Ontario legal regulator grants Queen’s national scholar Kimberly Murray ~$30,000 in research funds

Murray will present the research results at an LSO-convened equity summit this fall.

“I am grateful to the LSO for supporting this research. It has been almost 10 years since the TRC issued its Calls to Action. This research will focus on the TRC’s Calls to Action that are directed at the legal profession and will showcase emerging practices that support the advancement of reconciliation across the country,” she said in a statement.

Murray joined the Queen’s University faculty in January as a National Scholar in Indigenous Legal Studies. Previously, she was appointed an Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites.

Last October, she recommended a new federal legal framework to protect the graves and burial sites of Indigenous children who died while at Indian Residential Schools and other institutions through the “Final Report: Upholding Sacred Obligations,” which included the historical report “Sites of Truth, Sites of Conscience.”

The LSO’s grant program finances research on equity and reconciliation within the legal professions and their effect on client service and access to justice. Other programs that received backing this year were the following:

• Gina Alexandris’ “Hidden Gems: Spotlighting Successes of Internationally Trained Lawyers (ITLs) and Reviewing Historical Pedagogical Interventions Supporting ITLs”
• Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic’s “Creating Safe Legal Spaces: Addressing Sexual Harassment to Support Pathways to Leadership”
• South Asian Bar Association’s “Breaking Barriers, Building Inclusion: Understanding the Intersecting Experiences of Racialized LGBTQIA+ Lawyers in Ontario’s Legal Profession”
• Criminal Lawyers’ Association’s (Diversity Committee and Women in Criminal Law Committee) “Barriers to Retention and Advancement of Women and BIPOC Lawyers in Ontario’s Criminal Defence Bar: An Intersectional Perspective”
• Muslim Legal Support Centre’s “Client Representation and Access to Justice for Marginalized Communities – Delivering Culturally Competent Legal Services”
• Ontario Association of Black Paralegals’ “The Impact of Anti-Black Racism on Black Legal Professionals – Judged Before the Judge Documentary”