Elder Law Clinic to open this fall

Photo by Greg Black

Professor David Freedman (middle), Director of the new Elder Law Clinic, with two of five student members: Nicole Walton, Law '12, and Katrina Keenan-Pelletier, Law '11

With the launch this fall of the Elder Law Clinic, the first of its kind at a Canadian law school, Queen’s is not only offering students a rare opportunity to gain valuable experience in a burgeoning and socially relevant area of law, but also addressing a gap in legal services for seniors unable to afford a lawyer or unaware of their legal rights.

As Professor David Freedman, the clinic’s director, explains, “There are many older adults who simply don’t have the financial means to retain lawyers in respect of matters like making a power of attorney or knowing what to do when they are having difficulties in a long-term care facility.”
 
By 2026, more than 20 per cent of Canada’s population will be over the age of 65. As life expectancy continues to increase, and the elderly are becoming increasingly isolated -- because they have fewer children and those children often live farther away from their parents than in previous generations -- there is a growing need for legal provisions that protect seniors from exploitation or abuse.

The clinic will undertake case work for clients who meet a financial-means test and will also provide educational services, such as workshops on legal issues, for seniors groups and other community organizations.

Students strongly support the establishment of the clinic. “They recognize that the kinds of problems arising with respect to aging are becoming an important and integral part of legal practice in general,” Freedman says.

One of the five students staffing the clinic in its inaugural year, Katrina Keenan-Pelletier, Law ’11, sees it as both a unique learning opportunity and a way to make a difference.   

“I’m interested in improving legal services for the community and studying law in an environment that bridges the gap between classroom theory and practice,” she says.  

Dave Swerdfeger, President of the Frontenac-Kingston Council on Aging, says a clinic that is developing expertise in this area of law will greatly benefit the community. He agrees that many seniors have little awareness of their legal rights. When issues arise, such as property transfers or elder abuse, seniors often don’t know where to turn or, alternatively, “turn to sources that may not have any helpful information or may be conveying wrong information.”

Freedman, who taught at Queen’s Law one of the first courses in this field to be offered in Canada, has not waited for the clinic to open to start raising people’s awareness of legal issues affecting older Canadians. Among other things, he has been writing a weekly column on elder law issues for the Kingston Whig-Standard and, with Swerdfeger, ran recent workshops on power-of-attorney fraud and elder abuse.