Family Law Project 

What is the Family Law Project?

Founded in 2003, the Queen's Family Law Project (FLP) consists of a small group of law students working to assist unrepresented litigants in Kingston's Unified Family Court. Volunteers help individuals seeking advice from advice counsel at the Family Law Information Centre, helping them understand and complete necessary court forms, and providing unrepresented litigants with information about court structure, the litigation process, alternatives to litigation (such as mediation), and other services (such as Legal Aid and the garnishment of wages by the Family Responsibility Office).

What are the goals of FLP?

1. Provide unrepresented litigants with information about the court process and assist them with the difficult task of completing court forms, including helping them draft pleadings.
2. Provide students with the opportunity to work in a family court context and shadow advice counsel in order to gain hands-on experience and exposure to family law issues.
3. Help the courts cope with the increasing number of unrepresented litigants in the family court system.

Who can volunteer with FLP?

Any upper year student who has taken or is currently taking Family Law (Law 520) can apply for FLP. Volunteers must be able to commit to a 3-4 hour shift once or twice a week for a minimum of one semester during the school year. People who have previously volunteered through Queen's Pro Bono are welcome to apply, but experience with Pro Bono is not necessary. Work or volunteer experience in the legal field is not necessary.

Applications will be available through the Pro Bono office in September and are also available online; interested students should fill out the upper year application form and be sure to complete the section about FLP. Watch out for the Pro Bono Launch in early September, which will include a brief information session about FLP. Students taking Law 520 - Family Law in the winter term should apply in September and indicate on their application when they are taking the course.

How do I find out more about FLP?

Come to the Pro Bono Launch in early September, which will include information about FLP. If you have any more questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact the FLP coordinators or the Pro Bono coordinators.