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February 8, 2002
Questions for lawyers?
Legal bodies can be your first stop for information.
PAT JOHNSON REPORTER
What do you do if you think you've been wrongfully fired? How do
you complain about being discriminated against? Where do you find
a lawyer who is right for your needs? These are not questions people
ask themselves every day, so when they do come up, many people don't
know where to turn.
For legal matters, there are two organizations (in the same building)
that can provide a comforting first entry.
The Canadian Bar Association provides a Lawyer Referral Service.
After explaining to an operator the general nature of your legal
needs, you will be provided with the name and contact information
of a lawyer. The initial consultation, when arranged through this
service, will cost just $10, taxes included, for a meeting of up
to 30 minutes. In some cases, the lawyer will explain that no legal
action is necessary and no additional fees will be charged. If the
client and lawyer decide to proceed, normal charges will apply.
The phone number for this service in the Lower Mainland is 604-687-3221.
Outside the Lower Mainland, the number is 1-800-663-1919.
Dial up some advice
In addition to the referral service, the Canadian Bar Association
also offers an extensive range of Dial-A-Law tapes, giving brief
synopses of legal issues pertaining to such matters as appealing
a Workers' Compensation Board ruling, laws around possession of
drugs, changing your name or various aspects of consumer law.
For example, the tape on Small Claims Court explains the basics
of using this relatively accessible legal institution. The tape
notes that small claims consist of actions under $10,000 and that
the forms required are written for non-lawyers on the assumption
that many of the people bringing a case before the court will act
on their own behalf, without a lawyer's assistance.
The tape points out that certain types of cases, such as libel or
slander, cannot be taken to Small Claims Court.
The types of cases that can be taken up there are efforts to get
back a specific amount of money, usually unpaid debts, claims for
damages for injury or loss, cases against people who have failed
to fulfil their obligations under a contract, and cases aimed at
getting back property wrongfully taken from you.
The recorded system is easy to navigate, but there is also an operator
available to help during business hours. To hear Dial-A-Law tapes,
call 604-687-4680 in the Lower Mainland or, in the rest of the province,
call 1-800-565-5297.
Counselling concerns
On another front, if you have had a dispute with your lawyer
or believe
he or she has conducted themselves improperly, the Law Society of
British Columbia is the institution that can help.
The law society is an independent organization funded by members
of the legal profession in the province. In order to practise law,
all lawyers must be members in good standing of the society. The
Law Society's responsibility is to ensure that the public is well
served by a "competent, honorable and independent legal profession."
The society urges people to take their concerns up first with the
lawyer or the lawyer's firm and, if there is not a satisfactory
result, to contact the society. Staff are available to answer questions
by telephone but, when writing to the society, correspondence must
include the name of the lawyer and the complainant's name, address
and phone number. All information received by the Law Society will
be forwarded to the lawyer for a response.
For more information about the Law Society, see the Web site www.lawsociety.bc.ca
or call 604-669-2533.
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