“Pro bono” means “for the common good”. Through pro bono legal services, lawyers provide free legal advice and assistance pro bono to those who cannot afford a lawyer or legal aid. Through Access Pro Bono, pro bono lawyers provide summary legal advice through a network of legal clinics across British Columbia. Other pro bono access programs offer representation services in limited situations. Call 604-878-7400 in Metro Vancouver or toll-free 1-877-762-6664 elsewhere in the province, or visit their website at accessprobono.ca. You can apply for legal aid by calling any legal aid service. Personal services are available at select locations across the province. Please call first to see if this is available. For the Vancouver office, Legal Aid BC promotes personal services by appointment. Call Vancouver Intake at 604-408-2172 to make an appointment. If you are in custody and waiting for a bail hearing, you can get legal advice over the phone evenings, weekends and holidays. Legal Aid BC lawyers can be reached toll-free at 1-888-595-5677. Public advocates are lawyers who can help low-income individuals resolve family law issues, including child protection issues (if the Department of Children.
Tue, Wed and Friday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Email: Intake.Abbotsford@legalaid.bc.ca Courthouse Libraries BC also offers Clicklaw Wikibooks, plain language legal publications that appear on the Born Wiki and can also be printed. See wiki.clicklaw.bc.ca. The People`s Law School is a non-profit organization dedicated to making the law accessible to all. Their website under peopleslawschool.ca provides education and free information to help people deal with the legal problems of everyday life. Topics include consumer and debt issues, workplace issues, wills and estates. Dial-A-Law can find more information about legal aid and lawyers in the Courts + Crime section. Clicklaw is a website operated by Courthouse Libraries BC to provide access to legal information to lay people.
It covers dozens of topics and includes information on problem solving. Visit clicklaw.bc.ca. Justice centres in Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey, Nanaimo and Abbotsford offer help with family and everyday problems such as work, housing or debt problems. Access to Justice Centres offer free mediation services and limited legal services. Many of these services are available to everyone. Some services (such as family counselling lawyers) are available to low-income people. For more information, call Service BC toll-free at 1-800-663-7867 or visit the Government of British Columbia website. In communities across British Columbia, public libraries provide access to books and legal resources for non-lawyers.
Librarians can help you find what you need. Visit newtobc.ca/bc-libraries for a map of public libraries across the province. Instead of hiring a lawyer to handle your entire legal case, you can hire a lawyer to handle specific parties. In this way, these tasks “stand out” of the parts you can do yourself. Unbundled legal services give you support where you need it most, at a cost you can manage. You only pay for the tasks the lawyer is working on. At student law clinics in the Lower Mainland and Victoria, law students can help those who would otherwise not be able to afford legal aid. Students help resolve legal issues such as rent or work issues, access to state benefits, (less serious) criminal charges, and minor matters. In the Lower Mainland, call 604-822-5791 or visit lslap.bc.ca. In the Victoria area, call 250-385-1221 or visit uvic.ca/law/about/centre. Legal Information Outreach staff are available in several locations to provide legal information and make recommendations (find locations). Ask a lawyer to take your case and represent you in court.
More than 25,000 people receive legal assistance each year. If you are a low-income person going through a separation or divorce, you may be entitled to up to three hours of free legal advice from the Supreme Court. To apply for legal aid in person or by phone, see Am I eligible? and How do I apply? To find out if you are eligible for free legal advice or representation, visit Legal Aid BC. A Justice of the Peace (JP) is a bailiff appointed to keep the peace. Justices of the peace may perform certain judicial tasks, such as conducting court proceedings, issuing court orders, and many other services. Justices of the peace do not need formal legal training. Visit Justice of the Peace (Provincial Court of British Columbia) for more information. MOSAIC provides legal advice and representation to low-income immigrants and refugees. They help newcomers navigate the Canadian legal system. Call 604-254-9626 in Vancouver or visit mosaicbc.org.
Free or low-cost legal aid options include legal aid, pro bono services, legal clinics, and lawyers. Also learn the best sources of legal information to solve legal problems. Legal aid is available by telephone throughout British Columbia. You can apply for legal aid by calling anywhere or by calling our call centre. Personal services are available at select locations across the province. Please call first to see if this is available. Telephone numbers and locations can be found in the Legal Aid Offices section below. If you are not qualified to be represented by a legal aid lawyer, you may still be eligible for other legal aid services. These include court-appointed lawyers and lawyers who provide advice by telephone. Visit the Indigenous Legal Resources page for Indigenous legal resources.
If you need to call a dial-up connection to reach a legal aid agency, you can call Service BC and ask them to make your call for free. Indigenous community legal workers provide limited legal information and advisory services (finding locations).
