Ask A Lawyer: Tips for co-parenting and holiday visits

Graphic for Ask A Lawyer segment on Edmonton Global Morning News featuring Legal Aid Alberta staff lawyer Jessica Chapman. Title: Co-parenting tips for the holidays. December 2021.

The holiday season is supposed to be festive but for many families it can be a difficult time of year – especially when it comes to families in which co-parenting means children are spending their holidays with different groups of family members.    Pandemic safety issues have introduced a new level of complexity.     Watch: Ask […]

Spreading the word: How to help someone in a family violence situation

Legal Aid Alberta staff lawyers share knowledge with the community during Family Violence Prevention Month.     Every day, Legal Aid Alberta (LAA) helps Albertans facing family violence. This comes into sharp focus during Family Violence Prevention Month. This November, LAA staff lawyers attended public engagements across the province to spread the word about LAA’s Emergency […]

Ask A Lawyer: Family violence and the tools that can help protect victims

Graphic with photo of LAA Lawyer Christina Riddoch. Text reads: Ask A Lawyer. Insights from Legal Aid Alberta Lawyer Christina Riddoch. Family Violence Prevention Month. November 2021.

November is Family Violence Prevention Month. Sadly, many families across Alberta and the country are suffering domestic violence. It is a disturbing and complex situation that can happen to anyone.   There are legal tools victims of family violence can access for free from Legal Aid Alberta – you can seek an Emergency Protection Order, […]

Hearts of fallen soldiers still beat in our justice system

A close-up of the National War Memorial in Ottawa with Canadian Parliament building in the background.

To mark Remembrance Day, LAA President and CEO John Panusa writes: “Our nation rallied together to shield our democratic rights, embodied now in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”    Lest we forget. Those three words are properly the cornerstone of our Remembrance Day celebrations. I’d like to add several hundred more to them and […]

Meet the new faces of access to justice

Three recent law school graduates are making the grade at Legal Aid Alberta.     Guillaume Fogarty-Greenshaw, Annie Mushtaq and Serena Eshaghurshan are Legal Aid Alberta’s (LAA) new articling students. While their paths to practicing law have been quite different, they each share a passion for helping vulnerable people access justice.    These “lawyers in […]

October 27 is Duty Counsel Day: Time for Albertans to know and celebrate their legal rights

Anyone can end up in court. When the stakes are high, frontline duty counsel lawyers are there for you.    Not commonly known to Albertans, every day in courtrooms across the province, duty counsel lawyers — the unsung heroes of the justice system — provide free legal services to ensure access to justice and fair treatment. They’re the legal team you didn’t know you have.    October 27 is […]

Legal aid duty counsel stood by me at my lowest points

Everyone deserves to have someone by their side.    My name is Sean Gallop. I’m 49 years old and just graduated law school. Legal aid duty counsel stood by me at my lowest points. I made mistakes but I got a second chance. Everyone deserves to have someone on their side. Join me in celebrating Duty […]