A program at Western that provides free and confidential legal information to sexual assault survivors is expanding its eligibility to offer services to anyone living in London and Middlesex County.
The Legal Information for Sexual Assault (LISA) program was established in September 2022 in partnership with Community Legal Services and the Faculty of Law. The program is run by volunteer lawyers and Western law students who offer survivors who have experienced sexual assault information about their legal options, help them understand various legal processes and make referrals to other legal and non-legal resources, including referring students to Western’s Gender-Based Violence and Survivor Support team, where appropriate.
“We can answer questions about what police reporting looks like, steps taken in a criminal trial, what a civil lawsuit might look like and how to find a lawyer. If there are safety concerns, we can connect them with local organizations who offer support,” said Chanele Rioux-McCormick, JD’22, who co-founded LISA when she was a third-year law student at Western. Today, she continues to serve on the program’s executive team and acts as co-supervising lawyer alongside Vanshika Dhawan.
LISA was established after its co-founders identified a need for a resource aimed specifically at providing timely legal information to students on campus. Now in its third year, the founders recognized it had the capacity to expand services to others outside of campus.
“Our goal has always been to ensure folks are well-informed about the legal options available following an experience of sexual and gender-based violence,” said Dhawan. “The program has been such a success so far, we are glad to be able to expand the scope of our services and offer support to those who need it in the London-Middlesex community.”
Crucial experiential learning for future lawyers
Rioux-McCormick points to the value of the program not just for those that it serves, but also for the law student volunteers who are gaining real-world experience interacting with clients. Law students at Western assist with the program intake, which involves gathering information from those seeking services so that the attending supervising lawyer can deliver the appropriate legal information. “The students are trained in trauma-informed lawyering practices and how to receive disclosures in a sensitive way,” said Rioux-McCormick. “In many aspects of law, no matter where a lawyer decides to specialize their practice, they will often come face-to-face with a client who has experienced significant grief or harm.” Law graduate Catherine Avrutin was involved as a student volunteer with the program for two and a half years and says it gave her confidence to handle disclosures from clients in a way that makes them feel at ease. “Outside of law school, you don’t get a lot of experience doing client intakes by yourself, as a student,” she said.Contributing to a service that fills a gap in the community also gave her a sense of fulfillment, Avrutin said. “People really appreciated having someone who understood the system to help them navigate their options,” she said. “I was a volunteer with the program since the beginning, and it’s been such a pleasure to see it take off.” Virtual and in-person appointments are available now until the end of April 2026. Individuals accessing the service can book appointments under pseudonyms or omit their last names for anonymity. Disclaimer: LISA volunteers can only provide legal information and cannot provide legal advice or opinions. Should the need arise for legal advice, the person seeking service will be referred to available resources. To learn more about LISA or to make an appointment, visit: western.law/lisa or email [email protected]“I’ve taken what I learned from LISA into my current role as an articling student, where I sometimes speak to people who have witnessed traumatic events.” – Catherine Avrutin, BMSc’22, JD’25
