Our Story
The All Lawyers Are Bad Resource Clinic was born out of the 2020 summer protests for racial justice and police abolition. While involved in grassroots activism in Toronto our co-directors saw a need for street level legal, social, and peer support outreach. What started as helping a handful of individuals has turned into a committed long term practice. Our practice prioritizes individuals who have found other legal and social assistance resources inaccessible for any reason including living/housing situation, their location in the city, lack of phones/internet access, or accessibility needs. We will always strive to make sure our neighbours feel safe and listened to.
What We Stand For
Our name "All Lawyers Are Bad" comes from a place of dissatisfaction with the system within which lawyers work. Though our name started as a play on the acronym ACAB (All Cops Are Bad) and our police abolitionist roots we acknowledge that not all lawyers are truly bad. However many lawyers are overworked and entrenched within a legal system that has failed and disenfranchised many throughout North America. We are a group of lawyers and volunteers that acknowledge historical and ongoing role of the law in enabling the genocide of Indigenous peoples as well as criminalizing the existence of racialized, houseless, and other marginalized people.
Our Principles of Care
Community Led: We believe that everyone is an expert in their own lives and their own needs. We will not push unwanted care. We may inform people of options available to them, but the next steps will always be determined by you.
Mutual Aid: Our practice is informed by mutual aid practices. The people we support are our peers and friends, and are invited to provide feedback or work with our group. Our work is a collaborative effort that mutually benefits all through community building.
Accessibility: We work to break down barriers to people accessing care outside of and within our own organization. Barriers can exist due to a lack of resources such as phones or money, physical disability, mental health, and much more. We do our best to provide support for all in a mindful, flexible, and accessible way.
The Community Support Committee offers direct support and coordination of external services to our neighbours. Our most commonly offered services are listed and described on our Services page.