The Black Youth Justice Program Students Enjoy a Trip to McCarthy Tétrault’s Offices

On April 21st, 2023, the students of Emery Collegiate’s Law class enjoyed a field trip to the offices of Level’s Premier Partner, McCarthy Tétrault, in Toronto.

McCarthy Tétrault hosted the students as part of their partnership with Level, including the Black Youth Justice Program (BYJP). The BYJP is an innovative justice education program for Black youth aged 11 to 18 years. It focuses on providing culturally relevant programming that specifically speaks to the lived experiences of Black individuals and communities. The program is delivered to Black youth by Black identifying program facilitators who work or study within the legal field.

As Level’s new Premier Partner, McCarthy Tétrault is helping to expand the BYJP so it can reach the communities that need it most. A key component of the McCarthy Tétrault and Level partnership is to increase access to justice for Black communities in Canada. The recent field trip is a prime example of McCarthy Tétrault’s commitment to the partnership. It exposed Black youth to important aspects of legal careers, provided an integral experiential component to the students’ education, and cemented important mentoring relationships.

During the field trip, the students heard from McCarthy Tétrault’s inclusion specialist, Toota Hassanien, who spoke about the importance of diversity and inclusion in the future of the legal field. The students also engaged with McCarthy Tétrault’s Student Director, Hakim Kassam, who shed light on the path students from diverse backgrounds can take to pursue a legal career. Finally, the BYJP students were able to gain insight from Black identified lawyers at McCarthy Tétrault who shared their invaluable experiences. We are grateful to Sabih Ottawa, Todd Pribanic-White, and Novalee Davy for their participation.

Level thanks McCarthy Tétrault for their strong demonstration of their commitment to access to justice for Black communities in Canada.