Endeavouring to connect those who represent themselves in court and elsewhere with the information and assistance they seek. NSRLP West is funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia. Thank you for supporting this initiative.
 
National Self Represented Litigants Project West

About NSRLP West

About the National Self-Represented Litigants Project

The National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) builds on the National Self-Represented Litigants (SRL’s) Research Study conducted by Dr. Julie Macfarlane from 2011-2013. The Project takes its mandate from the Final Recommendations of the Research Report: 10 Actions Steps for the SRL Phenomenon.

Since 2013, the NSRLP has continued to generate energy and motivation towards serious contemplation of system change, reflecting the findings of the Research Study. The core of their work is to advocate for better and deeper understanding of the needs, motivations and challenges of self-represented litigants.

About NSRLP West

NSRLP West is the first partnership between the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) and another academic institution. While the NSRLP has been national in scope since the beginning, the development of NSRLP West will allow the project to develop research and advocacy programs that better respond to access to justice issues in Western Canada, and in British Columbia in particular. NSRLP West will support the ongoing work of the NSRLP, and will also add a new dimension to the NSRLP profile, by focusing on access to justice issues that affect rural and remote, Indigenous, and northern communities.

NSRLP West is funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia. Thank you for supporting this initiative.

The NSRLP West Team

Andrew Pilliar

Director
Andrew is a professor at TRU and researcher whose work focusses on improving access to justice. His doctoral research examines the structure of the market for personal legal services to sustainably improve access to justice. His prior LLM research explored the twin problems of access to civil justice and lawyer career dissatisfaction, suggesting an innovative practice model to alleviate both. Andrew has also investigated pro bono work patterns among BC lawyers, the business/profession dichotomy in law, and the contours of graduate legal education in Canada. He is also a founder of the Access to Justice Research Network.

Hayley Waring

Project Coordinator
Before entering in the legal field, Hayley worked as a public school teacher throughout BC. Hayley's passion for finding answers to questions was ignited by working as a legal assistant and advocate at the UBC Indigenous Community Legal Clinic in Vancouver. Currently, Hayley spends most of her time at home taking care of her toddler and enjoying the beautiful views in Kamloops.

Jana Chouinard

Research Assistant
Jana is from the Onion Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan and grew up on Cook’s Ferry reserve in Spence’s Bridge, BC. She obtained a BA degree majoring in English from TRU after completing her first two years of post secondary at UNBC in Prince George, BC. Jana draws upon her lived experience as a young, single parent and former SRL to guide what access and justice means to her. Her interests include reading (historical fiction, not fantasy), fishing, camping, and the Ottawa Senators. After completing law school, Jana plans to live and work in Treaty 6 Territory.