About Us

Overview

Legal Assistance of Windsor (LAW) was founded in 1974 as a clinical learning project of the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law. Its goal was to provide an environment in which students could experience issues relating to access to justice in the context of a “storefront clinic” in downtown Windsor by examining the law and legal profession in context, while helping to provide legal services to those who were unable to pay a private lawyer and were unable to obtain a legal aid certificate.

In developing the program, it was recognized that the legal problems of the disadvantaged were often interrelated with social problems. Consequently, an interdisciplinary approach to the delivery of services was developed, which combined the expertise of the legal and social work professions to enable law students to work collaboratively in developing an appreciation and understanding of the knowledge, skills and theories of practice of both professions.

Mission Statement

A project of the University of Windsor Faculty of Law and Legal Aid Ontario, LAW provides a range of legal and social work services to the low-income communities of Windsor and Essex County. Through an interdisciplinary approach, lawyers and law students, social workers and social work students engage in casework, public legal education, law reform and community development activities in a learning environment. Inherent in this work is a recognition that assisting people to improve their lives or general community conditions may be done not only through case-by-case service, but also through community development activities.

Learn more about our current projects

• Employment Insurance Statement Of Principles
• Employment Insurance Background
• Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program & Human Trafficking