Law Times

Page 10 February 8, 2016 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com Innovative concepts help bridge the access gap BY MARG. BRUINEMAN For Law Times N ew technologies can help more people ac- cess justice, but one lawyer says it takes vi- sion among many stakeholders to help achieve best results. "The biggest impact of tech- nology is always behind the scene. Technology on its own doesn't really get you there," says Colin Lachance, lawyer and busi- ness advisor in legal information and legal technology matters, and former president and chief executive officer of the non- profit Canadian Legal Informa- tion Institute. In 2001, CanLii made court decisions and legislation avail- able online, free of charge. This forged the path in making legal information more readily avail- able to anyone who was seeking it, and it has been followed by a variety of other information ser- vices. Lachance sees issues relating to access to justice break down into three spheres: the courts; lawyers or legal service providers; and in- formation. He says initiatives by government and the courts are making justice more accessible, such as providing information online, or services that allow peo- ple to avoid court altogether. Lachance points to Range- findr.ca, which makes criminal sentencing information available online to lawyers, prosecutors, and judges. Details such as sen- tencing ranges for guilty pleas on cases with similar facts and charges available online means the elimination of redundant re- search. Similar types of services are coming forward in other ar- eas of law. "This is a path I think we're all collectively going to find some benefit from," says Lachance. He points to British Colum- bia's Civil Resolution Tribunal as an online example of an alter- native to the traditional bricks- and-mortar system that could help bridge the access to justice gap. The new system offers op- portunities for light negotiations, information sharing, and the possibility of teleconferencing and preparing the parties for ad- judication. That goal of making users jump over fewer hurdles and do it from the comfort of their home computer means a more user- friendly system, he adds. There have been other inno- vations for people who want to access legal services at a lower price. For example, matching services such as Kabuk Law and LawyerLinx allow people to find lawyers practising specific areas of law in their geographic area, often for f lat rates. Meanwhile, LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer have created low- cost legal service delivery modes just as Axess Law has begun pro- viding legal services at a dozen Wal-Mart locations in the Great- er Toronto Area. Some of the innovations have been in the non-profit sphere. For example, 20 years ago, Le- gal Line was developed as a non- profit phone information service by lawyer Antree Demakos and her husband, Ian Levine. The couple, based in Toronto, also founded the non-profit Pardons Canada. Legal Line's automated phone service allows users to navigate to a specific area of law and access rel- evant information for their cases. If a caller requires more spe- cific information, or the help of a lawyer, he or she can hit zero during regular office hours and a lawyer who practises in that area will come on the line. The service averages 2,000 calls daily and 500,000 web site hits monthly. Legal Line has about 600 law- yers across the country who an- swer questions. Those lawyers also help to ensure the online information is current. The law- yers can also benefit because it can work as a lead generator for them, since many callers require the assistance of a lawyer. Over the years, Demakos and Levine discovered two major access barriers: money and lan- guage. "Our immigrant population is just too big to ignore," says Levine. "When you talk about access to justice, that's really im- portant." As a result, they've made on- line information available for free in 65 languages. Their access f lyer, currently available in 10 languages, is distributed through 7,000 agencies. Of the three mil- lion f lyers distributed annually, four per cent are in French and another 38 per cent are in other languages, including Greek, Ital- ian, and Portuguese. "Nobody gets a busy signal and everybody gets free help," says Levine. Nicole Aylwin, assistant di- rector of the Winkler Institute for Dispute Resolution at Osgoode Hall Law School, says innovation isn't simply about technology or developing products, it's also about process and engaging the public. "We've been struggling to ad- dress access to justice issues for quite some time," says Aylwin. She is part of the National Self-Represented Litigants Proj- ect at Osgoode. The project aims to boost the Canadian justice system's response to those who venture into court without the assistance of a lawyer. Aylwin says Osgoode's legal information technology course helps students improve access to justice by examining alternative and innovative ways of doing things. Every summer, Winkler addresses larger issues through its week-long justice design proj- ect, which focuses on a single is- sue related to justice with an eye to improving it. Last year, the group looked at courthouse designs and dis- cussed how they could be im- proved. This year, the group will examine forms people are typi- cally required to complete when they use the legal system. The group will look for ways to sim- plify forms and make them easier to understand. LT FOCUS 16th Annual TLA Awards Reception and 130th Anniversary Celebration of the Toronto Lawyer's Association Honouring: Chief Justice George Strathy, recipient of the TLA Award of Distinction Mark Lichty, recipient of the Honsberger Award Thursday, March 3, 2016 Reception at 6:00 p.m. Presentation at 7:00 p.m. The Ritz-Carlton Toronto Wellington Ballroom 181 Wellington Street West, Toronto Hors d'oeuvres and food stations. Business attire requested. Tickets available online at www.tlaonline.ca/events $125 (HST incl.) per person $1,125 (HST incl.) for a package of 10 Please RSVP by Wednesday, February 25, 2016 We've been struggling to address access to justice issues for quite some time. Nicole Aylwin Colin Lachance says initiatives by government and the courts are making justice more accessible.

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