Free (pro bono) legal clinics

There are several pro bono (free) legal clinics in BC that provide lawyer services to people who are not eligible for legal aid but cannot afford to pay for a lawyer.

• Access Pro Bono Society of BC carries on the services and programs formerly offered by the Western Canada Society to Access Justice and Pro Bono Law of BC (see also below), including summary legal advice clinics in community centres, social agencies, churches, and courthouses located throughout the province; a province-wide roster program providing representation services to individuals and non-profit organizations of limited means; a superior courts civil duty counsel project in Vancouver; and a children's lawyer project in Nanaimo.
• Pro Bono Law of BC provides information about and links to some of these services on its website.
• The Salvation Army British Columbia Pro Bono Lawyer Consultant Program provides free legal advice to people who meet the program's guidelines. Legal advice includes helping you prepare court documents, fill out wills, notarize documents, and prepare to appear in front of a judge. For more information, call 604-296-3816.
• The Western Canada Society to Access Justice provides free legal advice to people who cannot afford a lawyer. The lawyers give advice and help you prepare to go to court. They do not prepare typed legal documentation or go into court on your behalf. The society holds clinics at many locations around BC. To make an appointment, call 604-878-7400 (Lower Mainland) or 1-877-762-6664 (no charge, elsewhere in BC).
• The Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society, BC Division Volunteer Legal Advocacy Program (VLAP) makes legal information and advocacy available by telephone, e-mail, or in person to people living with multiple sclerosis in the Lower Mainland (including the Fraser Valley), Victoria, and Kamloops. To get help with a particular legal or advocacy issue, call 1-800-268-7582 (no charge) or 604-689-3144 and ask to speak with the VLAP co-ordinator.