Advocates for Injured Workers (AIW) is a student

legal clinic A legal clinic (also law clinic or law school clinic) is a legal aid or law school program providing services to various clients and often hands-on-legal experience to law school students. Clinics are usually directed by clinical professors. Le ...

operating in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and affiliated with the

University of Toronto Faculty of Law The University of Toronto Faculty of Law (U of T Law, UToronto Law) is the law school of the University of Toronto. The Faculty's admissions process is the most selective of law schools in Canada and is one of the most selective in North America. ...

. This clinic is supervised by the Industrial Accident Victims' Group of Ontario (IAVGO) - itself a community legal clinic funded by

Legal Aid Ontario Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is a publicly funded and publicly accountable non-profit corporation, responsible for administering the legal aid program in the province of Ontario, Canada. Through a toll-free number and multiple in-person locations such ...

. As per By-law 4 of the

Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; frenc ...

, student work at AIW is reviewed by a fully licensed lawyer and hence exempt from the normal requirements to practice law in Ontario.Law Society of Upper Canada, By-law 4
Advocates fo
Injured Workers
provides free legal representation for low-income clients who have been injured in workplace accidents or have suffered onset occupational injuries. AIW deals almost exclusively with claims under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, which are made to the

Workplace Safety & Insurance Board The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB; french: Commission de la sécurité professionnelle et de l'assurance contre les accidents du travail, CSPAAT) is the workplace compensation board for provincially regulated workplaces in Ontario ...

(WSIB) of Ontario and may be appealed to the

Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal The Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) is an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Government of Ontario. It is located in Toronto, Ontario at 505 University Avenue, 7th floor. The Tribunal is the final level of appeal to ...

(WSIAT). Very occasionally the clinic may also represent clients in consequential actions that stem from a workplace injury, such as actions before the

Ontario Labour Relations Board The Ontario Labour Relations Board is an adjudicative agency of the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development and was established by the Ontario government in 1948. It defines itself as "an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal mandated t ...

(OLRB) and the

Ontario Human Rights Commission The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961, to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code. The OHRC is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the legislature through ...

(OHRC). The clinic is staffed by approximately twenty-five part-time student volunteers during the academic year, and during the summer by eight full-time student employees. Every caseworker is responsible for their own individual client files. Upper-year volunteers have the opportunity to pursue clinical work for

course credit A credit is the recognition for having taken a course at school or university, used as measure if enough hours have been made for graduation. University credits United States Credit hours In a college or university in the United States, student ...

. The clinic carries around one hundred active files at a time.

References

External links

Advocates for Injured WorkersIndustrial Accident Victims' Group of OntarioAdvocates for personal injury lawyer Toronto
{{Occupational safety and health Legal aid Ontario law Organizations based in Toronto Workers' compensation