Law Foundation devotes over $700K in research on data collection and access to justice

Aside from funding these projects, the foundation also recently hosted the Data and Design Symposium, held in Oct. 30 as a part of this year’s Access to Justice Week, in partnership with the Law Society of Ontario.

The foundation funded a total of 13 research initiatives, which are the following:

• Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network ($25,000): to measure the effectiveness of public legal education on general knowledge regarding the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, especially in relation to the emergency services available to people who overdose
• Canadian Forum on Civil Justice ($25,000): to design the first longitudinal study on the various types of legal interventions involved in civil and family legal disputes
• Community Advocacy & Legal Centre ($25,000): to assess the impact of justice-health partnerships in Canada, the U.K., the U.S., and Australia on patients and health care providers
• Community Legal Education Ontario ($25,000): to create the Guided Pathways tool in order to evaluate online interactive resources for access to justice
• King’s University College ($78,773): to embark on a project addressing the needs of children and parents embroiled in cross-over cases, high conflict separation, or divorce family cases with allegations of neglect and abuse
• NORDIK Institute ($24,695): to focus on Indigenous peoples involved in the justice system, including their issues in relation to housing, transportation, and mental health
• Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres ($100,000): to expand on its existing project to research the impact of justice-related processes on urban Indigenous communities
• Ryerson University ($25,000): to examine the correlation between the composition of the legal profession and litigation trends
• St. Stephen’s Community House ($25,000): to assess the effectiveness of community mediation in resolving immediate conflicts among parties
• University of Ottawa, Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic ($88,046): to research certain provisions in standard form consumer contracts in Canada, including forum selection clauses, arbitration clauses, and class-action waivers
• University of Toronto, Faculty of Law ($98,280): to undertake the first large-scale academic empirical analysis of secured lending in Canada, with a focus on individual and small business lending
• York University, Institute for Social Research ($72,300): to conduct a survey on public perceptions and issues in the civil justice system
• York University, Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora ($96,160): to probe into the attitude of courts toward anti-Black racism in Canadian society