Lakehead law school strives to be part of Thunder Bay community

Superior Morning8:03Law School Impact

Lee Stuesser is the Dean of the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University. He says the law school has had quite an impact on the city of Thunder BayThe dean of the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University said the school is making its presence felt in Thunder Bay, even though it is only in the second year of operation.

Lee Stuesser said students and staff are working together on a variety of community outreach initiatives.

• Thunder Bay law school promises legal aid clinic

He said the plan to open a legal aid clinic is on track, with the recent hiring of a founding director.

'A real need in the community'

​Stuesser said when the clinic opens in Sept. 2015, it will fill a gap in the legal system in Thunder Bay.

"There are people who need representation and its important they have that in the legal system, and our students are eager to be involved so we will fill a real need in the community."

Stuesser said the law school also launched a successful speakers series this fall to help educate the lawyers-in-training on the important role they play in their community.

He said one of the featured guests was William Mullins-Johnson. The First Nations man from northern Ontario spent 12 years in jail after he was wrongfully convicted of the sexual assault and murder of his 4-year-old niece.

"That talk was very moving for the students. It brought it all home. To be wrongfully convicted — I mean you can't think of anything worse. And to be wrongfully convicted of a terrible sex crime, and to spend years incarcerated. At the end of his talk, the students just rose, en masse, for a standing ovation for him."

'Do everything we can'

However, Stuesser said he is troubled by the fact the number of First Nations students who enrolled in the program has dropped from seven last year to just one this year.

He said it's a problem many law faculties in Canada are grappling with.

"We're going to do everything we can... One of the things our students just did was that there was a conference involving youth from many First Nations from northern Ontario and our students were there volunteering. We had a presence there. That's the type of thing we have to keep doing," said Stuesser.

Stuesser said there are also plans to advertise the school's rural, northern and aboriginal approach to law.

The new law school at Lakehead University is the first in Ontario in over 40 years.