Exploring a law firm business model to improve access to justice and decrease lawyer dissatisfaction

Access to justice, particularly access to civil legal services, is a well-recognized problem for the Canadian legal system, with a recent estimate suggesting that 44.6 per cent of Canadians over the age of 18 – approximately 11.6 million people – have experienced a civil legal problem over the last...

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Main Author: Pilliar, Andrew
Language:English
Published: University of British Columbia 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2429/43478
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spelling ndltd-UBC-oai-circle.library.ubc.ca-2429-434782018-01-05T17:26:13Z Exploring a law firm business model to improve access to justice and decrease lawyer dissatisfaction Pilliar, Andrew Access to justice, particularly access to civil legal services, is a well-recognized problem for the Canadian legal system, with a recent estimate suggesting that 44.6 per cent of Canadians over the age of 18 – approximately 11.6 million people – have experienced a civil legal problem over the last three years, but also that less than 10 per cent of those individuals obtained legal assistance for that problem. Another problem for the Canadian legal system is the high rate of dissatisfaction among young lawyers – particularly the high rate of attrition among women and minorities. This thesis suggests a corrective for both these problems: an innovative type of law firm that provides accessible civil legal services while also providing an attractive work environment for lawyers. Through a case study of Pivot Legal LLP, a small firm formerly located in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, this thesis examines whether it is possible to run a sustainable legal practice that includes providing legal services to low- and middle-income individuals. Based on this case study, there is reason to believe that an innovative law firm model that provides low cost legal services is possible and would be a useful contribution to other efforts to improve access to justice. Law, Faculty of Graduate 2012-10-18T18:29:48Z 2012-10-18T18:29:48Z 2012 2012-11 Text Thesis/Dissertation http://hdl.handle.net/2429/43478 eng Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Downtown-Eastside (Vancouver, B.C.) University of British Columbia
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language English
sources NDLTD
description Access to justice, particularly access to civil legal services, is a well-recognized problem for the Canadian legal system, with a recent estimate suggesting that 44.6 per cent of Canadians over the age of 18 – approximately 11.6 million people – have experienced a civil legal problem over the last three years, but also that less than 10 per cent of those individuals obtained legal assistance for that problem. Another problem for the Canadian legal system is the high rate of dissatisfaction among young lawyers – particularly the high rate of attrition among women and minorities. This thesis suggests a corrective for both these problems: an innovative type of law firm that provides accessible civil legal services while also providing an attractive work environment for lawyers. Through a case study of Pivot Legal LLP, a small firm formerly located in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, this thesis examines whether it is possible to run a sustainable legal practice that includes providing legal services to low- and middle-income individuals. Based on this case study, there is reason to believe that an innovative law firm model that provides low cost legal services is possible and would be a useful contribution to other efforts to improve access to justice. === Law, Faculty of === Graduate
author Pilliar, Andrew
spellingShingle Pilliar, Andrew
Exploring a law firm business model to improve access to justice and decrease lawyer dissatisfaction
author_facet Pilliar, Andrew
author_sort Pilliar, Andrew
title Exploring a law firm business model to improve access to justice and decrease lawyer dissatisfaction
title_short Exploring a law firm business model to improve access to justice and decrease lawyer dissatisfaction
title_full Exploring a law firm business model to improve access to justice and decrease lawyer dissatisfaction
title_fullStr Exploring a law firm business model to improve access to justice and decrease lawyer dissatisfaction
title_full_unstemmed Exploring a law firm business model to improve access to justice and decrease lawyer dissatisfaction
title_sort exploring a law firm business model to improve access to justice and decrease lawyer dissatisfaction
publisher University of British Columbia
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/2429/43478
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