As part of its 30th anniversary Homecoming, Law’88 launched its first-ever gift campaign: $50,000 for the Experiential Learning Fund by 2023. Funds raised will help pay operating costs of the law school’s five clinical programs, all staffed by students wanting invaluable hands-on experience with clients under faculty and expert practitioners’ supervision.
Kelly-Anne Thomson, one of five volunteers on the Law’88 Class Giving Committee, says they’re hoping for total participation. Knowing how valuable clinical involvement is to students underscores the importance of supporting the Experiential Learning Fund at whatever level is possible, she says. “Large or small, every gift counts.”
She speaks from experience of the clinics’ value to law students. “When I volunteered with Queen’s Legal Aid, I drove the clinic’s van to Sharbot Lake and set up shop right there in a parking lot. When I first met real people with real problems, I felt unprepared,” she says, “but continuing that face-to-face, hands-on experience gave me the skills and confidence to effectively advise clients. It was a great feeling to actually help people.”
There’s an added reason for Law’88 to rally to the cause: one of their classmates, Peter Kissick, Law’88, LLM’98, was founding director of the Queen’s Business Law Clinic (QBLC), leading it from 2009 to 2015. From humble beginnings – a few students working out of a makeshift office to help a handful of clients – QBLC has become one of the school’s most vibrant and dynamic clinics.
“Its hands-on learning experience is exceptional,” says Kissick. “QBLC is among the largest and most active business law clinics offered through any Canadian law school, and it provides useful service to local non-profits and small start-up businesses. That’s why I’m so enthusiastic about this class gift for the Queen’s Law Clinics.”
Thomson really hopes their classmates will be, too. “By contributing to this particular fund,” she says, “we can actually make a difference.”
By Ken Cuthbertson
Watch our video to learn what students have to say about how working with the Queen’s Law Clinics has shaped their academic and future professional lives.
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.
Further contributions to the to support the school’s five pro bono clinics (business law, family law, elder law, poverty law, and prison law), can be made online.