Queen’s Law Clinics Executive Director Blair Crew, Cunningham Swan’s Managing Partner David Munday, Law’09, and Associate Managing Partner Carolyn Shelley, Queen’s Elder Law Clinic student leader Reem Atallah, and Assistant Dean Karla McGrath.
Queen’s Law Clinics Executive Director Blair Crew, Cunningham Swan’s Managing Partner David Munday, Law’09, and Associate Managing Partner Carolyn Shelley, Queen’s Elder Law Clinic student leader Reem Atallah, and Assistant Dean Karla McGrath.

With a new $100,000 gift, Cunningham Swan Carty Little & Bonham LLP continues supporting Queen’s Law Clinics in providing students with practical experience and free legal services to those in need. The gift, recognized at a Nov. 13 reception at the clinics’ downtown Kingston office, is the latest from one of southeastern Ontario’s leading full-service law firms.

QLC Executive Director Blair Crew thanked the firm, highlighting its impact on clinic goals. “We develop practice-ready students exposed to poverty law. We succeed not just when they improve legal skills but when they understand our profession’s noblest aspects – community service and the call to use legal privilege for pro bono work.”

Each year, more than 200 students in the five clinics – Queen’s Legal Aid and clinics specializing in elder law, family law, prison law, and business law – handle over 1,200 cases under the guidance of practising lawyers. Among them is Reem Atallah, Law’25, a student leader in the Queen’s Elder Law Clinic, who served as a caseworker in her second year.

“Through the clinics, we law students create change and give back to Kingston by supporting its most vulnerable members,” said Atallah. “My most rewarding experiences have come from interacting with clients. Fifty years from now, I may not remember the Postal Rule, but I will remember going to Providence Care to visit a client who’d fallen ill and had no one to help clear out their apartment. During recovery, the client automatically became homeless.”

At the reception, QLC students and directors mingled with Cunningham Swan representatives: Managing Partner David Munday, Law’09, Associate Managing Partner Carolyn Shelley, Operations Manager Darren McCaugherty, and Human Resources Manager Sheila Johnston.

“Your donation creates a ripple effect, beginning in the clinics and extending to the Queen’s Law student body, ultimately impacting the Kingston community,” said Atallah. “We deeply appreciate your support and are thrilled to be part of this wave of positive change.”

In 2022, three years after the firm’s previous gift to the Queen’s Law Experiential Learning Fund, Cunningham Swan was recognized for supporting access to justice by the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Southeastern Ontario, receiving its National Philanthropy Day Award as Outstanding Corporation.

Gifts to the Queen’s Law Experiential Learning Fund can be made online.

The Queen’s Law Clinics gratefully acknowledge the support of Legal Aid Ontario, the Law Foundation of Ontario, Pro Bono Students Canada, the Class of Law’81, the United Way of KFL&A, and alumni and industry sponsors, including Cunningham Swan Carty Little & Bonham LLP.