Student Legal Services.

• Date: 01 September 2019
• Author: McFadyen, Sarah

Celebrating 50 Years of Providing Access to Justice in Edmonton and Area

From September to June of each year, over two hundred and fifty law students at the University of Alberta provide free legal information and assistance to low-income individuals in Edmonton and area. These students volunteer as caseworkers and project coordinators with Student Legal Services (SLS). During the summer, SLS operates with twenty-one caseworkers and seven project coordinators. The organization has been operating since 1969 and celebrated its 50th anniversary this past summer. To celebrate, in typical SLS fashion, SLS is expanding its reach to assist even more low-income individuals, both in terms of location and areas of law.

50 Years of Service

Student Legal Services is a not-for-profit organization run by law students at the University of Alberta. SLS was established to help fill the gap in the Edmonton justice system by providing the low-income community with free legal information and assistance. The organization was created in the summer of 1969 by fourteen law students who had a passion for access to justice and who were inspired by the student legal clinics emerging across Canada and the U.S.A. At that time, the students did not have an office space, so they purchased a school bus painted in psychedelic colours and used it...