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Legal aid and advocacy clinics follow
a similar model as service organizations, although in
the context of the law. Such clinics are an important
service, providing legal representation to individuals
who lack the financial means to retain lawyers on their
own.
Unfortunately, legal aid has undergone
drastic funding reductions in the last two years in
B.C. Even without funding cuts, however, the focus of
such clinics on individual problems rather than on the
systemic causes of those problems means that demand
for their services will never decrease, no matter how
successful they are.
Using the law strategically
Law is a critical tool for social change,
because it is through the law that we regulate our civil
society. Approaching social change with the tools of
the law can create systemic and robust impacts on the
way society is governed. Pivot’s legal strategy
includes three tactics:
• Legal education projects are aimed
not only at educating marginalized people, but also
educating other groups about those rights. In each case,
tailoring the communication to the target group is critical.
• Strategic legal action describes
a range of legal initiatives, from formal correspondence
to civil litigation, aimed at challenging barriers to
the rights of marginalized persons.
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•
Law reform includes research on policy and administrative
reforms as well as legislative changes that would enable
lasting improvements to the social and legal status
of marginalized persons.
The idea behind Pivot is that a crucial
fulcrum of social change is to be found by advancing
the interests of those at the margins. There is an important
difference between "advancing interests" and
"providing charity." Pivot accepts as a principle
that marginalized people are the ultimate authorities
on the problems they face, and seeks to address those
problems proactively.
Like a lawyer to a client, Pivot uses
community research and documentation, through legal
affidavits and focus groups, to empower marginalized
persons to raise their voice and assert their interests.
For Pivot, creating opportunities for marginalized people
to take control over the definition of their interests
is the first step towards improving their lives in a
substantive and meaningful way.
The key idea is impact
The key idea behind Pivot is that using
legal tools to strategically advance the interests of
marginalized persons will create positive and lasting
outcomes not only for those directly affected, but also,
in a far-reaching way, for everyone else in society.
Pivot’s focus on using outreach
and empowerment to create an advocacy relationship with
marginalized persons as a group distinguishes it from
charitable service models, such as the Salvation Army
as well as more general rights organizations, such as
civil liberties associations.
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