Halifax Firm Pink Larkin Hires Lawyer to Provide Free Services to Those in Need
HALIFAX– Social justice and human rights lawyer, Vincent Calderhead has joined the Halifax-based dispute resolution law firm, Pink Larkin.
Calderhead, a prominent Canadian authority in the area of poverty law, will be offering services on a pro bono basis to those in need. This means he’ll be able to undertake appropriate cases free of charge that meet the profile. The pro bono practice will be supported by lawyers and staff at Pink Larkin in what the firm believes to be a first-in-Canada approach to actively providing access to justice.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Ronald A. Pink, co-founder and managing partner of Pink Larkin, in a news release. “This is our way of addressing some of the needs of people in our community who have meagre means.”
For us there is no monetary return,” said the firm’s other co-founder Raymond F. Larkin. “This is a contribution to social justice by offering strategic access to justice for the poorest. It is also our obligation to the legal profession.”
Calderhead’s practice is focused on systemic litigation that presents law reform possibilities for the poor. This will typically involve social assistance and housing cases, often with a human rights or Charter of Rights dimension.
“My work has and will continue to focus on social justice, which is sometimes referred to by the more dated term of poverty law,” said Calderhead. “As its core, my focus is on human rights in its purest form: advocacy for people experiencing hardship. I’m delighted to continue this work with people in poverty and to do so at Pink Larkin, a firm that sees this as an opportunity for a crucially important contribution to the advancement of the rights of the poor.”