We offer drop-in services IN-PERSON on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between 1:00pm-4:00pm.

  • Help is provided on a first-come, first-served basis. 
  • Some days we may reach capacity and be unable to meet with everyone.
  • Last intake at 3:30 p.m.

Telephone appointments are available in special circumstances.  Click here for more information about our clinic.

 

Legal Clinics

We are currently offering in-person, drop-in service on a first come, first serve basis, as an initial step to determining your legal issues. During this time we will provide guidance on process, legal information, summary legal advice or referrals to other agencies.  If it is determined that we may be able to help you further, we will discuss next steps at that time.

“Thanks again for all your help in resolving this, you played a crucial role in getting organized and prepared.”

THINGS TO KNOW +

BEFORE YOU ATTEND +

Hours:

Drop-In takes place every Tuesday & Thursday from 1pm – 4:00pm. We suggest arriving as close to 1pm as possible. Generally, we do not accept clients after 3:30 to make sure all interviews are finished by 4:00pm.

Intake:

When you arrive, you will be asked to fill out an intake form. We are required to obtain certain information about clients, including things like their name and place of employment, but we also ask for details about the legal issue you need help with and the other people involved. This form must be completed in order to meet with a student. We can help you fill out the forms, if necessary.

Conflicts of Interest:

All lawyers must avoid helping both sides of a disagreement. We will complete a conflict check in order to ensure that we have not already helped another person involved in your matter. If we have, then a conflict does exist, which means we will not be able to help you on that same matter. But we will do our best to refer you somewhere else.

First Come, First Served:

Drop-In is run on a “first come, first served” basis. Generally, if you arrive later, you can expect to wait longer before being seen. There are rare exceptions to this. For example, if we identify a conflict, we will try to let that person know as soon as possible so that they do not wait only to be told that we cannot assist.

Meeting with a Student:

You will meet with a law student to discuss your matter, not a lawyer. The students work under the supervision of staff and volunteer lawyers. The information you receive will be approved by one of those lawyers. We also have students from a variety of other faculties, such as social work, who may sit in during the interview to help with other (non-legal) problems.

Limits to our Service:

To get help, you must sign a Terms of Service document which outlines what LHC can and cannot do and your responsibilities while attending Drop-In.

How Long it will Take:

How long the total process will take depends on how busy the clinic is and the complexity of your matter. Generally, from the time you first meet with the law student, until the time you are finished, is about 45 minutes.

Legal Aid:

Find out if you qualify for services from Legal Aid Manitoba. LHC is not an alternative to Legal Aid. If you are eligible for Legal Aid to help you with your issue, you may not qualify for LHC services. If you qualify, Legal Aid will arrange for a lawyer to work on your behalf. If we determine it is likely that you will qualify, we will refer you to them anyways. Information on the types of cases covered by Legal Aid, as well as their financial criteria can be found here:

https://www.legalaid.mb.ca/services/do-i-qualify/

https://www.legalaid.mb.ca/financial-rules/do-i-qualify-financially/

Eligibility:

LHC helps people whose family income meets our financial eligibility guideline and if you do not already have a lawyer for the problem you are coming to LHC for help with. Before coming to drop-in, you should figure out how much each of the people who are in your family unit make, and refer to the eligibility guideline to be sure we are able to help you.

Documents:

If you have any documents that you think are important to your issue, it is a good idea to collect them and bring them with you to the drop-in clinic. The documents may help the students and lawyers to provide information to you. Examples of useful papers are: court documents, signed agreements/contracts, last 3 years of tax returns)

Make some notes:

Often the issues you are dealing with can feel overwhelming. Sometimes, it is helpful to write down a timeline of what has happened, as well as the important questions that you want answered.

Consider bringing someone to support you:

Having someone with you during drop-in can help you through difficult situations by providing emotional support or for practical reasons such as helping translate if English is not your primary language.

“My heartfelt gratitude to Legal Help Centre for helping me through the process of variation of my child support. Continue to help an individual who has a small income.”

THINGS TO KNOW +

Referrals:

After you attend Drop-In appointment, it will be determined whether your case qualifies you for an appointment so that you can get more help.

Schedule:

This assistance will be provided on other days of the week and if you are referred and you will need to sign a Terms of Service document outlining the limited services we will provide. You will then get assigned to a student who will explain the rest of the process.

Documents:

We may ask you for other documents so that we can properly help you. We may require you provide them before taking any further steps.