

What is the need for pro bono clinics?
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!
The increased complexity and the ever-quickening pace of
change in the law has caused the need for legal counsel
to increase dramatically over the past 20 years. In addition,
severe provincial government cutbacks to the Legal Services
Society mean that now no more than approximately 5 percent
of persons on low income with legal problems can obtain
help from legal aid.
How does our pro bono program work?
The basic concept of the program is to provide a professional
setting in which lawyers give 2-4 hours of their time free
per month to help those who cannot obtain legal help elsewhere.
The key is to protect the lawyers' time and boundaries as
well as to facilitate high professional standards. The Society
works with various social and charitable agencies to arrange
and administer half-hour legal appointments for the needy.
Follow-up appointments are available.
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.
For a more detailed description of pro bono clinics in
BC, view a PDF copy of the article entitled Pro
Bono Clinics in British Columbia*, as published in the
May 2003 issue of The Advocate.
What progress have we made
in delivering our services?
Clinics
now active:
We now have 61 active clinics and 400 lawyers who give
2 pro bono hours of their time each month. Our flagship
clinic is at the courthouse at 800 Smythe Street with
specialized clinics in Personal Injury, Family
law, Wrongful Dismissal, Wills & Estates, "Leaky Condo"
law, and Small Business law.
Video-conferencing
project:
We are now operating video-conferencing clinics to serve more remote areas of the Province.
Website:
We have developed a website which has a calendar system
for booking clients and lawyers and a system for storing
client information.
Videos:
The Society has completed two videos to introduce
clients to clinics and inform them on how to prepare.
The videos are introduced by Chief Justice Brenner,
and feature Douglas Robinson, QC, Hamish Cameron,
QC, and a professional actress. Another lawyer's video
is available on request.
Public phone line:
The Society has a client telephone line (604-878-7400)
whereby clients can obtain information from volunteers
on our 40 clinics in the Lower Mainland or toll free
(1-877-762-6664) elsewhere in the province.
Resource manuals:
Our pro bono resource manuals, containing extracts of
the LSLAP manual, the Criminal Code, and the Supreme
Court rules, are available for our lawyers at our clinics.
Volunteers & staff:
We have several full-time workers,
and over 100 non-lawyer volunteers who coordinate the
program and provide administrative, typing, clinic chaperone
and other services.