According to an April 1 news release, the province’s government is investing $100,000 in “new practical learning opportunities” for students at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Law — provided they are willing to “work in different communities for the term of their placements.”
The placements will include temporary postings within Saskatchewan’s public legal service sector, including Public Prosecutions, legal aid and the Ministry of Justice.
A government spokesperson confirmed that as many as 10 students per year will be placed in Saskatoon and Regina, as well as “rural communities across the province.” For certain, out-of-the-way placements, the government will assist with accommodation.
The province and the College of Law continue to work out the fine points, but placements will be made after considering “staffing complements in offices across the province,” they said.
The College of Law will oversee “the application and selection process for work placements,” said the spokesperson in an email to Law360 Canada. The law school is “currently reaching out to some legal stakeholders in smaller centres and rural communities” to gauge interest.
The placements will last six weeks.
“We want to ensure that all communities across the province have access to quality legal services,” said the spokesperson. “We hope that these placements will promote legal careers in the public sector, including in rural Saskatchewan, improve access to justice and build important capacity in the profession, including in smaller communities.”
They spoke of mutual benefit.
“Recruiting lawyers and other professionals to rural areas can be a challenge,” they said. “This is an opportunity to address that. Students who have the chance to work in a different community can build connections with that community and may be more likely to consider a career opportunity in a rural area or smaller city.”
Saskatchewan justice minister Bronwyn Eyre called it a “diverse range of placements.”
“We are pleased to partner with the College of Law to expand the range of practical work placements for credit and, we hope, eventually attract the best and brightest graduates to Public Prosecutions, the Ministry of Justice and Legal Aid,” Eyre said. “This new, diverse range of placements will promote legal careers in the public sector, including in rural Saskatchewan, improve access to justice and build important professional capacity for the future.”
Martin Phillipson, dean of the College of Law, said during a recent speech that the placement opportunities contribute to students’ experiential learning.
“We need to provide a range of opportunities for … students to go to many different places, [engage in] many different types of practice, and we need to provide them with opportunities to experience those and try those out. Also, I think, from the perspective of the legal profession, particularly in rural Saskatchewan, they are really interested in recruiting young and new lawyers into their communities, and this is a great way of exposing students to those communities and living and working and practicing in rural areas.”
If you have any information, story ideas or news tips for Law360 Canada, please contact Terry Davidson at t.davidson@lexisnexis.ca or 905-415-5899.