In praise of advocacy, and a challenge to the legal profession
This blog post is based on the Advocates’ Society Keynote delivered February 20, 2020. Full text of the speech is available here. “At the end of the day, we need and will continue to need people who can listen carefully, respond thoughtfully, and disagree civilly; who can identify the real issues, martial the relevant facts, […]
Putting children at the centre
At the most recent meeting of the A2JBC Leadership Group on October 30, 2019, I was grateful for the opportunity to hear the perspective of experts, advocates and justice system participants on the topic of adverse childhood experience. The challenge posed to the group was how we—as leaders inside and outside of the justice system—can […]
Get ready for Access to Justice Week 2019!
Access to Justice Week is next week, October 28 to November 1, 2019, and you can feel the access to justice momentum with this week’s Proclamation in the BC legislature. BC held an Access to Justice Week last year, but this is the first year that the legislature is making a proclamation declaring Access to […]
The Triple Aim: A cross-sector vision
This morning, A2JBC was proud to issue a media release advising that more than 50 justice sector organizations have signed onto the Access to Justice Triple Aim. The Triple Aim, borrowed from the health care sector, is a single goal with three elements: improved experience for the users of the justice system, improved population access […]
“It’s the economy, stupid”
[This blog post was previously published on The Access Revolution, a collaborative blog hosted by Dr. Julie Macfarlane and the National Self-Represented Litigants Project.] Sorry for the pejorative. It’s me quoting Professor Gillian Hadfield quoting James Carville, who famously advised Bill Clinton to focus on the economy during his 1992 presidential campaign. Gillian Hadfield is […]
Is the justice system ready to innovate?
On November 20, 2018, A2JBC’s Leadership Group convened at the Telus Innovation Centre for a stimulating day of conversation about opportunities for innovation in the justice system. To start, we heard how artificial intelligence can assist BC doctors and patients with triage and support, improving both groups’ experience of the system. Next, we heard from […]
Face the strange*
One of A2JBC’s messages has been that improving access to the justice system will require taking some risks. A2JBC has also said that effective change will require collaboration and experimentation. We will need to explore ideas that may seem threatening or even, to some, antithetical to justice. Putting the user at the centre of the […]
Understanding the value of alternative dispute resolution
The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice recently released a report evaluating different dispute resolution methods in family law matters. The report was based on a survey that asked family lawyers for their views on the usefulness of collaborative settlement processes, mediation, arbitration and litigation to resolve family law disputes. The results indicated that family lawyers […]
Self-help success stories
Visitors to our website will know that many individuals in BC have difficulty affording a lawyer and end up representing themselves in Court when they have a legal dispute. A2JBC supports various innovations that seek to reduce the barriers that prevent individuals from accessing counsel, but some ideas, like the unbundling initiative, are also aimed […]
Access to justice for children and youth
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with lawyers from the Child and Youth Legal Centre, launched earlier this fall. Donna Maser, managing lawyer, and Suzette Narbonne, child and youth lawyer, described the Centre’s mandate: to advance the legal rights of children and youth in order to improve their well-being in British Columbia. Children […]