The program launched in 2023 to address a surge in demand for legal services after the pandemic
Lawyers at Norton Rose Fulbright and BMO have spent the past four Wednesdays fortifying the ranks of Pro Bono Ontario’s free legal advice hotline, in the latest iteration of an annual program that aims to expand its reach this year.
“We have lawyers in both our Toronto and our Ottawa Norton Rose Fulbright offices participating, and this has made it possible for us to reach more individuals, small businesses, nonprofits, and charities than ever before,” Grace Pastine, pro bono counsel at the law firm.
Over the course of five days last July, lawyers participating in the program donated 325 hours of free legal advice to individuals who called Pro Bono Ontario's hotline. By the close of July 30, the last Wednesday of this year's program, Pastine says she expects lawyers will have donated 340 hours.
Pro Bono Ontario’s hotline is open Monday to Friday and callers can receive up to 30 minutes of free legal advice.
“Summer tends to be a time of year when Pro Bono Ontario struggles to staff the hotline, and the need for the hotline is always much greater than what the hotline can provide,” says Pastine.
“Our lawyers at BMO and Norton Rose Fulbright volunteer throughout the year for the hotline, but we’ve developed this special initiative in the summer – now going on three years – where we really work to amplify our social impact and partner on the hotline in addition to participating.”
Norton Rose Fulbright and BMO first launched the annual program in 2023 to help Pro Bono Ontario address the surge in demand for legal services following the COVID-19 pandemic.
This July, lawyers in the program assisted callers with litigation as well as employment, housing, and business issues, and more.
“We are answering calls that help families that are facing evictions. We help seniors who are protecting themselves from predatory scams,” Pastine says. “We provide legal advice to small business owners that might not otherwise be able to access legal services. And we also provide advice to charities and not-for-profit organizations that are based in Ontario.”
To support lawyers volunteering their time, Pastine says Norton Rose Fulbright allows associates to count pro bono work towards their billable hours – a strategy that the legal head of TrustLaw, Thomson Reuters’ pro bono legal network, has recommended to correct declining pro bono hours nationwide.
But the firm encourages all lawyers to participate in the program, which Pastine says will likely take place again next summer.
“Certainly our lawyers have incredibly busy practices, but they also recognize that they have a critical role to play in addressing the justice gap,” she says.
The firm’s policy of counting pro bono work towards billable hours is “really just out of recognition that pro bono is core to our firm culture and to the types of teams that we want to develop,” she adds.
