Pro Bono Students Canada is gearing up for another year of providing free legal research to community groups and public organizations.

The national program founded at the University of Western Ontario's Faculty of Law in 1998 connects law students and lawyers with community groups, non-profit organizations, legal service providers and government agencies in need of legal research.

The service is provided at no charge and each year places about 2,000 volunteer law students with groups right across the country.

Judy Rich, a second-year student at Western Law, is coordinator for Pro Bono Students Canada.

"Getting involved in Pro Bono Students Canada is a wonderful opportunity for students to gain practical legal experience while making a valuable contribution to the community," she says.

"It allows students to explore interesting legal issues that fall outside traditional areas of study. It also gives students a chance to network with lawyers and in today's competitive employment market that gives law students an edge."

In addition to providing legal research to non-profit organizations, the Pro Bono group at Western is offering two new projects in the local community: The Family Law Project and the Middlesex Law Association Partnership Program.

The Family Law Project allows 10 students (working with duty and advice counsel at the London Court House) to help unrepresented litigants understand the lawsuit process and complete necessary court forms for their case. This allows duty counsel more time to spend with clients who have more complicated issues.

The Middlesex Law Association Legal Partnership Program assigns students to practicing lawyers in the London area who take on pro bono casework to conduct legal research and to assist with the pro bono component of the lawyer's workload.

Pro Bono Students Canada placements include a wide variety of projects. Recent examples have featured:

* Interpreting municipal by-laws and translating them into an understandable format;

* Researching the law on sexual harassment in the workplace and helping to arrange a research forum on the subject;

* Researching the responsibilities of organizations for information contained in their websites;

* Researching the duty of individuals to disclose HIV positive status to potential sexual partners;

* Assisting the Canadian Cancer Society in preparing submissions to the Ministry of Health on draft legislation dealing with access to personal health information.

For more information, contact PBSC Coordinator Judy Rich at the Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario. By phone, 519-661-2111 ext. 81195; by fax, 519-661-3790; or by email, jrich4@uwo.ca