Downtown Legal Services is both a community legal clinic and a clinical education program, operated by the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. Our free services are provided by law students, who work under the close supervision of our expert staff lawyers. Approximately 140 law students work at the clinic every year, enabling us to serve over two thousand people.
Our goal is to offer friendly, client-centred services that are designed to provide our clients with practical solutions. At the same time, our clinical education programs allow students to learn in an intellectually lively environment, where they can acquire the professional skills and insight to become successful lawyers.
Our goal is to offer friendly, client-centred services that are designed to provide our clients with practical solutions. At the same time, our clinical education programs allow students to learn in an intellectually lively environment, where they can acquire the professional skills and insight to become successful lawyers.
Services
We provide a range of free legal services for low-income residents of Toronto and University of Toronto students in six areas of law: criminal law, employment law, family law, refugee and immigration law, housing law and university affairs. Depending on your case, this may include providing advice about the law and your options, negotiating with the other side and representing you at a trial or hearing.
Our services are available, free of charge, to low-income individuals and levy-paying University of Toronto students living in Toronto who need assistance with a legal matter that falls within the clinic's areas of practice. We use Legal Aid Ontario's financial eligibility criteria to determine if you are eligible for services from DLS.
As a poverty law clinic, DLS is committed to community outreach work as a core part of our mandate. At present, this work falls into two categories: public legal education sessions and our satellite clinic program. Knowledge of the law and legal rights is a critical first step in assisting people in exercising their rights.
As a poverty law clinic, our clientele are primarily very low income individuals who are experiencing a multitude of problems - some of these are legal, many are not. For this reason, it has long been a priority to find a way to include social work services at the clinic. Through this unique partnership, MSW students are placed with the clinic and supervised by a MSW professional as part of the social work practicum training requirements.
DLS offers many for credit and volunteer opportunities for students to get involved. Working at the clinic offers students the opportunity to learn crucial professional skills and ethics in a public interest context that emphasizes intellectual discovery and practical experience. The chance to make a difference in the lives of our clients adds important elements of meaning and satisfaction as well.
Reviews (3)
Vee Geoheli
Oct 06, 2020
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Campbell Ohrlis
Jul 01, 2019
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Enosh Yin-Cheng
Jul 12, 2018
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We called to make an appointment. Somehow, the receptionist failed to book it and wouldn't even apologize for it or fix the mistake. The lawyer was rude on the phone and even more so in person, staring at us without a word, expecting us to explain our reason of being there. I really appreciate that there's free service for those who cannot afford to pay for legal service, but any client, regardless of socio-economic background, deserves respect; and these professionals are paid with taxpayers' money to do their job and to do it professionally.
