From members of the community...

I am an individual in need of legal assistance.  I can't afford a lawyer, can your program help me?

PBSC is a program that assists organizations rather than individuals.  We suggest you contact the Law Students Legal Advice Program, Pro Bono Law of B.C., or one of the legal clinics available in your community.  Please see our links section for contact information.

From lawyers….  

I am a lawyer working on a pro bono file and I could really use the assistance of a student.   Do you have students who might be interested?

In addition to matching students with organizations, we also create placements for students to assist lawyers who are working on pro bono files.  If you are a lawyer who would like student assistance, please do contact us.  If there is a rapidly approaching deadline we may not be able to help you since students usually spread their projects over a several month period so that they can also focus on their studies.

From students….. 

I am a student who is interested in social justice/public interest work and I'm wondering if you know of any employment opportunities through your contacts.

It is rare for students to obtain employment through their pro bono placement only because most of the organizations we work with are operating on restricted budgets.  However, if you contact us we can tell you about public interest articling positions funded by the Law Foundation of B.C.

FAQ from organizations: 

I am an organization in need of legal assistance from a student.  We have a very time-sensitive issue that we need addressed.  Can you help?

Our program has a black-out period for students which includes the entire months of December and April each year.  Furthermore, it's often easiest to find student volunteers at the beginning of a school semester (September or January) and during the summer.   Please contact us directly and we can explore whether we have any students available for your time-sensitive project.

I am an organization and I'm a little hesitant to employ the services of a student.   How can we be sure that the legal information we're getting is correct?

All of our placements involve a supervising lawyer who provides guidance and vets any final legal information before it is turned in to the organization.  This way the organization can be sure that the work is lawyer-approved, the lawyer doesn't have to do the legwork themselves, and the students get a great learning experience.