Sandra Phinney, Writer |
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Making A DifferenceWhether it's helping Afghan refugees or protecting children in Liberia, consider using your law degree in a developing country. By Sandra Phinney It's been said that service is the rent we pay for living. Author Joan Ward-Harris once wrote: "In the long run it is the cumulative effect that matters. One can do much. And one and one and one and one can move mountains." Many lawyers understand these sentiments. They are living proof that "service" pays off-but not in a financial sense. It's simply about making a difference. Hugh Robertson (LLB, University of Alberta 1966; QC 1990) makes a difference. He's the Executive Director of the Legal Education Society of Alberta, and he also chairs a committee of the Canadian Bar Association called the International Development Committee (IDC). The latter is a volunteer role and one to which he devotes countless hours. The IDC has major ongoing projects in China, Banglasdesh and South Africa, as well as short terms projects in various parts of the world. They cover the gamut from improving the protection of children's rights to increasing access to justice for the poor. As well as chairing the IDC, Robertson has been directly involved in overseas projects in the realm of legal education. He's taught lawyers in China, Vietnam and Africa how to design, develop, and deliver continuing education (and practical legal training) for those who have finished law school but have not yet been admitted to practice. Opening Doors in Africa and Latin America On one trip to South Africa, he visited lawyers who were members of a constitutional litigation unit sponsored by the Canadian Bar Association (CBA). In concert with lawyers who were working there, the team obtained a judicial decision from the highest court that forced the government to administer antiretroviral medication to pregnant mothers with AIDS, preventing its transmission to children. "By using the courts to do that, it opened the door for very significant actions that happened in that country," he said. Rewarding? You bet! On another trip, he joined a team of lawyers that set out to help some families in shanty town (just outside of Cape Town) who lived too close to the Railway lines and were about to be evicted. The legal intervention was not to prevent the eviction but to provide alternate accommodation. Robertson witnessed degrading conditions that were beyond anything he had ever imagined. He felt honored to interact with people who were trying to make a better life for themselves. Robertson saw first hand how people who are the most marginalized can access the legal system and make it work to their advantage. But he's quick to point out: "That can only happen if you have lawyers who are prepared to do that kind of work. We often hear lawyers described in a very pejorative way. If you go to developing countries and you see the kind of work [Canadian lawyers] are doing, you stand in awe." The IDC also manages an internship program whereby young Canadian lawyers are placed in Latin America, Southern and Central Africa for eight months. The interns get experience in everything from women's rights to labour rights, constitutional rights, children's rights and indigenous people's rights. And there are other avenues to explore. Shauna Labman (BLL University of Victoria 2003) has a position at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in New Delhi India. She's there through Young Professionals International-a program funded by Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The first part of her six month term was spent doing refugee status determinations of Myanmarese asylum seekers who were applying for refugee status. Labman held two to three hour interviews with each claimant, asking questions about their background and why they fled. Helping Refugees She is now into the second half of her contract, working with Afghan refugees. "It is difficult to see the hope-and desperation-in the eyes of refugees when they come for resettlement interviews and I need to explain that there is no promise of resettlement and if their case is rejected, we need to start looking at other durable solutions." Once in awhile she takes a couple of days to get around the country. She's visited places like Agra and Varanasi, "where every aspect of life and death is intermingled." The trickiest part of working in India is learning how to deal with the rickshaw drivers who love to argue about the price. Also, they often stop for errands and some haven't a clue where they are going so getting to work can be quite an adventure. But Labman's never been happier, in spite of the fact that her salary is a mere pittance; her computer looks as if it came over on the Arc; and post-it notes are a luxury from another world. She tucks in, "I've never worked so hard in my life, but this is the most challenging and rewarding job I have ever done and I work with the most amazing people." Christina Storm, the founder and director of Lawyers Without Borders (LWOB) headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, adds, "You have to be a person who is very open minded and willing to not allow your own perceptions of what you think ought to be happening to interfere. And you can't have any ulterior agenda. If your motive is to improve your own law practice-forget it! It doesn't work. The only agenda is to go in and make a difference." Lawyers Without Borders LWOB's mission is to create a global association of lawyers dedicated to the promotion and protection of human justice via pro bono service. To this end, the organization acts as a clearinghouse for requests for help from all over the world. LWOB also has a vast database of lawyers in different countries who want to be of service, so it's relatively easy to do some matchmaking. In addition, LWOB has a program where they deliver books, legal resources and computers in developing nations or in regions emerging from conflict. And this past spring, volunteer lawyers met with the UN mission and several NGO's in Liberia, to map out how best to set up programs related to rule of law, legal aid, and the needs of the child. Other projects involve sending lawyers to help groups set up and qualify as non-profit corporations so they can receive and distribute international financial support. Sometimes, lawyers within the organization are called upon to work in their own country. Recently, LWOB got a call from a mother in Bulgaria. Her daughter was taken off a ski slope in the US and held in prison. With the help of a local lawyer who was in the organization's database, the young woman was released within 24 hours. Because they are open minded, lawyers who participate in LWOB know how to immerse themselves in another culture and are smart about absorbing cultural sensitivities. They adapt very quickly. "You also need to be the kind of person who wants to give back," Storm says. And there are thousands of lawyers registered with LWOB who want to give back, including Marion Williams, from Toronto (LLB London, England 1989). Her law firm specializes in licensing of intellectual property and international commercial transactions/international trade. Williams' volunteer work with LWOB is extensive. Currently she is directing an initiative to set up a public defender project in Liberia. LWOB has partnered with the UN for this project and the organization is now rallying lawyers who are willing to work in Africa. "You can start from ground zero and look back in six months and see that you are doing some good. You also get to exchange ideas and work with some of the best legal minds in the world-that's very empowering in itself," Williams said. One thing she cautions: it's imperative to asses the needs of the client from the client's point of view, and not go into a country thinking that you have any ready made solutions. Although there are several Canadian lawyers currently volunteering with LWOB, the organization is in the process of opening a Canadian branch. Interested lawyers can also tap into our home grown institutions like Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and the Canadian Bar Association's IDC, to name just a few. It's a small world, but the needs are a mile high. Never forget that "one and one and one and one can move mountains."
Sidebar 1: Look In Your Own Backyard When Hamilton, Ontario lawyer Andrew Orkin first came to Canada from South Africa in 1976, he brought with him a background as a human rights activist. In the early 90's he made several visits he made several visits to South Africa and renewed contacts with a number of NGO's engaged in transforming it from an apartheid society to a non-racial democracy. The upshot? He led a delegation of a dozen or so Canadian lawyers who were involved in a one-month election monitoring project over the course of the 1994 elections that brought Nelson Mandella to power. One thing led to another, and Orkin penned a project that became the Canada-South Africa Constitutional Litigation Project. He submitted the proposal to CIDA, which in turn funded about $10 million dollars over the next six years to bring the concept to reality as a CBA undertaking which he directed for five years. Currently, the majority of his law practice is devoted to indigenous rights here in Canada. "A lot of Canadian professionals think that in order to do human rights work you have to go abroad," he says. "The truth of it is that you just have to look in your own back yard. The disparities are here and they are gross." Examples: there are 200 First-nation communities in Canada that don't have clean drinking water, and inner cities where people live in poverty beyond description. This kind of work is challenging, financially risky and never dull. "One has to be nimble and sometimes willing to do large quantities of pro bono work," says Orkin. "There are many discouragements, but the rewards are enormous." Get Connected International Development Committee of the Canadian Bar Association Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) Lawyers Without Borders Human Rights Research and Education Centre International Bar Association The United Nations Canadian Lawyers' Association for International Human Rights International Development Research Centre Lawyers Committee for Human Rights The Canadian Resource Bank for Democracy & Human Rights * * * This article appears in the 2004/05 edition of Career Verdict
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