Ab Currie, Ph.D. (Sociology, University of Toronto) is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice where he is mainly involved in research on legal problems experienced by the public. He is also presently conducting research on innovations in service delivery that involve building the capacity for outreach and holistic & integrated service with a number of community legal clinics in Ontario. Prior to joining the Canadian Forum Ab was Principal Researcher at the Department of Justice Canada where he conducted research in legal aid and access to justice. He has conducted extensive research in criminal and civil legal aid, in particular, on unmet need for criminal legal aid and on the civil justice problems experienced by the public.
LOCAL RESEARCHERS - CANADA
Melina Buckley is a lawyer and legal policy consultant. She is associated with the firm of Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman in Vancouver as a member of their class action practice group. She recently served as Policy Counsel to the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. Melina has had an eclectic career working primarily in the areas of access to justice, human rights, constitutional law, and dispute resolution. She has achieved national recognition through public interest litigation including before the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as national legal research and law reform initiatives. She served as project director to the Honourable Bertha Wilson Task Force on Gender Equality in the Legal Profession (1991-1993), the Canadian Bar Association’s Systems of Civil Justice Task Force (1994-1996) and the Jamaica Justice System Reform Initiative (2006-2007). In 2008-2010, Melina served as an advisor in the ongoing constitutional reform process in Nepal with a focus on implementing the constitutional equality rights of women. Melina holds a B.A. with honours from the University of Toronto, a M.A. from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, a LL.B. cum laude from the University of Ottawa and a Ph.D. in law from the University of British Columbia. She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1990 and is currently called to the Bar of British Columbia. Melina is the Chair of the CBA’s National Access to Justice Committee and National Legal Aid Test Case Advisory Committee and serves as co-counsel in this public interest litigation initiative aimed at establishing that poor and vulnerable individuals have a constitutional right to legal aid where their fundamental interests are at stake. She has been active in community service, particularly with the Court Challenges Program of Canada, Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), and the Women’s Court of Canada Project. She is currently a member of The Equality Effect’s “160 Girls” team, a legal initiative that aims to achieve justice and protect against rape of girls in Kenya. In 2011, the Canadian Bar Association awarded Ms. Buckley the Louis St-Laurent Award for distinguished service to the Association’s objectives and goals.
Trevor C. W. Farrow, AB (Princeton), BA/MA (Oxford), LLB (Dalhousie), LLM (Harvard), PhD (Alberta), is a Professor and Associate Dean (Academic) at Osgoode Hall Law School, and the Chair of the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice. He previously served as Associate Dean from 2014-2016 and was the founding Academic Director of the Winkler Institute for Dispute Resolution. Professor Farrow’s teaching and research focus on the administration of civil justice, including legal process, legal and judicial ethics, advocacy, globalization and access to justice. He was formerly a litigation lawyer at the Torys law firm in Toronto. Professor Farrow has received teaching awards from Harvard University and Osgoode Hall Law School.