MS JACQUELINE SCHAFFTER

Jacqueline is the President and CEO of a Legal Aid Alberta, the legal aid plan for the Province of Alberta. Legal Aid Alberta had an annual revenue of $75 million for 2008/09 and provides services to more than 140,000 people each year.

Jacqueline has been a lawyer since 1980 and has worked with Legal Aid Alberta since 2001. Prior to becoming the CEO for Legal Aid Alberta in 2007, Jacqueline was the Senior Counsel for the Family Law Office, a staff lawyer program providing family law services throughout the province. During her tenure to date as CEO, Legal Aid Alberta completed a client needs assessment as well as commenced an extensive research project into financial eligibility criteria in order to define a reasoned basis for the determination of financial eligibility when circumstances change as a result of financial constraints, inflationary factors or demographics. This is ongoing research that will be continuing over the next three years. Building on the results of the needs assessment and initial results of the financial eligibility research, LAA was able to make substantial changes to the legal aid tariff and to secure additional resources to amend the financial eligibility requirements to allow for greater numbers of citizens to have access to legal aid.

Jacqueline has served on a number of task forces and advisory councils including a task force on the Professional Code of Conduct for lawyers, Justice Policy Advisory Council, Justice Taskforce on Unbundled Legal Services.

Outside of her professional role, Jacqueline has extensive community involvement including serving on various Boards of Directors, as an elected school trustee and completed a term on the Board of the Child and Family Services Authority.