Evolving Legal Services Research Project

This multi-year initiative examines the effectiveness of public legal education and information (PLEI) in helping low- and modest-income people address their legal problems. The research project is being led by CLEO in partnership with the Institute for Social Research at York University and the staff at research sites in Ontario and British Columbia. The research is looking at PLEI provided at various points along the legal services continuum, with the goal of identifying when PLEI is effective on a primarily stand-alone or self-help basis and when a fuller continuum of legal services, including PLEI, is required.

The research is being conducted at five sites (four in Ontario and one in BC) that provide PLEI and other services in the areas of family law, housing and human rights and discrimination.

For more information about this project, please see the Evolving Legal Services Research Design Report. An executive summary of the report is also available.

You can also review the Evolving Legal Services: Review of Current Literature, a comprehensive literature review prepared for CLEO by Dr. Melina Buckley as part of the research planning phase.

We are very grateful to the Law Foundation of Ontario for supporting this work.