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Tenant Duty Counsel Assistance Project

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Training: on-site at the Landlord and Tenant Board Toronto South Regional Office, which is at 15 Grosvenor Street (near Yonge and College) the morning of Friday, September 27, 2019, followed by further training that same afternoon in the 55 University Avenue offices of the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (“ACTO”)
Commitment: one half-day per week (or every other week if numbers permit) for either the full academic year or only one semester, excluding exam periods

NOTE: students who apply and are selected for the Tenant Duty Counsel Assistance Project (“TDCAP”) will join an intensive program located on-site at an administrative tribunal, and will not participate in traditional phone screening shifts or client casework and outreach activities within DLS.

The Tenant Duty Counsel Program (“TDCP”), operated by the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, places lawyers on-site at locations of the Landlord and Tenant Board to provide free, rapid summary advice and other legal services to self-represented tenants on the day of their hearings. DLS offers this volunteer program jointly with TDCP at the Toronto South location of the Landlord and Tenant Board (15 Grosvenor Street, near Yonge and College).

DLS student volunteers with the TDCAP will work on-site at the LTB to enhance the capacity of duty counsel in the following ways:

  • Identifying self-represented tenants waiting for their hearings and inviting them to sign up for free legal advice from TDC
  • Collecting basic information from tenants waiting for duty counsel to assist with triage and allow duty counsel to maximize time devoted to legal advice
  • Observing in-process hearings of TDC clients and alerting duty counsel to unforeseen developments that may require immediate attention

    • Working under the supervision of duty counsel, you will also be exposed to the dozens of rapid client counselling and advice sessions, negotiations, motions, and contested hearings that take place at the Toronto South LTB each year. This is a unique opportunity to observe a fast-paced litigation environment while working on the front lines of the struggle for access to justice.