Law firm Chow McLeod Barristers and Solicitors has received a provincial award for offering free legal advice to residents who cannot conventionally afford or hire a lawyer.
Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan (PBLS) held its annual curling bonspiel and fundraiser in mid-February and, following that event, presented the Law Firm of the Year Award to Chow McLeod in a separate ceremony.
This is the first time the Moose Jaw law firm has received the award; this is the fourth year PBLS has handed out the accolade.
It was a “very nice surprise” to receive the award because the law firm didn’t know that PBLS handed out such honours, said partner Timothy Hansen. It was also “very kind” of the provincial organization to acknowledge Chow McLeod’s work and dedication to helping the community.
“I think we just try and give back using our skillsets here as lawyers in a way that tries to have a meaningful and concrete impact on the community,” he stated, noting PBLS performs great work behind the scenes in making life easier for lawyers to help residents.
Some behind-the-scenes work includes organizing and planning meetings, addressing administrative logistics, handling the yearly scheduling of meetings so lawyers can ensure their agendas are open and ensuring everything runs efficiently.
Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan has organized and operated free legal services across the province for nearly a decade; the Moose Jaw clinic is held at the Salvation Army’s downtown location on First Avenue Northeast. During the pandemic, participating lawyers helped residents by phone.
Hansen has offered his time at the clinics for about eight years, while other co-workers have also offered their support over the years. Chow McLeod lawyers volunteer at the free legal clinics about four times a year and see about four clients each time, which means they help about 16 to 20 people annually.
For Hansen, he estimated that he has helped 90 to 100 people since he started volunteering in 2015. He noted that he — and other co-workers — also steps in to help if lawyers from other law firms cannot volunteer because of unexpected scheduling conflicts.
Some areas of law on which Hansen focuses include family law, estates (if someone dies), debt and insolvency and questions about landlord and tenant disputes.
“For minimal impact on my schedule and minimal overhead and planning, you can put all your effort into focusing on helping people. And I feel like that’s really efficient … ,” said Hansen.
“It’s very tangible to get to speak to people and focus on simply helping them and not try to arrange to meet them or do any of the administrative work, so I really appreciate that.”
Hansen added that Chow McLeod appreciated receiving the award since other firms in Moose Jaw also volunteer their time with the Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan’s free legal clinics and could have received the accolade.
