Mastering tribunal forms: teaching students in law-related programs using public legal education and information
Date
2024-01-01
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Abstract
Law clerks and licensed paralegals in Ontario prepare standardized tribunal-issued forms, such as those for the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), on behalf of their clients. Training paralegal candidates and law clerk students to produce these complex forms is a core part of their education in residential landlord and tenant law courses in Ontario’s community college programs. The LTB and Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) have created resources to assist the public to complete the forms without the assistance of legal professionals. The purpose of these resources aligns well with the learning outcomes of the curricula for educating law clerks and paralegals, in that the goal of both is to facilitate the production of complete, accurate and effective documents that can commence a claim before the Tribunal. This study examines the challenges that students in a community college encounter in learning to complete the forms; proposes that the age, languages spoken, and educational background of the students affect their success; and suggests that resources used by the public can support students as they learn.
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Paralegal, Law clerk, Education, Technology, Justice