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in the criminal justice system in Canada; and a recent access to justice study showing an exponential increase in dismissals of race-based cases by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/does-making-nice-make-it-worse/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Charlotte Sullivan; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

Does Making Nice Make it Worse?

Our final episode for this season focuses on the campaign to ban the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) being led by Dr. Julie Macfarlane and Zelda Perkins. 

Named “Can’t Buy My Silence,” Julie and Zelda’s campaign aims to bring new law into effect in both Canada and the UK to stop victims being forced to exchange their own privacy for protecting their abuser in cases of harassment, discrimination, and bullying, and to stop employers (including schools, universities, and churches as well as both unionized and non-unionized workplaces) using NDAs to secretly “pass-the-trash” to other employers.

Julie talks with Dayna about how she and Zelda met and planned the campaign, both motivated by their personal experiences of NDAs: Zelda with the notorious Harvey Weinstein, and Julie who saw a colleague terminated for harassment protected by an NDA (and a letter of recommendation) from the University of Windsor.

Stacey Buchholzer, the campaign coordinator, closes out the podcast by reading from a selection of the many stories that have been submitted to the campaign, illustrating the trauma experienced from being first subjected to unfairness and misconduct, and then permanently silenced.

The campaign website includes a lot of public legal information about NDAs. You can also listen to Julie’s conversation with Zelda from last season, before they launched their campaign, in which Zelda describes how she broke her NDA with Weinstein and brought this issue into public discussion, which she has continued ever since. 

In Other News: This week our In Other News Correspondent is Research Assistant Charlotte Sullivan. Charlotte discusses: a Toronto-based legal clinic’s recent challenge against caps on damages awarded in claims involving the Canadian Human Rights Act; and Chief Justice Jacques Fournier of the Québec Superior Court’s recent decision to step down from the bench at the age of 71, and some interesting comments he made regarding access to justice in the COVID-19 pandemic context.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/cant-buy-my-silence/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Charlotte Sullivan; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

Can't Buy My Silence

In our first ever episode, Julie talks with Jennifer Muller about her experience representing herself in the battle for custody of her child, and about her current work as an access to justice advocate. Plus, news about a surprising judicial retirement, friends in court in British Columbia, and a new resource for self-represented litigants.

UPDATE - Check out our follow-up episode with Jennifer from January 2021, when she talks with Julie about her reluctant decision to return to court, and the inevitable further financial and emotional costs: https://soundcloud.com/user-69965354/it-couldnt-happen-to-me-again 

More on this episode on our website:
https://representingyourselfcanada.com/it-couldnt-happen-to-me/

It Couldn't Happen To Me

This week's episode, a conversation with Ontario Superior Court Justice David Price, is a little different from our usual fare. The aim of this episode is to present some important and practical information about how to successfully navigate the legal process as a self-represented litigant in family court. Justice Price addresses how and why to craft a just and durable settlement in a family dispute, and provides a host of practical tips for family SRLs. We'd also like to hear from you - what questions do you have for Justice Price? We'll pick some for him to answer in a follow up to this conversation in the new year. Email representingyourself@gmail.com with your questions! In Other News, the Law Society of Ontario opens the door for family services from paralegals, the Ontario government makes updates to the justice system, and the Quebec ban on face coverings is challenged and stayed.

More on this episode on our website, including Justice Price's useful forms for SRLs: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/judges-and-srls-opening-a-dialogue/

Judges and SRLs: Opening A Dialogue

This week’s podcast features the case of Allison Bowen, a self-represented litigant in family court, who was imprisoned for contempt on the request of her ex as a custody and child support conflict escalated between them. She had earlier asked the Canadian Judicial Council to replace Justice Brown with another family court judge, because she did not trust him to treat her without bias, and to judge the case based on the evidence, not whether he liked her or not. In related news: have any other SRLs been imprisoned for contempt? And what is the Law Society of Ontario going to roll out in its new plan for family paralegals?

More on this episode on our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/judges-and-srls-broken-faith/

Judges and SRLs: Broken Faith

This week Jonathan Rudin from Aboriginal Legal Services talks with Julie about the social and historical reasons why it is important to offer legal and other services for Indigenous people that are designed by and for their communities. Among other services, Jonathan describes the work of ALS in providing Gladue Reports to judges considering bail and sentencing for aboriginal offenders (under s.718 of the Criminal Code). Julie and Dayna discuss the importance of a restorative justice approach for the larger Canadian community. 

In other news: Windsor Law hosts the World Indigenous Law Conference; the latest Supreme Court of Canada decision affecting self-represented litigants; and a new NSRLP blog post, written by an SRL.

For related links and more information visit our webpage: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/meaningful-justice-for-indigenous-canadians/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Ali Tejani; promotion by Moya McAlister and Ali Tejani.

Meaningful Justice For Indigenous People

Welcome to Season 4 of Jumping Off the Ivory Tower with Prof Julie Mac! For our season opener, we present Julie’s conversation with Beth Beattie, counsel with the Ontario Ministry of Health, who is an outspoken advocate for mental health awareness among lawyers. Studies have long highlighted the prevalence of mental health issues in the legal profession, some undoubtedly caused or exacerbated by stress. At the same time, employers offer little support – a 2018 UK survey among junior lawyers found that 83% said their employers did not provide enough assistance, guidance, or accommodation for lawyers experiencing mental health issues. Beth describes the stigma of mental health that held her back for 14 years from disclosing her illness to her colleagues, and her feeling of liberation and relief when she was able to show them, “the real me”. Beth also describes the real barriers faced by younger lawyers trying to manage mental health challenges in a competitive work environment. Now part of the Bell Let’s Talk campaign, Beth’s story of “coming out” of what she calls “the mental health closet” is inspirational for other lawyers managing a chronic illness – and it’s a great place to begin our podcast conversations this spring. 

In other news: a new report on legal aid service delivery in British Columbia has been released; the Law Society of Ontario bencher election is fast approaching; NSRLP’s updated A2J Bibliography is out now; NSRLP has launched a recurring column with Slaw.ca, Canada’s online legal magazine; and finally, Julie has started a new blog on Medium dedicated to survivors of sexual violence, their advocates, and survivor-advocates.

For related links and more on this episode see our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/shaking-off-the-mental-health-stigma/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Ali Tejani; promotion by Moya McAlister and Ali Tejani.

Shaking Off The Mental Health Stigma

This week’s conversation is with Malcolm Mercer, the Treasurer of the Ontario Law Society and the elected leader of the legal profession in the province. Julie draws Malcolm out on critical issues for the self-represented including: how should lawyers treat and work collaboratively with SRLs? Can there really be a level playing field where one side has expert assistance and the other does not? How does the duty to zealously represent a client work where the other side does not understand the law? Does the Professional Code of Conduct apply to lawyers’ relationships with the public, as well as other lawyers? What about an SRL Ombuds? And what about that much-maligned public awareness campaign, “Our Society is Your Society”?

In other news: The 2019 Rule of Law Index, released in February, provides a comprehensive look at the state of the rule of law in 126 countries around the world – overall, more countries declined in their scores than increased; last Thursday the Ontario government announced that Legal Aid Ontario will have its budget cut by $133 million, about 30% of the entire funding provided to LAO; and finally, an update about past podcast guest Prof. Benny Tai, who last week, along with other pro-democracy activists, was found guilty of public nuisance as a result of their protests in 2014 where they called on China to have free elections in Hong Kong –sentencing has been scheduled for April 24th, and Professor Tai could be held in prison for up to 7 years.

For related links and more on this episode, see our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/is-our-society-your-society-with-malcolm-mercer/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Ali Tejani; promotion by Moya McAlister and Ali Tejani.

Is "Our Society Your Society"? with Malcolm Mercer

This week’s episode is taken from a keynote speech recently delivered by Julie and her husband and professor of conflict resolution, Bernie Mayer, to the joint annual conference of the Ontario Association of Family Mediators and the Ontario Collaborative Law Federation. Julie and Bernie addressed an audience of mediators and legal professionals focused on Access to Justice – a sample of insiders – and presented them with two challenges: to consider Access to Justice as a threshold issue, and to examine how we handle conflict in our wider culture. They discussed the ways paternalism and a system of complex rules are holding the legal profession back, and how system insiders need to face and address systemic problems. The episode outro is provided by family lawyer Chris Arnold, whose Ottawa practice focuses on family mediation and collaborative family law; Chris was present for Julie and Bernie’s speech, and he reflects on the reception it got at the conference.

In other news: last week, leaders of 50 justice organizations in British Columbia joined Attorney General David Eby and Chief Justice of British Columbia Robert Bauman to mark the signing of the Access to Justice Triple Aim, which will guide initiatives and reforms for making family and civil justice more accessible to British Columbians; a recent podcast from the Lawyerist podcast is all about access to justice, and includes an in-depth conversation with Professor Rebecca Sandefur; and finally, NSRLP announced last week that we have two new members joining our Advisory Board, Justice David Price, and Ms. Jana Saracevic – welcome both!

For related links and more on this episode, visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/facing-a-broken-system/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Ali Tejani; promotion by Moya McAlister and Ali Tejani.

Facing a Broken System

This week (our season four finale!) we present a very different type of episode for Ivory Tower... last year, one of Julie’s students at Windsor Law, Micah Pirk O’Connell, submitted a play as his final project for her class on how to work effectively and collaboratively with legal clients. Julie was delighted with Micah’s writing, and shared his (we think) very clever one-act play with Dayna and the NSRLP team, and an idea formed: to adapt the play for audio, and produce it as an episode of the podcast. We roped talented friends and colleagues into acting in and helping to produce this episode, and after several months of hard work, we are very proud to present, “Whacked – A Legal Farce in One Act”.

“Whacked” Credits:

“Whacked – A Legal Farce in One Act” was written by Micah Pirk O’Connell.

Cast:
William Haynes – Peter Hrastovec
Mrs. Pearce – Moya McAlister
Marvin – Micah Pirk O’Connell
Christopher – Jayden Lacoursiere
Kate – Leslie McCurdy
Ferris and Mr. Pearce – Aaron Bergeron
Jenny – Dayna Cornwall
Dr. Macfarlane – Julie Macfarlane
Narration by Ali Tejani
... 

The “Whacked” script was adapted for audio by Dayna Cornwall.

Production and editing by Jason Cornwall, with additional production help from Micah Pirk O’Connell, and Brauntë Petric.

The song featured in this episode is “Big Mouth and the Old Oak” by Micah Pirk O’Connell. 

Special thanks to Peter Hrastovec and Shibley Righton LLP for the generous donation of their conference room for recording purposes, and to Windsor Law for their ongoing support.

Thanks to Jolie Inthavong, and Brent Oneschuk for their support.

Thanks to all our gifted actors and crew members, for donating their valuable time and energy to this project.

Very special thanks to Jason Cornwall for all his time, equipment, and expert production. (Check out Jason’s wonderful podcast, Unprepared Storytelling.)

And another very special thanks to our gifted author, musician, producer, and actor, Micah Pirk O’Connell, who has just graduated from Windsor Law, and is off to complete his articling in Toronto. Congratulations, and good luck Micah!

“Whacked, A Legal Farce in One Act” has been a production of NSRLP at Windsor Law.
... 

And that’s it for season four of Jumping Off the Ivory Tower! We’re particularly proud of this season, and encourage everyone to go back and listen to any episodes you may have missed, re-listen to your favourites, and share widely. Remember, Ivory Tower makes for excellent summer listening! We’ll be back in the fall with season five, but in the meantime you can find us on Twitter and on Facebook. Listen, rate, and subscribe on SoundCloud, and iTunes, where your ratings and reviews will help us immensely. 

Thanks to all our loyal listeners for a wonderful season! Have a fantastic summer!

Related links and more on this episode can be found on our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/whacked-a-legal-farce-in-one-act/

Whacked - A Legal Farce in One Act

Orlando da Silva has changed the conversation inside the legal profession around mental health. Julie talks with Orlando about his decision to go public with his own mental health challenges, and the impact on both law firms and law schools. Orlando describes some of the consequences of a traditional lawyering culture that prizes aggressive, catastrophic strategies over kindness and pragmatism in solving legal problems, and how to stay emotionally healthy in such a bruising environment. Reflecting on Orlando's interview, Elizabeth Roberts offers insights from the perspective of a litigant with invisible disabilities, and how we might create a gentler, fairer justice system. 

In other news: first, we encourage all our listeners to learn more about the movement that began in Wet’suwet’en over the construction of the Coastal Gaslink pipeline, and has escalated (as of February 6th) with members of the first nation being arrested by the RCMP; the Law Society of Saskatchewan and the Ministry of Justice Legal Services Task Team has implemented amendments to the Legal Profession Act, giving limited licenses to alternative legal service providers in the province; and lastly, Julie recently published an article on slaw.ca about the value of the NSRLP, some of the current and future aspirations of the project, and the need to ensure the permanence of our organization going forward.

For more related links and more on this episode, visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/were-only-human/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Ali Tejani; promotion by Moya McAlister and Ali Tejani.

We're Only Human

Today’s episode features Julie’s conversation with Shannon Salter, Chair of the Civil Resolution Tribunal in British Columbia, which is Canada’s first online tribunal (and one of the first in the world). Shannon talks about how building a tribunal system based on the needs of its users is the first step in “human centred design”, and how greater use of technology may be one – but only one – of the outcomes of using “human design” in the justice system. Is this the future after COVID-19?

In other news: NSRLP continues to update and publish helpful resources in the context of COVID-19; in Slaw Julie discussed what this pandemic can teach us about improving access to justice more generally; the Ontario government has announced $1.3 million in funding for justice sector technology and a further $2.7 million to support victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes while COVID-19 persists; and former Chief Justice McLachlin recently reflected on justice in the time of social distancing, sharing some insights on this wake-up call.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/still-open-for-business/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Sikandar Saleem; Other News produced and hosted by Ali Tejani; promotion by Moya McAlister and Ali Tejani.

Still Open For Business

This week’s episode features an interview about A2J issues with Mr. Justice Choudhury of the High Court of England and Wales, also President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Justice Choudhury is also Akhlaq (“Aki”), Julie’s lodger in North London in the late 1980s, when he was a law student at the University of London, and she was starting her career as a professor at another law school; they have remained good friends ever since.

Julie and Aki discuss his journey from law student (and part-time milkman) to his current position – and just how unlikely all this seemed back then. In particular, Aki talks about how it was then impossible to imagine himself, born in Scotland and of Bengali descent, as a judge (and the numbers are not a lot better today, he points out). Aki also describes how, as a judge, he goes about ensuring that self-represented litigants (called pro se litigants in England) can be heard and treated fairly. 

In a COVID-aware postscript, Aki describes what it’s like to now hear cases by videoconference, and raises some concerns about some potential, and not yet fully understood, disadvantages for SRLs and others in that setting.

In other news: NSRLP has added to our list of COVID-19 resources since our last podcast, including a list of free online legal educational content and a resource around what “urgent” means for cases currently being heard; we're also proud to announce that Julie will be a member of British Columbia’s new Cross Jurisdictional Technical Advisory Group, helping the Ministry of the Attorney General respond to the impact of COVID-19 on the justice system; and finally, Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella recently spoke about designing a whole new way to deliver justice to ordinary people, BC Attorney General David Eby has pondered how this crisis has been eye-opening for those who previously have had access to the justice system, and a major decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal recently reflected on the "role of the trial judge & counsel where one party is self-represented" – the case discusses the appalling treatment of an SRL during a "mocking & belittling cross-examination" while "the trial judge did nothing.”

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/that-was-then-and-this-is-now/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Sikandar Saleem; Other News produced and hosted by Ali Tejani; promotion by Moya McAlister and Ali Tejani.

That was Then and This is Now

This week Julie talks to lawyers Colin Feasby (Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP) and Brynne Harding (Bennett Jones), who jointly represented NSRLP pro bono in our recent intervention in Jonsson v Lymer at the Alberta Court of Appeal. This was a landmark case for self-reps, addressing the issue of vexatiousness, and just how careful courts should be when deciding to designate a litigant “vexatious” and restrict their future court access. Those designated as “vexatious” litigants are almost always self-represented litigants, and Julie, Colin, and Brynne discuss the unique situation in Alberta, where the vague and extremely broad doctrine of “inherent jurisdiction” has increasingly been used to designate SRLs as “vexatious” over the last few years, and to place multiple restrictions on them. The Lymer decision has poured (a lot of) cold water on this approach to “vexatiousness”, and Colin and Brynne discuss with Julie what this means for Alberta, and the rest of Canada.

In other news: NSRLP continues to update our COVID-19 resources, and we have recently added a new page on wills and powers of attorney; we’re looking for access to justice all-stars who are doing great work during the pandemic – nominations can be sent to @representingyourself@gmail.com; we have two new blogs up, looking at the future of the legal system post-COVID, from both Julie and BC Chief Justice Robert Bauman; the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General announced that it will be shifting some of its traditional investments toward innovation and new technology; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Richard Wagner and federal Justice Minister David Lametti have created an Action Committee on court operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and finally, NSRLP is asking you to spread the word (and give if you can!) about our vital fundraising campaign, #Justice4All. 

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/vexatious-in-alberta-a-victory-for-self-reps/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Braunte Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Ali Tejani; promotion by Moya McAlister and Ali Tejani.

Vexatious in Alberta: A Victory for Self-Reps

Each year NSRLP "graduates" law student research assistants (RAs) who have worked with us over the previous three years. These prospective lawyers have had an "immersion program" in working with members of the public who are representing themselves, an experience that we hear year after year is formative in shaping their path into legal practice. This year's graduates are Ali Tejani (social media wizard, and our "In Other News" correspondent), Megan Campbell (manager of the SRL Case Law Database), Kaila Scarrow (co-investigator and co-author of our report on access to court transcripts, along with many other pieces), and Rebecca Flynn (researcher/editor of our latest A2J Annotated Bibliography, and Case Law Database researcher). Julie's conversation with them spans their hopes for the future of legal services, their thoughts about entering an evolving profession, and how COVID is going to change everything. (Make sure to listen to the end for “in other news” with guest host Jordan Furlong!)

In other news, with Jordan Furlong (legal markets analyst and recent podcast guest): the State Bar of California has agreed to move ahead with a “regulatory sandbox” to try out innovative legal services; Los Angeles County Superior Court launching free online tool to help parents negotiate child custody disputes and visitation issues without having to come to court; and finally, a Globe & Mail op-ed from a graduating Osgoode Hall law student reflects on the benefits of online legal education.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/comfortable-being-uncomfortable/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Jordan Furlong; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Richard Susskind (Professor, University of Glasgow, O.B.E., and author of 7 books) has spent the last 25 years speaking up about the need to modernize legal services, and the increasingly acute need to democratize public access to both justice and justice assistance. In his conversation with Julie, who has worked on many of the same issues, Richard discusses the future of online dispute resolution, the need for the diversification of legal services and online assistance far beyond lawyers, the need for the legal profession to bring "added value" to clients rather than acting as the "gatekeepers" of legal services, and the impact of the pandemic on both our assumptions and our experiences of what "works" to promote Access to Justice. Please also stay tuned to the end of the episode for our other news segment – Jordan Furlong challenges white people to take a stand for anti-racism, and commit to taking action, particularly within the justice system. We are currently preparing our season finale (June 23), devoted to the Black Lives Matter movement, and what you can do to help – please tune in.

Our guest news correspondent, Jordan Furlong, discusses how the murder of George Floyd has led to protests and demonstrations around the world, the potential for lasting change coming out of the Black Lives Matter movement, his own self-examination, and the necessity for everyone to closely examine their privileges, biases, and assumptions, and recognize the ways in which they have supported systemic racism; Jordan challenges white people to “show up” by educating themselves, and then taking action; he particularly addresses white privilege and over-representation within the legal profession, and reminds us that the justice system does not work for a vast majority of Canadians, particularly Black Canadians, and other people of colour. Please see the link below for a list of reading material and resources.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/jealous-guards-the-legal-profession-and-future-legal-services/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Jordan Furlong; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

"Jealous Guards": The Legal Profession and Future Legal Services

Today’s episode is dedicated to the personal experiences of two good friends of NSRLP who speak to what it meant for them to grow up as Black people in predominantly white communities in Canada. Moya McAlister is NSRLP’s Communication Manager, and she grew up between Toronto (for the most part) and Trinidad, where she spent vacations with family. Moya describes how this brought special challenges for her, and the ways that she has tried to manage these first as a child, and now as an adult community activist and professional. Anthony Morgan also talks about his experiences as a young person, and now as an adult raising a young child, and the impact that centuries of Black slavery in Canada still has on Canadian culture. Anthony currently heads the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit for the City of Toronto, but he has had a long history as a racial justice educator, commentator on racism and race issues, and as a lawyer on anti-Black racism issues, including a spell at the African Canadian Legal Clinic (now the Black Legal Action Centre, see below).
 
What Can You Do? We turned to three other guests to give us some ideas on things you can do to contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement:

Hussein Aly is a widely-respected criminal defence lawyer in Toronto with Rusonik and Partners, and he is offering free online seminars (hosted by the Black Muslim Initiative and the Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association) on how to interact with police at peaceful protests. 

Anna Sallah is a research assistant with the NSRLP and a masters student at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor. Anna has studied and worked in Ghana and in South Africa, and her family live in Minneapolis. She has suggestions for using social media to create awareness, show support for Black friends and colleagues, and ask for action. Anna also describes why it is important to support local Black businesses.

Hope Moon grew up in a small white Ontario community where she came as a baby from China. She is now a student at the University of King’s College Halifax, where she is the VP External of the Students’ Union. Hope describes her project to set up a Facebook group to facilitate more open and honest talking among  her friends and peers about anti-Black racism. She points out that while this may create some (necessary?) discomfort, it is important we don't get stuck in a place of shame and ignorance, but go on learning together.

Places to donate

Black Legal Action Centre – a non-profit community legal clinic that provides free legal services for low or no income Black residents of Ontario. 

The Sentencing and Parole Project – a non-profit that prepares enhanced pre-sentence reports for marginalized Black people to give judges and parole boards info they need to make informed decisions around sentencing and parole. 

See our website for links and further resources: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/living-black-lives/

In Other News: Guest news correspondent Jordan Furlong considers the fairness and unintended consequences of “Zoom justice”; systemic racism in the justice system, baked in at many levels; how the law harms public health; and how the legal system can be redesigned to work for everyone, and the groundswell of support for that redesign. Thank you so much Jordan for your wonderful contributions to the podcast – we can’t wait to have you back again!

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Jordan Furlong; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

Living Black Lives

Welcome to season 6! Our guest today is Jennifer Muller, who was the subject of our very first (and very popular) podcast episode, “It Couldn’t Happen to Me,” in September 2017, when she described running out of funds and being forced to represent herself in a custody trial in 2009. (https://representingyourselfcanada.com/it-couldnt-happen-to-me/)

In conversation with Julie, Jennifer describes her experience of returning to court, ten years after she first represented herself. Jennifer agonized about returning, but eventually felt she had no choice but to deal with many unresolved co-parenting issues as her daughter grew up. Unable to face the idea of representing herself this time – as she tells Julie, she now knows what this entails – Jennifer took out a bank loan and hired legal counsel. At the time of this recording, Jennifer had spent $100,000. We ask: how is this a functional family justice system?

Jennifer is a Schools Counsellor with the North Vancouver school district. She is an active advocate for access to justice. She is a member of the NSRLP Advisory Board, and the Executive Group of the Access to Justice BC initiative. 

In Other News: This episode features the welcome return of Ali Tejani as guest news correspondent! A former NSRLP research assistant, Ali is now with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney-General. There continue to be significant changes to courts across the country, with courts slowly adjusting to creating a more accessible process, for example by conducting virtual hearings, and being more accommodating to litigants; Ali provides some interesting examples and articles on the topic. In addition, Ali recaps some of NSRLP’s recent exciting news, including winning the prestigious Fodden Award! 

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/it-couldnt-happen-to-me-again/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Ali Tejani, with assistance from Katie Pfaff; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

It Couldn't Happen to Me... Again?

Today’s podcast focuses on the remarkable campaigns of two women police officers (one of whom has now left the force) who have told the police departments in Waterloo and Windsor, Ontario, “you need to be accountable to your employees and to the public for your mistakes.” 

Kelly Donovan spoke up about what she saw as abuse of power in internal investigations at the Waterloo Police. She became the subject of an investigation herself,  and left the force to found her organization Fit4Duty, which offers independent police investigators and campaigns for police accountability. The Police Board has taken action against her to try to prevent her from speaking up about her experience. Kelly has represented herself at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, the Ontario Superior Court, and the Ontario Court of Appeal (where she won). Waterloo Police Services have to-date spent over $400,000 on legal fees to fight Kelly. Kelly was the recipient of the 2019 Ontario Civil Liberties Association Award.

Kelly has written two books about her experience: Systemic Misfeasance in Ontario Policing and the Coordinated Suppression of Whistleblowers and Police Line: Do Not Cross. 

Christine Bissonnette is bringing a claim for systemic gender discrimination against the Windsor Police Services Board and representing herself at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

Christine says she has been subject to numerous instances of discrimination against her as a female police officer, including access to positions that she is qualified to hold and promotions. Christine first tried mediation to resolve her complaints and finally filed a claim at the Tribunal in 2010. Her case is ongoing.

In other news: Guest Other News Correspondent Katie Pfaff shares the following stories: CBC has recently featured Shannon Salter, chair of BC’s online Civil Resolution Tribunal, who shares that technology is only one part of the solution for ensuring access to justice during COVID-19; UNICEF has published their report on the role of COVID-19’s impact on children’s access to justice; and NSRLP is looking for current or past SRLs across Canada for a public input project with the Social Security Tribunal of Canada – if you are interested in participating email representingyourself@gmail.com.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/the-whistleblowers-challenging-police-culture/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Katie Pfaff; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

The Whistleblowers: Challenging Police Culture

Working with a lawyer for the first time is an intimidating experience, especially because for most of us it is a final resort in a stressful conflict. Some of these “first time” experiences are better than others, of course, but a disappointing number of people report that they felt not-well-listened-to and that their lawyer was working from a well-used “playbook” that they applied to all clients, regardless of their situation. This disconnect is aggravated when the lawyer and the client come from very different backgrounds and cultures. In this episode, Nikki McAlister speaks frankly to Julie about what it was like for her as a Black female first-time family client to work with a white male family lawyer whose cultural context was far closer to her ex’s than to her own, and who appeared to assume that Nikki’s family cultural norms and traditions were the same as his own. Nikki ultimately experienced two very different types of lawyer services, and explains what it can be like to work with a lawyer who doesn’t understand your point of view and pushes on regardless, versus one who makes the time to understand. Hint to all lawyers: be curious, and listen – it’s not all about the technicalities. Nikki McAlister works for the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto as a Community Engagement Co-ordinator.

In Other News: Guest Other News Correspondent Katie Pfaff shares the following stories: Global Citizen has announced its Recovery Plan for the World that aims to mobilize $250 million to support organizations advocating for global justice and human rights; and Ontario has introduced the Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021 to modernize the legal system in response to COVID-19 – the proposed legislation seeks to eliminate barriers in Ontario’s courts and tribunals, as well as in the estates law, family law, and child protection sectors, and to promote access to justice especially for rural, northern, Indigenous, and Francophone communities.

For related links and more on this episode visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/black-clients-matter/

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Katie Pfaff; promotion by Moya McAlister and the NSRLP team.

Black Clients Matter

Scholar and activist Julie Macfarlane talks with visionaries, social justice warriors, and legal system “disrupters” about their motivations and how their experiences have changed them – for better or for worse.

Jumping Off the Ivory Tower with Prof JulieMac

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