LogoutProf. Mary Jane Mossman
Professor Mary Jane Mossman’s oral history traces her groundbreaking career from the first articling student at Parkdale Community Legal Services in 1971 to her influential roles in shaping Ontario’s legal aid system. After graduate studies at the London School of Economics exposed her to legal aid centers, she returned to Toronto and helped establish community legal services. Her experience at Parkdale included working with seventeen law students in a converted warehouse, handling landlord-tenant matters, welfare appeals, and family court representation, while facing initial opposition from the Law Society over the clinic’s unconventional practices.
From 1979-1982, Mossman served as clinic funding manager for the Ontario Legal Aid Plan, where she was responsible for establishing and overseeing community legal clinics across Ontario. She managed the detailed funding process, annual budget reviews, and helped establish specialty clinics including ARCH and Native clinics in northern Ontario communities. Her resignation in 1982 over concerns about government interference in clinic independence reflected her commitment to legal aid autonomy. Throughout her career, she demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of clinics versus certificate lawyers while navigating the complex politics of legal services delivery and contributing to law reform initiatives.
This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.
References
The following are a selection of topics discussed in this oral history.
- Court of Appeal
- Family Court
- Privy Council
- Provincial Courts
- Rent Review Board
- Social Assistance Review Board
- Supreme Court of Canada
- Dalhousie Law School
- Harvard Law School
- London School of Economics
- McGill University
- North Kensington Legal Centre
- Osgoode Hall Law School
- Queen's University Faculty of Law
- University of New South Wales
- University of Toronto Law School
- University of Windsor Law School
- Yale Law School
- Department of Housing
- Department of Justice
- Grange Commission
- Law Society of Ontario
- Ministry of the Attorney General
- Ministry of Transportation
- Ontario Legal Aid Plan
- Osler Commission
- RCMP
- RCMP Marine Division
- Civil Rights Movement
- Confederation of Newfoundland
- Grange Commission
- Legal Aid Act implementation
- Legal Aid System Development
- North Kensington Legal Centre establishment
- October Crisis
- Osler Commission debates
- Parkdale Community Legal Services founding
- Vietnam War
- World War II
- Australia
- England
- Halifax
- Kingston
- London
- Manitoba
- New South Wales
- Newfoundland
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario
- Ottawa
- Prince Edward Island
- Quebec
- Toronto
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Blakes
- Goodman and Carr
- McCarthys
- Osler, Hoskin
- Soloway Wright Houston Galligan & McKimm
- Tilley Carson
- Wynn case
- Lawyer
- Legal Academic
- Legal Academics
- Alan Lenczner
- Archie Campbell
- Arthur Scace
- Bertha Wilson
- Bill Donkin
- Brian Bucknall
- Colleen Swords
- Daniel Johnson
- David Johnstone
- Dermot McCourt
- Doug Ewart
- Fred Zemans
- Harry Arthurs
- Hazen Argue
- Ian Scott
- Innis Christie
- James Dunn
- John Turner
- Larry Taman
- Marc Lalonde
- Mary Hogan
- Mary Jane Mossman
- Michael Zander
- Morley Gorsky
- Nelson Clarke
- Noel Ogilvie
- Patrick Monahan
- Peter Tobias
- Phil Wynn
- Pierre Trudeau
- Rachel Knox
- Roger Timms
- Ron Ellis
- Roy McMurtry
- Stan Beck
- Terry Hunter
- Canadian Bar Association
- CBA-O Committee on the Regulation of Paralegals
- Children's Aid Society
- Clinic Funding Committee
- County and District Law Presidents Association
- Ford Foundation
- Law Society of Upper Canada
- Metro Tenants' Legal Services
- Parkdale Community Legal Services
- Queen's Student Legal Aid Society
- Tenant Hotline
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1971
- 1972
- 1980s
- 1990s
- Administrative Law
- child welfare proceedings
- Clinic Funding
- Community legal clinics
- Correctional Law
- Criminal Law
- Family Law
- Immigration Law
- Landlord and Tenant Law
- Law Reform
- Legal Aid
- legal insurance
- legal services delivery
- Paralegal Regulation
- Poverty Law
- Tax Law
- test cases
- Unemployment Insurance
- welfare law
- Workers' Compensation
Some of these references were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Archive Details
Files consist of oral history records documenting the life and career of Mary Jane Mossman (b. 1946), a lawyer who became a professor at Osgoode Hall in 1977. Interview topics include: McGill University; Queen's University Law School; articling; London School of Economics; first articling student at Parkdale Legal Clinic; lecturer, University of New South Wales; Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School; Acting Director, Parkdale Legal Clinic; Clinic Funding Committee. Interviewer unknown. File includes six audio cassette recordings from a series of three interviews and a transcript with index (236 p.).