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There is a crisis in Ontario of unrepresented litigants in the family courts. The Law Society of Upper Canada and the Attorney General are doing little about it.

Far too many people find themselves in family court and cannot afford a lawyer, and yet they make more than the poverty wages necessary to obtain Legal Aid.

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The Law Society is the regulator of lawyers and paralegals in Ontario. In 2006 the Attorney General gave the Law Society the power to regulate paralegals in the public interest. They are also mandated to facilitate access to justice for the people of Ontario, and to act in a timely, open and efficient manner. The Law Society is an independent organization not accountable to the public.

Prior to regulation, paralegals could represent people in some family court cases with the permission of a judge. Since regulation the Law Society has made it clear that independent paralegals are not permitted to represent or prepare any documents in the family court even with a judge’s permission.