Access Justice Pro Bono Legal Clinic

How Does Our Program Work

The Community Resource Centre is a host agency that provides a room for the Pro Bono Legal Clinic for 2 hours per week. The Community Resource Centre also advertises the services, takes calls from the public and arranges half-hour client appointments. We screen out clients who can afford a lawyer or obtain legal aid and sort the criminal, family and other cases for assignment to the appropriate lawyer.

Our pro bono lawyers give advice and help clients do the work. They do not prepare typed legal documentation as would normally be done for their office clients. They do not take work home. The lawyers do not go into court or go on record. They prepare the client to go into court, help the client gain a winning attitude (with emphasis on preparation) and take the fear out of the legal process.

The pro bono clients do not call the lawyers if they want to follow up, they call our clinic.

The Need

According to Statistics Canada, the median income for British Columbians is approximately $1,750 per month. This means pro bono clinics are serving over half the population of BC!

Do You Qualify for the Pro Bono Clinic?

The limit for an individual's net household income is $2,700 per month plus $100 for each dependant. Family assets should be less than $10, 000 unless there is a house, in which case we allow equity up to approximately $60, 000 (net value of property less the amount of the mortgage).

Call 604 885 4088 or email to book an appointment if you meet the requirements above. Please call to book well in advance since our clinics fill up quickly. We run 2-4 Pro Bono Legal Clinics a month each seeing 4 clients for half-hour sessions. The number of clinics we run depends on the availablility of our volunteer lawyers.

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Other Legal Resources

* Electronic Law Library

* Law Link

* Family Law in BC