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| Amanda Dodge, B.A. (Hons.), LL.B. |
Legal Aid Leader
The Canadian Bar Association’s Legal Aid Liaison Committee is proud to introduce the first recipient of our new Legal Aid Leader Award, Amanda Dodge
Amanda was called to the Saskatchewan Bar in 2004 and the Ontario Bar in 2006, after winning the Silver Medal for overall academic standing in the graduating class at University of Saskatchewan’s College of Law and being voted valedictorian of that class. In law school, Amanda built up and coordinated a chapter of Pro Bono Students Canada. She then clerked for the Chief Justice of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
Amanda started her career with Saskatchewan Legal Aid Commission as a staff criminal lawyer, and was selected for the Canadian Bar Association’s International Development Internship Program the following year. In Namibia, Africa, she researched implementation of sexual assault legislation at grassroots level, assisted in lobbying and advocacy on children’s legislation and wrote a paper on gender-based violence in southern Africa. Returning to Canada, Amanda worked at a community legal clinic in Ontario, assisting her clients with poverty law issues, including appeals to the superior and appellate courts. She engaged in public interest litigation in partnership with senior pro bono counsel.
Amanda then moved home to Saskatchewan and began her work with CLASSIC, the Community Legal Assistance Services for Saskatoon Inner City, first as Executive Director, and subsequently as Supervising Lawyer, allowing her to focus on her main passions, teaching students and providing legal assistance to those who desperately need it. She oversees law students’ work at a walk-in advocacy clinic, trains and supervises law students as they provide client services, and takes an active role in more complex files that come into the clinic. Amanda is a member of the Saskatchewan Branch of the CBA and of the CBA’s national Access to Justice Committee. In addition to all that, Amanda finds time to volunteer in a number of organizations that fight for human rights and against poverty. |
Publication
The CBA is happy to announce the release of Moving Forward on Legal Aid: Research on Needs and Innovative Approaches. As part of the CBA’s current look at renewing our approach to advancing access to justice, we commissioned Melina Buckley, LL.B., Ph.D., to prepare this report for the CBA. She considered the current state of legal aid, both in Canada and internationally, and also innovative approaches to delivering access to justice. Dr. Buckley’s report provides a unique and important summary of policy developments and current research, new delivery options, and an overview of recent legal aid initiatives. It concludes with suggestions for future CBA efforts to improve access to justice. We expect that those suggestions will be helpful in informing the work of the Association for years to come.
Years of cutbacks has left Canada’s legal aid system in crisis. The CBA has launched a major national initiative to raise awareness of the importance of adequate legal aid services to our system of justice and to try to resolve the crisis.
The CBA believes that lawyers have a responsibility to:
- actively support legal aid programs;
- speak out against threats to government-funded counsel, including underfunding of legal services and funding cutbacks; and
- contribute to a positive dialogue on how to improve legal aid service delivery.
The CBA has five-point platform on legal aid reform:
- Legal aid should be recognized as an essential public service, like health care.
- Public funding should be confirmed as necessary to ensure access to justice for low-income people.
- Public funding for legal aid must be increased.
- National standards for criminal and civil legal aid coverage and eligibility criteria are required.
- The federal government should revitalize its commitment to legal aid.
Legal Aid in Canada (additional information) |
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