Legal Advocacy

The Legal Advocacy Program is for low-income women (inclusive of transwomen) in the Downtown Eastside to obtain free legal advocacy in a safe and confidential, women’s only space.

The program is managed by Amy Schwab (Bachelor of Science (Honours) (UBC 2017)), JD (UBC 2020). Amy is Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) Métis. Her Indigenous relations are from Pembina Manitoba and White Earth Minnesota. She grew up on Coast Salish and Nuu-chah-nulth territories on Vancouver Island. After completion of a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Conservation and Community Resource Management, she attended Peter A. Allard School of Law and is a recent Indigenous Legal Studies graduate.

Amy has a background in Criminal defence, prison, post-conviction review and Indigenous law. She has a strong interest in social justice work as well as in human rights and police accountability. She has worked for the UBC Innocence Project, Pender Litigation, Prisoners’ Legal Services, and the Law Students’ Legal Advice Program. During her time at law school, she worked as the Co-President of the Animal Justice Chapter at UBC, in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems as a teaching assistant in LFS 340 (First Nations Health and the Traditional Role of Plants), and as a program coordinator at Xʷc̓ic̓əsəm, the Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden. She is a member of the Indigenous Bar Association, the Canadian Animal Law Study Group, and the recipient of the Beverley McLachlin Legal Access Award and the Leon Judah Blackmore Award in Criminal Law.

The Legal Advocacy Program exists because of generous funding from the Law Foundation of BC, and the BC Gaming Commission. We are also grateful for the assistance of volunteers, students, and pro bono lawyers who provide invaluable assistance to the Program.

LEGAL PROGRAMS SCHEDULE SPRING 20212