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Dentons Canada LLP - Montréal, Quebec
http://www.dentons.com/en/global-presence/canada/montreal.aspx
Pro Bono Information
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Pro Bono Information |
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| Does your organization have a pro bono policy? | Yes |
| Does your organization track pro bono time? | Yes |
| Highlight pro bono work |
Community leadership is one of the defining characteristics of our people at Dentons Canada. We are proud of our deep tradition of giving back to our community through our significant and ongoing philanthropic efforts and our pro bono program. In Canada, our formal pro bono program recognizes and supports the professional development and responsibility of our lawyers, law students and the Firm to provide assistance to those within our communities who would otherwise be unable to obtain access to justice or legal services. The program makes our resources and experience available to:
• Disadvantaged, marginalized or underrepresented individuals, and individuals of limited means who cannot afford legal services and who do not qualify for legal aid services; • NGOs, not-for-profit and charitable organizations, religious, civic, community, public health, public policy and educational organizations, legal clinics and projects of pro bono umbrella organizations in the four provinces in which we have offices, whose efforts or programs are designed to address the needs of such individuals; and • Work for the public good on matters of broad public or community concern. • Policy and law reform initiatives in Canada and globally requiring legal research and surveys of Canadian law, sometimes in collaboration with Dentons offices in other regions. Our Canada Pro Bono Committee is a diverse group of partner leads from each office who work with our Office Managing Partners, senior leadership from our Talent, Finance and Profile and Client Development (Marketing) teams, associates and articling students to collectively encourage and promote goodwill through our local and regional pro bono programs. To learn more about our pro bono efforts, visit our Pro Bono in Canada page: https://www.dentons.com/en/about-dentons/an-entrepreneurial-approach-to-pro-bono-and-social-responsibility/pro-bono-in-canada In addition to the many individuals we have represented, we strive to develop relationships with organizations that help connect us with those in need. The following highlights some of our pro bono work. 30 Birds Foundation: Refugee resettlement in Canada of at-risk female Afghan scholars Dentons students and lawyers across all our offices have assisted the 30 Birds Foundation with Canadian refugee applications for a large number of at-risk young, female Afghan Hazara scholars from one of Afghanistan’s first co-ed schools, and affiliated community members. They were able to evacuate from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to temporary safety through remarkable international collaboration and assistance. We are honoured to be recognized at the 2023 Canadian Law Awards for Pro Bono Initiative of the Year, for the support provided to the 30 Birds Foundation. Click here to learn more about the 30 Birds Foundation and click here to stay up-to-date with their ongoing resettlement in Canada. Led By HER and Kering Foundation Through TrustLaw, lawyers and students in our Toronto and Ottawa offices provided research and insight concerning Ontario workplace laws to protect and support victims of domestic violence as part of a multi-region research initiative of Led By HER and the Kering Foundation. The aim of the project is to identify good practices in workplace laws as an example for legislative change advocacy in other jurisdictions, and to advocate for employers to adopt good policies and practices in advance of legislation tackling domestic violence through workplace laws. Dentons’ Ottawa lawyer Catherine Coulter spoke at the July 2, 2020 conference during which the final report was released, and a copy of that report can be found here. In 2021, this pro bono work was recognized by the Canada Law Awards as the “Pro Bono Initiative of the Year”. LEAF intervention in Charter challenge to Saskatchewan’s pronoun and gender identity disclosure policy for Schools A team of lawyers in our Vancouver and Toronto offices successfully represented the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (“LEAF”) in an application for leave to intervene in the UR Pride Charter challenge to Saskatchewan's pronoun and gender identity disclosure policy. The Charter challenge is proceeding before the Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench. The LEAF intervention will focus on the section 15 Charter rights of trans, non-binary and gender diverse youth. YesHelp: connects displaced Ukrainian women and children to communities, support and volunteers around the globe. Dentons students and lawyers from our Toronto and Ottawa offices provided the Canadian grassroots non-profit organization YesHelp with pro bono legal guidance in the areas of corporate, contract, data privacy, housing and insurance law, among other areas, to assist it in setting up a secure and easy-to-use mobile app of the same name, launched in October 2022, which connects displaced Ukrainians to communities, support and volunteers worldwide. The YesHelp app provides a safe and seamless space where Ukrainian women and children can connect with volunteers in their community to access donations, shelter, childcare, transportation, translation, pet care, and more. Supporting Black-owned businesses Dentons’ business and tax lawyers provided pro bono business and tax structuring advice to a Black-owned social enterprise with a platform dedicated to highlighting and supporting Black-owned food businesses within the Black community in Canada. World Vision Canada Dentons has assisted World Vision Canada on several engagements with legal research to assist it in understanding the opportunities and challenges for developing Canadian supply chain legislation and transparency. This work included providing advice on the constitutionality and trade implications of modern slavery legislation, among other questions. World Vision Canada and Dentons were nominated for the “Collaboration Award” at the 2018 TrustLaw Awards, for their work together. Dentons assistance in this matter led to specific amendments in Canada’s proposed modern slavery legislation. There are currently three Bills in the early legislative process before Parliament. For a full list of all our current pro-bono projects, please visit our website: https://www.dentons.com/en/about-dentons/an-entrepreneurial-approach-to-pro-bono-and-social-responsibility/pro-bono-in-canada |
| Is billable hour credit given for pro bono work? | No |
| Comments |
Community leadership is one of the defining characteristics of our people at Dentons Canada. We are proud of our deep tradition of giving to our community through our significant and ongoing philanthropic efforts and our pro bono program. In Canada, our formal pro bono program recognizes and supports the professional development and responsibility of our lawyers, law students and of the Firm to provide assistance to those within our communities who would otherwise be unable to obtain access to justice or legal services. The program makes our resources and experience available to:
• Disadvantaged, marginalized or underrepresented individuals and individuals of limited means who cannot afford legal services and who do not qualify for legal aid services; • NGOs, not-for-profit and charitable organizations, religious, civic, community, public health, public policy and educational organizations, legal clinics and projects of pro bono umbrella organizations in the four provinces in which we have offices whose efforts or programs are designed to address the needs of such individuals; and • Work for the public good on matters of broad public or community concern. Our Canada Pro Bono Committee is a diverse group of partners leads from each office who work with our Office Managing Partners, senior leadership from our Talent, Finance and Profile and Client Development (Marketing) teams, associates and articling students to collectively encourage and promote goodwill through our local and regional pro bono programs. As a result, in 2020 we supported 19 new community groups and organizations, in addition to our 32 ongoing pro bono matters. Going beyond our traditional pro bono commitments, our Dentons team has been doing their part to support our communities in response to COVID-19. Here is just some of the ways we’ve been making a difference: • Our Calgary office has provided legal support to a volunteer-based initiative to source and provide life-saving personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers across Alberta during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the initiative successfully assembled a team of more than 70 volunteers who have raised more than $80,000 through its GoFundMe page, and have collected more than 60,000 pieces of PPE for donation to Alberta’s frontline healthcare workers. • A lawyer in our Toronto office provided legal advice to a local 3D printing manufacturer to support the launch of bringing their face shields to the market, providing an additional face shield option to the broader community. Separately, another lawyer in our Toronto office provided legal advice to medical and non-medical professionals to help launch an online platform that supports manufacturers in navigating the regulatory process in having their personal protection equipment (and other COVID-19-related devices) approved for use. • Lawyers in our Vancouver office provided pro bono services to the Vancouver Pride Society, assisting with the transition of this year's annual Pride Parade to VanVirtualPride, a virtual week-long celebration with workshops, educational programing and performances – held online due to COVID-19. • Lawyers in our Toronto office advised a group of Ontario doctors on medical-legal compliance matters, including copyright and fair dealing, in connection with building COVID19_ASK, an informational website aimed at educating Ontario residents by providing simple, reliable, and up-to-date information during the COVID-19 pandemic To learn more about our pro bono efforts, visit our Pro Bono in Canada page on dentons.com. |
| Highlight Community Involvement |
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