BC LawLINE
| Description | BC Legal Services Society telephone-based program providing free legal information, referrals, and advice province-wide. |
| Status | Discontinued |
| Jurisdiction | British Columbia |
| Body responsible | Legal Services Society |
| Subjects |
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| Timeline | |
| September 2002 | LawLINE expanded to a province-wide, toll-free information phone service |
| September 2003 | Telephone legal advice added to the existing LawLINE services |
| 2007 | LSS launched a review of LawLINE services |
| 2007 and 2008 | Numerous changes implemented through the Telephone Triage Project |
| April 2009 | LawLINE scope of coverage narrowed |
| March 2010 | LawLINE ceased operation. |
| Publications | |
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| Development | |
| Originally, LawLINE served as a source of legal information and was staffed with law librarians. The service was restricted to the Metro Vancouver area and legal advice was not provided. "By 2002, LawLINE handled 17,000 calls each year and helped many people to find resources and services to answer to their legal questions" (Access to Justice at 12). In September of 2002, the service was extended to the rest of the province. In September of 2003, telephone legal advice provided by a mix of lawyers and paralegals was added to the existing services offered by LawLINE. It became the first legal hotline service for low income people in Canada to support such service. "Evaluations showed that LawLINE filled a significant gap in existing services for many callers. The vast majority (85%) said that LawLINE made a difference for them. People with family, health, transportation or scheduling problems said it served their needs better than a walk-in service." (Access to Justice at 12) In 2007, a review of LawLINE services was launched in order "to improve efficiency, reduce wait times and make best use of limited resources. Numerous changes were implemented in 2007 and 2008 through the Telephone Triage Project" to offer "callers a single point of entry to many legal aid services" (Access to Justice at 12). In 2009, as a result of a reduction in funding, the Legal Services Society made operational and staffing changes to many of its programs. Between April 2009 and March 2010, LawLINE experienced staff reductions and the scope of coverage was significantly narrowed. LawLINE was discontinued entirely in March 2010. | |
| Purpose | |
LawLINE is part of a free phone service of the Legal Services Society (LSS) designed to help people who don't qualify for a legal aid lawyer to represent them. LawLINE provides legal advice and information to people who qualify financially and have a legal issue we cover. LawLINE | |
| Description of reforms | |
Pre-April 6, 2009 Scope of CoverageLawLINE services were available for the following areas:
LawLINE did not offer services in the following areas:
Post-April 6, 2009 Scope of CoverageLawLINE's scope of coverage was narrowed with fewer areas of law covered. The services provided were primarily tailored to issues arising from the economy. | |
| Revision History | |
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Submit update
If you have updates, changes, or additional information regarding this reform, please contact our Librarian, Brad Albrecht, at balbrecht@cfcj-fcjc.org
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URL
http://cfcj-fcjc.org/inventory/reform.php?id=82