Virtual Legal Clinic

  • serves clients outside the lower mainland but in British Columbia. The clinic may serve clients outside the province but with family law matters in British Columbia,

  • uses a community partner model to serve clients. Interested in becoming a community partner? Stay on this page and see sections below,

  • provides virtual legal services including legal navigation (legal information only) for all clients,

  • assesses if client matter is within our scope of Rise’s expertise (primarily family law), financial eligibility. If eligible, the clinic can provide support from a family law advocate, and summary advice,

  • does not provide legal representation for clients.

How the Virtual Legal Clinic started?

In August 2017, Rise created the Virtual Legal Clinic and expanded its services to assist clients living outside of the Lower Mainland. Before virtual meetings became a standard practice, Vicky Law recognized the need for providing virtual (telephone and videoconferencing) legal services to clients in rural and remote communities in BC. To achieve this, Vicky spearheaded the Remote Services Project (funded by Law Foundation of BC) to explore best practices in delivering family law service throughout the province. The project was very well received by community organizations, advocates and clients, many of whom would otherwise not have been able to access legal services due to the lack of legal resources in non-urban centres.

From August 2017- August 2018, the project had already provided services to clients in 23 different communities around the province. Subsequently, the project was generously funded by the Face the World Foundation, Health Sciences Association and Vancouver Foundation and is now the Virtual Legal Clinic. In 2019, Vicky and Haley (Rise’s research lawyer) travelled to nearly every corner of BC – a total of 28 communities – to advance Rise’s mandate of access to justice for all women in BC. In these travels, they were able to understand challenges that are more specific to rural communities, including a lack of structured supports for fleeing violence, infrequent availability of court dates, limited public transportation to court, and lengthy delays in court proceedings. During these travels, numerous community organizations were invited to partner with Rise. The Virtual Legal Clinic was created with a unique model, working with community partner organisations to provide wrap-around support to clients in the rural and remote communities it served.

As of 2024, the VLC has over 60 community organizations across BC to provide comprehensive support and assistance to clients and providing ongoing training to support workers on family law matters.

Our community partner model

Our community partner model is unique as it links clients and support workers in their respective communities. The purpose of the community partner model is to provide local support, access to safe space, and support in implementing legal advice for clients seeking virtual services with Rise.

Our program is open to any and all frontline community workers who serve self-identified women with legal matters in British Columbia. However, partnerships are formalized with organizations, with whom we have an agreement.

If you are interested in becoming a community partner, you can email our coordinator Stephanie Melnyk at smelnyk@womenslegalcentre.ca

See FAQs below for more information.

Services we offer for community partners

Support with clients

We may be able to assist clients through their family law issue. We request community partners to submit a request for service form. Community partners are invited to support the client through the initial navigation appointment.

o   if the client is financially eligible to receive services and Rise has the capacity to assist, they will be referred to receive to summary advice service at Rise.

We ask that community partners attend the summary advice appointment with their clients.

Support for Community Partners

In addition providing access to legal services, we are able to support Community Parnters through our two dedicated lines answered by lawyers.

Clients do not need to be Rise’s clients for you to access the service.

  • You can access our Family Advocate Support Line (FASL) lawyer, who provides fast and comprehensive advice on routine and complex cases.

  • You can also access our Indigenous Family Advocate Support Line (IFASL) lawyer. IFASL is a dedicated phone line for Indigenous advocates and workers supporting Indigenous clients. IFASL is open to receiving questions on both family law and Child, Family. and Community Service Act (CFCSA) matters.

Education and Training

Support workers at Community Partner organizations can attend monthly trainings offered by Rise. Our training page can only be accessed with a password. Email education@womenslegalcentre.ca for a password. We are only able to provide access with an organizational email.

Existing Community Partners see here.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Many clients struggle with virtual services or have safety concerns, we ask that community partners assist clients:

    • with filling out the request for service form

    • book an appointment with the legal navigator

    • work with the program assistant to collect documents for the lawyer appointment.

    • support the client in a three-way online meeting attended by you. the client and the volunteer lawyer.

  • Appointments with lawyers can seem intimidating. Clients are navigating their family law matters, often while having concerns for their safety and the safety of their children. You as a community partner can

    • support the client in writing all the questions for the lawyer.

    • ensure the client has access to reliable internet and the equipment for seeking virtual services

    • coordinate with the client if they need to use your office space for the appointment.

    • help the client with documents or forms as per the lawyer’s instructions,

    • send the client’s documents to our office, and

    • follow up with the client after their meeting with a lawyer to schedule a follow-up meeting.

  • Although this may seem demanding on your time, during each client’s navigation, call we will discuss any supports that might be required, and who might be able to provide them. This could be yourself or another organization depending on program mandates. We will never ask you to operate outside your organization’s scope of practice or mandate and will collaborate with you to find the best available supports for our client.

  • Our community partner agreements are signed with an organization. This means multiple people from the same organization can be considered community partners. You can contact smelnyk@womenslegalcentre.ca for next steps.

  • A monthly meeting calendar is sent to everyone who is signed up on our mailing list. If you signed up and are not receiving emails, please check your Spam folder as our emails may end up there. To join the mailing list, email smelnyk@womenslegalcentre.ca

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