Queen's Pro Bono students help seniors protect themselves from fraud

Photo By Alexandra Manthorpe

Erin Smith, Law '12 and Neil Riley, Law '10, volunteers with Pro Bono Students Canada.

Erin Smith, Law '12, and Neil Riley, Law '10, helped organize a workshop on campus on March 7, 2009 to educate senior citizens on home renovation fraud.   Erin and Neil, both volunteers with Pro Bono Students Canada, worked closely with the Kingston Council on Aging to co-ordinate the event, which was designed to teach seniors how to deal with contractors if they prove to be dishonest, and who to turn to in case of fraud.

Erin, Neil and the Council invited community members, including a police officer and a local contractor, to come and give tips to the audience on avoiding construction-related fraud.  Erin and Neil focussed on giving the attendees information about pursuing matters in small claims court.

"Even though small claims court is meant for non-lawyers, it can still be very intimidating," said Erin.  "We really tried to simplify and de-mystify the process and show how it really is accessible to the public."

Neil and Erin's recent work with the Council on Aging is a continuation of a project that began last year, in which the Pro Bono student volunteers created a step-by-step manual on navigating through the small claims court system.  Erin and Neil were able to reach a broader audience with their presentation at this year's workshop, which received media coverage on local television and in newspapers.

Photo by Alexandra Manthorpe

Neil Riley, Law '10, speaks to seniors about making claims in cases of home renovation fraud at a workshop in Macdonald Hall on March 7, 2009.

"I found it was a great way to get Queen's Law and Queen's Pro Bono more involved with the local community and I hope next year we will be able to put on at least one more of these kinds of workshops," said Neil.  "It was nice that at the end of the workshop a number of seniors came up to thank both Erin and me telling us how informative and useful the workshop had been and how it was one of the only ways they had access to this kind of information."

Both Erin and Neil said the experience had been a rewarding one and had given them valuable hands-on practice in the law.

"As the baby boomers age, I think seniors' issues of all sorts are going to rise in prominence," said Erin.  "As this area receives increasing exposure, I think a lot of interesting legal issues will arise and this is something I'm interested in being a part of.  Being part of Pro Bono generally and working with the Council on Aging specifically were both great experiences."