1.3 What is a Clinic?
Jamie Holmes
What is a “Clinic”?
A legal clinic can take on many different forms. There is no settled typology of legal clinics that describe clinics or clinic programs across Canada. In some provinces and territories, there are many legal clinics. In others, there is only one (or none, in a few cases).
A legal clinic is typically an incorporated entity that provides legal and other services to clients. Some of these clinics accept students to work, volunteer, or take credits as part of a work informed experience. Other clinics are founded specifically around student learning, while others host students as an important but not foundational part of their operations. Usually, legal clinics provide services to populations that otherwise could not afford legal services, although that is not always the case.
Some clinics are funded by government. Others are foundation funded. Others rely on fundraising, grants, and other sources of funding. Some clinics have full time paid staff. Others rely on pro bono services from local lawyers.
Clinics provide services in many areas of law. Some specialize in certain areas and some provide more generalized services.
One Clinic Model
Ontario has the largest number of legal clinics of any province or territory in Canada. Many legal clinics operate under the auspices of the Legal Aid Services Act. Other clinics operate separately through law schools, with no Legal Aid Ontario involvement.
In the community legal clinic model, clients are eligible for services when they have matters that are not eligible for provincial legal aid certificates, meaning they cannot retain a lawyer through a Legal Aid program. Clients are required to have extremely low income to access these services. Some of these clinics host law students, and some do not. In the Student Legal Services Organization (SLSO) model, law student education and client service are at the heart of operations. Each law school in Ontario has one SLSO.
