Pro Bono Ontario Lawyer
SickKids, Toronto ON
Expertise: Intersection of Health Law, Children's Rights, Social Assistance, Immigration Law
Lee Ann Chapman is the Pro Bono Ontario lawyer at SickKids. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto Law School. Since her call to the bar, she has focused her practice on social justice issues, particularly with respect to children and youth.
Lee was the originating lawyer in the Family Legal Health Program at SickKids, in partnership with Pro Bono Ontario, over 12 years ago. The Program, Canada’s first Medical Legal Partnership, is a free legal service to patients and families at SickKids, addressing legal impediments to child health. At SickKids she has developed an expertise on issues related to newcomer health, due to the significant percentage of newcomers in the patient population. She has been a guest speaker at national and international conferences on Refugee Healthcare. She has also contributed to law reform at provincial and federal levels with respect to the needs of children whose parents have precarious status.
Before coming to SickKids Lee was a children and youth rights lawyer at Justice for Children and Youth, where represented young people on legal matters at all levels of courts and tribunals.
She has contributed to several articles in journals and books on issues related to Children’s Rights in Healthcare. She is a member, and former Vice Chair of the Canadian Coalition on the Rights of the Child, where she made submissions to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, on shortfalls pertaining to child health in Canada.