If you feel you have experienced human rights based discrimination or harassment by a lawyer or paralegal within a legal clinic or law or paralegal firm, you can contact the Discrimination & Harassment Counsel (DHC) for the Law Society of Upper Canada. There is no fee for the DHC’s services.

The DHC will help you:

• identify discriminatory and harassing behaviour
• clarify the issues
• understand your options such as filing an internal complaint or filing a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, or the Law Society of Upper Canada
• assess the advantages and disadvantages of each option.

The DHC does not have investigative powers. The DHC does not operate a formal complaints process that involves fact-finding.

The DHC may be able to assist you in resolving your complaint by intervening informally as a neutral facilitator or by conducting formal mediation, where appropriate and where the respondent volunteers to participate in mediation.

Mediation is assisted negotiation. It is a confidential and voluntary process that provides the complainant and the respondent with an opportunity to discuss the complaint and generate options to resolve the issues. At any time, either the complainant or the respondent can withdraw from the process.

Through mediation the parties are encouraged to craft their own solution with the assistance of the DHC. The DHC does not take sides in the mediation or make decisions. Instead, the DHC facilitates the discussion.

The mediation can take place in a face-to-face meeting or through a conciliation model or "shuttle diplomacy" where the parties meet individually with the DHC. The parties can bring a friend, advocate or their lawyer or paralegal to the mediation meeting.

The DHC can also assist lawyers, paralegals, legal clinics and law and paralegal firms to develop procedures to respond to internal complaints and co-ordinate ongoing training to prevent discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

The DHC does not provide legal advice or legal representation and cannot make referrals to lawyers or paralegals. If you require a lawyer, the Law Society operates a Lawyer Referral Service. You can also check the Law Society’s Lawyer and Paralegal Directory to find a lawyer or paralegal.

If you used the services of the Discrimination and Harassment Counsel Program (DHC Program), please complete a program evaluation form. This questionnaire should take 10 minutes to complete. Your confidential and anonymous responses will be used to determine the effectiveness of our program and make improvements or changes where appropriate. Your comments are important to us. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=764671778316