For Immediate Release
March 13, 2007

TORONTO - Getting it Right will be the theme for the first-ever Justice Stakeholder Summit that the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) will host on June 24-26, 2007 in Toronto.

"We've got to stop talking about access to justice and start finding ways to deliver it," said James Morton, President of the Ontario Bar Association. "The OBA will host this unique event, drawing together both traditional stakeholders (lawyers and judges) and members of the public and consumers who are an integral part of the daily life of the justice system in Ontario. It is expected that the summit will deal with issues that go well beyond those that have been dealt with in the past and in a more comprehensive manner."

Stakeholder organizations including corrections and victims' rights, poverty rights, ethnic, family law activists, paralegals, aboriginal, community, ADR and interested members of the public will be invited to work alongside invitees from all levels of government, legal organizations and the judiciary in this three day series of workshops.

Over the past 9 months the OBA has partnered with MPPs to hold Town Hall meetings across Ontario, asking justice stakeholders and the public to offer comment on the issues facing the system, with a particular emphasis on the need for adequate resources. Meetings have been held in Brockville, Collingwood, Whitby, Barrie, Lindsay, Newmarket, Belleville and Timmins and are upcoming in Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and Pembroke.

"We have heard consistently across the province that there have been many good initiatives to deal with one-off issues, but it's time we step back, look at the entire system and find better ways to ensure access to justice," added Morton. "This summit is the natural conclusion of our Town Hall initiative. When we first started the Town Halls people were surprised that a legal organization was asking for their input. But each meeting has been larger than the previous one so word is spreading. We expect that by bringing these key players to the table that we can develop real and meaningful options for the government."

The OBA is the voice of the legal profession in Ontario. As a branch of the Canadian Bar Association, the OBA represents 17,000 lawyers, judges, law professors and law students across the province.

- 30 -

For more information:
Jon Clancy
416-869-1047 ext 348