Current Projects 2026-27
1. CABA Unmarked Graves Project
Description: Each province and territory has different laws and agencies governing how human remains are searched for, exhumed, or otherwise disturbed. Building on research completed in previous years, this project produces a plain language resource for Indigenous communities undertaking searches for missing children at Indian Residential Schools. Students translate existing legal research into accessible form and complete a jurisdictional comparison, working alongside forensic anthropologists and bioarchaeologists from the CABA-ACAB Standing Committee on Residential School Graves. The completed guide will be distributed through CABA-ACAB and partner organization websites.
Organization: Canadian Association for Biological Anthropology (https://caba-acab.ca/)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Indigenous, criminal, administrative
Number of Students: 2-3
Prerequisites/Assets: An interest in Indigenous law and reconciliation is an asset.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
2. Substitute and Supported Decision-Making Research Project
Description: Community Living London supports people with developmental disabilities and their families. This project has two components. The primary research examines Ontario's substitute decision-making framework and the emerging supported decision-making model, including how peer organizations across the country are approaching these questions, presented as an internal research memo and an environmental scan. Students also complete a second, discrete research memo on the liability of an organization co-hosting a conference or event at premises it does not own, including accessibility obligations and how responsibility is allocated between occupier, owner and host.
Organization: Community Living London (www.cll.on.ca)
Type of Project: Research
Area(s) of Law: Disability, human rights, occupiers' liability
Number of Students: 2
Prerequisites/Assets: Students should be savvy in conducting legal research.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
3. Client Assistance Project
Description: Elgin Oxford Legal Clinic works with individuals living on a low income in Elgin and Oxford County, as well as Oneida of the Thames, Chippewa of the Thames and Munsee-Delaware First Nations. Student volunteers assist EOLC with client intake. Files pertain primarily to Ontario Works appeals, Ontario Disability Support Program appeals, and Canada Pension Plan disability appeals. Most intake is conducted virtually by phone or Zoom, with a lawyer available at all times.
Organization: Elgin Oxford Legal Clinic (www.eolc.ca)
Type of Project: Client Assistance
Area(s) of Law: Various
Number of Students: 2-3
Prerequisites/Assets: Applicants to this project will be interviewed and selected by Elgin Oxford Legal Clinic.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
4. Huron Perth Community Legal Clinic (In Person Component)
Description: Students assist the Huron Perth Community Legal Clinic in conducting legal research on active cases for residents of Huron and Perth Counties living on low income. Topics include human rights, housing law and consumer protection law. There may be an opportunity for drafting pleadings or other materials.
Organization: Huron Perth Community Legal Clinic (www.huronperthlegalclinic.ca)
Type of Project: Client Assistance
Area(s) of Law: Ontario Works and disability appeals, housing law, consumer protection law
Number of Students: 1
Prerequisites/Assets: Students must attend the clinic IN PERSON in Stratford once a week. Stratford is approximately one hour from London by car and reliable transportation is required.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
5. Voting Rights for Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Individuals
Description: This project produces a plain language resource on voting rights for currently and formerly incarcerated individuals. Students research the legal framework governing the right to vote while incarcerated, how that right is enforced in practice, the mechanics of casting a ballot from custody, and the position of people recently released. The resource is designed for distribution to individuals in provincial and federal institutions and for use by John Howard Society staff supporting them.
Organization: John Howard Society of Simcoe & Muskoka (https://johnhoward.on.ca/muskoka/)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Constitutional, criminal, human rights
Number of Students: 2
Prerequisites/Assets: Constitutional or criminal law is an asset.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
6. Legal Line Clinic
Description: Legal Line provides access to Canadian law in plain language across more than 48 areas of law, including business law, injury law, cyber law, child custody and immigration law. Students assist Legal Line by researching, writing and reviewing legal information for the website, on topics determined by the supervising lawyer based on the questions Canadians are actually asking. Students learn to translate legalese into plain language and to break down legal concepts into meaningful and understandable answers across a broad range of subject areas.
Organization: Legal Line (www.legalline.ca)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Varies based on the questions asked to Legal Line
Number of Students: 2
Prerequisites/Assets: Strong writing and legal interpretation skills.
Eligible to Apply: 2L, 3L
7. Extended Health Benefits Plain Language Guide
Description: This project produces a plain language guide to help low-income clients understand and navigate Ontario's Extended Health Benefits program. Students research eligibility, the application process, what services are covered, and how to appeal a denied claim. The research also covers how the program operates for working-poor individuals and people receiving social assistance, and how it interacts with the Trillium Drug Program and the Catastrophic Drug Program. The completed guide will be published on the LIFE*SPIN website for clients and others who may benefit.
Organization: LIFE*SPIN (www.lifespin.org)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Social assistance, administrative, health
Number of Students: 2
Prerequisites/Assets: None.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
8. Wills and POA Clinic (In-Person Component)
Description: Many low-income seniors do not have a Will or Power of Attorney and are unsure how to obtain them. This project provides Wills preparation assistance to low-income senior tenants at London & Middlesex Community Housing's senior sites across the City of London. Students attend in-person client meetings at each site. At each site, students and the lawyer supervisors complete an initial client consultation explaining the service and its eligibility criteria. Once eligibility is assessed, students meet with eligible tenants one-on-one under lawyer supervision to draft their Will and POA, typically six to eight individuals per site. Students then meet the client a second time to present the final documents for review and execution, explaining the documents and ensuring they reflect the client's testamentary wishes.
Organization: London & Middlesex Community Housing (www.lmch.ca)
Type of Project: Client Assistance
Area(s) of Law: Wills and Estates
Number of Students: 3-4
Prerequisites/Assets: Students must attend IN-PERSON client meetings at senior sites across London. Preference will be given to upper year students who have taken a Wills and Estates course, and to students with a social services background familiar with the community being served.
Eligible to Apply: 2L, 3L
9. Post-Eviction Rights and Emergency Shelter Access Guide (In-Person Component)
Description: London Cares works with individuals experiencing chronic and persistent homelessness. This project produces a plain language resource on what happens after an eviction, covering a tenant's rights once an eviction order has been issued, the process of accessing emergency shelter, and the supports available during that period. Students conduct the research and prepare the resource, and attend two in-person drop-in sessions at London Cares, one per semester, to make the information available directly to community members.
Organization: London Cares (www.londoncares.ca)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Housing
Number of Students: 2-4
Prerequisites/Assets: Students must attend two IN-PERSON drop-in sessions in London, one per semester.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
10. Miscarriage of Justice Canada Exoneration Project
Description: Miscarriage of Justice Canada advocates for individuals with reasonable grounds to conclude that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred in their case, and that it would be in the interests of justice to apply to the Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission seeking exoneration. Students conduct preliminary case assessments, assist with legal research and evidence review, and help prepare materials for Commission applications. Students may also interview incarcerated individuals and their families, and take part in community outreach and public legal education.
Organization: Miscarriage of Justice Canada (www.miscarriagejustice.org)
Type of Project: Client Assistance
Area(s) of Law: Criminal
Number of Students: 5
Prerequisites/Assets: Criminal law is an asset. This project involves contact with incarcerated individuals and their families.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
11. Gladue Writer Program (In-Person Component)
Description: Students assist the N'Amerind Friendship Centre's Gladue Writer with the research component of Gladue reports for Indigenous clients facing legal issues. A Gladue report is a pre-sentencing and bail hearing report prepared when an Indigenous person is being sentenced. Reports are created after meeting with the client, and where permitted students attend those meetings with the Gladue Writer. Students also attend Gladue Court, case management and bail court to observe and assist under the supervision of the Gladue Writer or N'Amerind court workers. Students may have the opportunity to write short submissions for bail court and assist with drafting Gladue reports under supervision, and may attend sentencings involving Gladue clients.
Organization: N'Amerind Friendship Centre (www.namerind.on.ca)
Type of Project: Client Assistance
Area(s) of Law: Human rights, criminal and Indigenous law
Number of Students: 2
Prerequisites/Assets: Not prerequisites, but Indigenous law, human rights law and criminal law courses are an asset, as is an undergraduate background in North American history or women's studies. Students must be passionate about Indigenous experiences. It is preferred but not required that students are Indigenous. Base-level knowledge of Gladue reporting is an asset. Students must be able to meet the organization and clients FACE TO FACE and attend court during daytime hours.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
12. Neighbourhood Legal Services London & Middlesex Client Assistance
Description: Students assist lawyers at NLSLM by drafting research memos, conducting client intake over the phone, and assisting with legal files depending on the clinic's needs. Students assist with issues regarding Ontario Works, the Ontario Disability Support Program, Canada Pension Plan, landlord and tenant law, and employment law. Students also assist with hearing preparation under the direct supervision of the supervising lawyer, and may accompany lawyers and clients to hearings. Students are not permitted to offer legal advice. Any questions outside the advice relayed by the supervising lawyer must be directed to the supervising lawyer for follow-up.
Organization: Neighbourhood Legal Services London & Middlesex (www.nlslm.com)
Type of Project: Client Assistance
Area(s) of Law: Administrative law, social assistance, housing law, employment and labour law
Number of Students: 2
Prerequisites/Assets: 3L students are preferred due to the volume and difficulty of the work. Strong research skills. Experience in a front-line or clinical setting is an asset.
Eligible to Apply: 2L, 3L
13. Legal Modernization Project (In-Person Component)
Description: Nokee Kwe is guided by Indigenous principles and provides free programs and services to community members, with a focus on equity-denied groups. Two of its core programs have faced challenges meeting funder targets following a sector-wide transformation. This project supports Nokee Kwe's public consultation process to understand what is driving the decline in participation and what the community needs. Students plan and participate in the consultation, including creating a call-out to community members, developing focus group questions, running focus groups, and designing and completing client surveys. Where capacity allows, students may also produce a short video presentation of the findings.
Organization: Nokee Kwe (https://nokeekwe.ca/)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Indigenous, housing
Number of Students: 3-5 including the project lead
Prerequisites/Assets: Students must be able to attend focus group sessions IN PERSON in London.
Eligible to Apply: 2L, 3L
14. Immigration Law Research Project
Description: As a council of autonomous community-based agencies serving immigrant communities in Ontario, OCASI asserts the rights of all persons to participate fully and equitably in the social, cultural, political and economic life of Ontario. Settlement.org is an online resource facilitated by OCASI that provides newcomers with an electronic community to find information, read news, ask questions and access a database of community organizations. Students help answer questions from the moderated discussion forum by providing detailed legal information in plain language and making competent referrals to lawyers and services. Students also research topics related to settlement, including housing and landlord-tenant rights, immigration, citizenship, and labour and workers' rights, and write articles to fill content gaps on the site. This is a joint project with the University of Toronto chapter, led by Western.
Organization: Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) (ocasi.org)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Immigration and Refugee, Housing (Landlord and Tenant), Employment & Labour
Number of Students: 1-2
Prerequisites/Assets: Immigration coursework would be considered an asset.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
15. Patient Rights and Medical Practitioner Misconduct
Description: This project produces a plain language guide to help people living with Parkinson's disease and their families understand their healthcare rights and recognize potential misconduct or substandard care. Students research patient rights, common forms of practitioner misconduct, and the complaint pathways and regulatory bodies governing physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other practitioners in Ontario. The guide focuses on issues that commonly affect Parkinson's patients, including communication failures, medication errors and disability-related discrimination.
Organization: Parkinson Society Southwestern Ontario (www.psso.ca)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Health, Administrative, Disability
Number of Students: 3-4
Prerequisites/Assets: None.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
16. Planning and Benefits Guide for PHSS Families
Description: PHSS supports individuals with significant physical and developmental disabilities and complex medical needs, along with their families. This project produces a plain language resource for those families on wills, trusts, estates, substitute decision makers and support workers. Students research questions including the difference between a legal guardian and a public trust guardian, the ODSP implications of receiving an inheritance, how ODSP interacts with RRSPs and RDSPs, and the current state of the law on hiring support workers. The research is then translated into an accessible handout for families.
Organization: PHSS - Medical & Complex Care in Community (www.phsscommunity.com)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Trusts, Estates, Disability
Number of Students: 3
Prerequisites/Assets: None.
Eligible to Apply: 2L, 3L
17. Class Action Access and Documentation Guide for Federal Prisoners
Description: This project produces detailed plain language resources for distribution to prisoners in federal institutions, addressing human rights infringements and class action lawsuits. Students research what constitutes a human rights violation in an institutional context, the process of filing a claim, and the documentation and reporting required to support one. The resources also cover class actions: what they are, how prisoners can join one, and the practical considerations of building a case while still incarcerated and under surveillance. All materials must be accessible to the reader and approved by Correctional Service Canada before distribution.
Organization: Prisoners with HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (PASAN) (www.pasan.org)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Prison law, Criminal law, Class Action law
Number of Students: 2-3
Prerequisites/Assets: None.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
18. Pro Bono Podcast (In-Person Component)
Description: Students research and produce podcast episodes on topical, unusual or under-discussed legal issues, designed to make legal information accessible to a general audience. Students select a topic, develop a script, and either interview guest speakers or present the information themselves. Every script is reviewed and approved by the supervising lawyer before recording. Radio Western provides technical training on the recording equipment. Episodes are broadcast live on Radio Western 94.9 FM, archived on their website, and posted to the project's Spotify page. Past episodes have covered misleading advertising, defamation, startup foundations, AI and copyright law, and consent and HIV disclosure.
Organization: Radio Western (radiowestern.ca)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Varies by Episode
Number of Students: 6-7
Prerequisites/Assets: No podcasting experience necessary. Students must be able to book and attend recording sessions at Radio Western.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
19. SWIM Client Intake Assistance (In-Person Component)
Description: Once a month students assist at legal clinics run by S.W.I.M. for single mothers seeking help completing court documents, applying for Legal Aid, and finding legal information and resources relevant to their circumstances. Client intake sessions are conducted under the supervision of a lawyer to ensure students provide legal information rather than legal advice. Main areas of law include the Family Law Act, custodial and access rights, the Child and Family Services Act, the Residential Tenancies Act, and the Criminal Code. Where capacity allows, students may also present legal information to clients at S.W.I.M.'s "Let's Talk About It" workshops.
Organization: Single Women in Motherhood (S.W.I.M.) (singlewomeninmotherhood.com)
Type of Project: Client Assistance
Area(s) of Law: Family law, Criminal law, Housing law
Number of Students: 2-3, with one designated team lead
Prerequisites/Assets: Students must attend monthly IN-PERSON client intake clinics in London.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
20. Know Your Rights: Police Interactions for People Experiencing Homelessness
Description: S.H.I.F.T. has seen an increase in community members who do not understand their legal rights when interacting with police. This project produces a plain language resource for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, covering rights during police interactions under sections 8, 9 and 10 of the Charter. Students research search and seizure, arbitrary detention and the right to counsel, then translate that research into an accessible resource for direct use by community members and by S.H.I.F.T. staff supporting them.
Organization: S.H.I.F.T. (Support and Hope for Individuals and Families Today) (www.shiftforgood.ca)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Criminal, Constitutional
Number of Students: 2
Prerequisites/Assets: Students should be passionate about increasing access to justice for marginalized communities, and aware of the intersecting barriers facing the community members served.
Eligible to Apply: 2L, 3L
21. Empowerment Without Borders: Bridging U.S. and Canadian Legal Literacy
Description: The Legal Kid Foundation develops legal literacy modules for elementary school students in the United States. This project translates those modules to reflect Canadian legal concepts for use in Canadian elementary schools. Students work in pairs, with each pair assigned a module consisting of several lessons. Modules translated to date have covered voting and immigration. The project is expected to develop further this year as the organization explores introducing sessions into local elementary schools.
Organization: The Legal Kid Foundation (https://thelegalkidfoundation.org/)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Varies by Module: Constitutional, Human Rights, Criminal/Youth Justice, Education, Immigration, Environmental Law
Number of Students: 4 including the team lead
Prerequisites/Assets: None.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
22. Reporting Rights Guide
Description: This project produces a plain language guide for survivors of gender-based violence and human trafficking navigating the police reporting process. Students research what happens when a survivor reports, how disclosures are handled, peace bonds, victim impact statements, and a survivor's obligations if subpoenaed. The guide is designed to help young people supported by Youth Opportunities Unlimited understand their options and what to expect, so they can make informed decisions about whether and how to engage with the justice system.
Organization: Youth Opportunities Unlimited (www.you.ca)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Criminal, Human Rights
Number of Students: 1
Prerequisites/Assets: This project deals with sensitive subject matter. A demonstrated or declared interest in issues relating to gender-based violence is an asset.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
23. Project Consent
Description: Project Consent is a public legal education program focused on providing objective legal information to high school students (and potentially elementary school students) about consent, sexual assault, and their legal options if they are a victim of these types of crimes. Project Consent was developed by Western Law students in 2019 to help youth understand consent and the legal aspects of consent. Presentation content has received approval from the participating school boards. Participating schools are notified when presentations are happening to prepare for potential disclosures, and guidance counsellors and/or social workers are available as needed. Student volunteers are also provided with access to resources and support for mental wellness.
Organization: London District Catholic School Board (www.ldcsb.ca)
Type of Project: Public Legal Education
Area(s) of Law: Criminal
Number of Students: 4
Prerequisites/Assets: None. Applicants to this project will be interviewed by the Project Leads and asked to present slides from the Project Consent presentation as part of the interview.
Eligible to Apply: 1L, 2L, 3L
