Mr. Larry Taman

This oral history interview with Larry Taman provides a detailed account of the founding of Parkdale Community Legal Clinic in 1971, one of Canada’s first community legal clinics. Taman, a student at Osgoode Hall Law School during the late 1960s student activism period, was instrumental in establishing CLASP (Community Legal Aid Services Programme), an umbrella organization that coordinated various student legal aid initiatives. He describes the collaborative effort between progressive faculty members like Harry Arthurs, Gary Watson, and Bill Neilson, and students to secure funding from the Ford Foundation and federal Department of Health and Welfare for what became a groundbreaking experiment in both community legal services and clinical legal education.

Taman provides valuable insights into the philosophical tensions surrounding the clinic’s establishment, including debates within the legal profession about student practice rights, conflicts between academic and practical training approaches, and community-centered versus traditional legal service delivery models. His account reveals the complex negotiations with the Law Society of Upper Canada and the challenges of balancing law school academic requirements with community needs. The interview also explores significant policy debates that arose during his tenure on Parkdale’s board from 1973-1979, including gender equity issues in client representation and the controversial question of whether the clinic should represent landlords, ultimately deciding against it to maintain credibility with their primarily tenant-focused constituency.

The interview illuminates the broader context of legal education reform during the late 1960s and early 1970s, positioning Parkdale as part of a larger clinical legal education movement inspired by American models but adapted to Canadian circumstances. Taman’s perspective demonstrates how the clinic became a prototype for Ontario’s current system of community legal clinics, establishing governance structures and community-based approaches that continue to influence legal aid delivery across the province.

This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.