Free Webinar – Saskatchewan Legal Needs Assessment

Join this webinar to learn about the results of the Saskatchewan Legal Needs Assessment conducted during 2021-2022. The Legal Needs Assessment provides the perspectives of lawyers and community organizations on access to justice issues and legal needs within communities across Saskatchewan. It offers insights for addressing unmet legal needs and areas of focus. The researchers involved in the assessment will present their findings and key insights to advance access to justice within Saskatchewan.

The presenters are:

• – Brea Lowenberger, BA, JD, LLM, is Saskatchewan’s Access to Justice Coordinator and Cofounder/Director of CREATE Justice, an action-oriented access to justice research lab at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), Canada, that is working on transforming legal and justice services and the removal of systemic barriers to justice; and a sessional lecturer for the award-winning Dean’s Forum on Access to Justice and Dispute Resolution course at the U of S.

• – Dr. Bryce Stoliker holds a Ph.D. in Criminology and is a Research Officer at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science and Justice Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. Joining the Centre in 2020, Dr. Stoliker has been involved in various research and evaluation projects tasked with assessing criminal justice processes, as well as examining programs and services for justice-involved individuals. While his main area of research focuses on the mental health of justice-involved individuals (especially those in custody), he is generally interested in investigating and addressing the challenges that people face at various levels of the (criminal) justice system.

• – Heather Heavin, B.Sc. (Hons), LL.B. (University of Saskatchewan), LL.M. (Harvard) is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean Research and Graduate Studies at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan. Her teaching and research areas have focused on business, trade, oil and gas and administrative law, with particular interest in risk assessment and data-informed, justice sector reform. Heather joined the faculty in 2003 after practicing with the firm of MLT LLP (now MLT Aikins) and clerking to Chief Justice E.D. Bayda of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. She is an award- winning teacher, a former member of the JSGS School of Public policy, member of the Forensic Centre for Behavioral and Justice Studies and the CREATE Justice research centre at the University of Saskatchewan.

• – Jessie Buydens is a partner at Scott Phelps Mason in Saskatoon and is the current Treasurer for the CBA Saskatchewan Branch. She received her LLB in 2006 and her LLM in 2008 from the University of Saskatchewan. She has a general practice which encompasses several areas of the law including litigation, criminal law, and family law. She also practices in the areas of wills, estates, and real estate law. She is the recipient of the Lady Justice Award from the Elizabeth Fry Society in 2019 and the Community Service Award from CBA Saskatchewan in 2021. She has extensive volunteer involvement, but her passion is Rugby.

• – Dr. Lisa Jewell is a Research Associate at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science and Justice Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. She has a PhD in Applied Social Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan and is a Credentialed Evaluator through the Canadian Evaluation Society. Dr. Jewell has over 17 years of research and evaluation experience and specializes in evaluating programs operating within the criminal justice system, including those offered by corrections, police, justice, and community-based organizations.

• – Pamela R. Kovacs, BComm (McGill University), LLB/JD (University of Saskatchewan), MA (United Nations University) is Senior Policy Counsel with the Law Society of Saskatchewan with a focus on the future of legal services, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and Truth and Reconciliation. Pam joined the Law Society in 2020 following a decade of work in international development and prior to this as the Executive Director of Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan and as a law firm associate. Pam has researched, written, and presented on issues relating to the rule of law, access to justice, transitional justice, legal representation for children and youth, pro bono legal services, and the operation of law clinics.