Legal Services for Government Entities
Practical. Trusted. Public-Sector Focused.
As a member of the Law Society of Saskatchewan, Maureen Jickling practices law in Saskatchewan and can practice law in other Canadian jurisdictions subject to the terms of the National Mobility Agreement. Maureen understands the unique legal, political, and operational realities that government entities, school boards and municipal councils face. Maureen’s approach is collaborative, strategic, and grounded in the legislative and policy frameworks that shape your decisions and mitigate risk.
Whether you need legal guidance for a single matter, extra support for your in-house counsel team, or long-term strategic support, Maureen’s services are tailored to strengthen governance, reduce risk, and enable informed, ethical leadership.
Maureen has acted as in-house counsel to government entities and understands their operational and service issues. Consider Maureen’s Fractional Legal Counsel Services as an external counsel who conducts herself as “your in-house legal counsel, but just the right-size.”
Maureen’s Education
– Qualified Arbitrator (Q.Arb)
– Certified Inhouse Counsel of Canada (CIC.C)
– Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.)
– Bachelor of Social Sciences (B.Soc.Sci.)
Maureen’s Memberships:
– Law Society of Saskatchewan member since 1993
– Canadian Bar Association (2012 – 2025)
– Canadian Bar Association In-house Counsel
– Governance Professionals of Canada since 2024
– Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada (ADRIC) since 2025
– Collaborative Lawyers of Saskatchewan (2010-2019)
Maureen’s Training includes:
– Workplace Fairness Assessments (2025)
– Advanced Workplace Restoration (2025)
– Research Ethics based on the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research involving Humans (2024)
– Violence Threat Risk Assessment (levels 1 and 2)
– Traumatic Event Systems (TES) Training
– Collaborative Law (2010)
Maureen’s Community Involvement
– Member (legal) of the University of Saskatchewan’s biomedical Research Ethics Board since 2024
What Are Fractional Legal Counsel Services?
Fractional Legal Counsel refers to a flexible part-time legal advisory model where a government entity engages an experienced lawyer on a recurring (“subscription services”) or as-needed basis (“billable hour services”) —without hiring an in-house lawyer as an employee or retaining a traditional law firm full-time.
Benefits of the Fractional Legal Counsel Model:
- Responsive advice for ongoing or emergent legal matters
- Continuity of service with deep institutional knowledge
- Cost efficiency —access to senior legal expertise without full-time salary costs
- Scalable support —tailored to budget, workload, and internal capacity
- Impartial perspective, especially in politically sensitive situations
Depending on the entity’s needs, Maureen’s subscription services can be cost-effective to encourage proactive and strategic interactions to mitigate risks. Maureen’s subscription services are restricted to a limited number of clients so that Maureen can provide timely legal support to her subscribers. Contact Maureen if you are interested in learning more about her subscription services.
How Maureen Supports Government Entities
Maureen’s legal services span the full spectrum of public-sector governance with a focus on practical implementation and risk management:
For Local Governments and Public Sector Entities:
- Governance, procedure, and public/closed meeting law compliance
- Conflict of interest, ethics, and Code of Conduct advice
- Support for Chief Administrative Officers/Directors of Education and Council/Board of Education dynamics and delegation of authority
- Drafting or reviewing bylaws, resolutions, and policy documents
- Privacy law, access to information, privacy breach support and data handling under provincial and federal frameworks
- Support for complex stakeholder disputes
- Support for accessibility laws and human right matters including duty to accommodate employees
- Statutory interpretation, application and compliance
- Legislative reform analysis and drafting input
- Advice on procedural fairness and quasi-judicial processes
- Risk management in policy or operational decision-making
- Support for investigations including complex concurrent investigations involving regulatory, workplace conduct, human rights and/or occupational health and safety matters
- Litigation support for trials, judicial reviews, and hearings including privacy law, human rights, criminal and family law court matters (including child protection matters)
- Conflict management coaching
- Intergovernmental negotiations and drafting of Memorandums of Understanding and other intergovernmental agreements
For School Boards:
- Statutory compliance
- Human rights including duty to accommodate students and inclusive education support for students
- Student discipline processes and appeals
- Support for parental disputes, child protection and abduction matters including the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
- Conflict management coaching
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Maureen’s Commitment
Maureen works alongside your Board Chair or Mayor, Board of Education or Council, Director of Education or Chief Administrative Officer, and Leadership Team with discretion, clarity, and a deep respect for public service. Every opinion, policy review, or strategic consultation is designed to support ethical governance, clear decision-making, and compliance with the law.
Let’s Talk
To explore whether fractional legal counsel or other legal support is right for your organization, contact Maureen today.