LawMatters Training Follow-Up Survey Report

The LawMatters Training Follow-Up Survey Final Report (PDF, 32 pp, December 2009) was recently published on the LawMatters website. The report summarizes the findings of a survey of 70 public library staff who attended the LawMatters Legal Reference Introductory Training in 2008-2009. Two interesting findings:

* Public librarians answer a lot of legal questions: half of those surveyed get at least one legal question per week.

* The LawMatters training significantly raised the confidence of public librarians to handle legal questions, and that confidence increase didn't fade, even 1-2 years after the training was provided:

Medium or High Confidence Level of Public Librarians:

Before training: 42%

Immediately after training: 83%

1-2 years after training: 89% [adapted from p.17]

Librarians also reported on trends in legal reference topics:

"... funding cuts had limited information sources for citizens, potentially leading to more use of free library services. Two librarians noted that unrepresented litigants are bringing more legal reference questions to the library.

Five library staff said that legal documents or court forms are often difficult for patrons to understand, copy or print out. Many questions also require reference to case law and historical reference materials.

Three librarians noted that answers to simple legal reference questions can now be answered on the internet, meaning that librarians are now asked more complex questions. " [p.11]

New Legal Information Online Update

New on the Clicklaw website:

* 5 Ways to Protect Yourself When Renting (Video) Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre, 2009. The video is available in Cantonese, Mandarin, Arabic, English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Punjabi, Farsi (Persian), Spanish and Vietnamese.

* If You Are Charged with a Crime (Brochure) Legal Services Society, November 2009. Also available in French.

* You Owe Money and Someone Owes You Money (Videos) People's Law School, January 2010. Animations of a character experiencing debt collection problems. The videos are accompanied by fact sheets You Owe Money and Someone Owes You Money.

Other new titles:

* Immigration Law for Temporary Foreign Workers in English and Immigration Law for Temporary Foreign Workers in Spanish [Powerpoint presentations 35 pp ] are available from the IM-POWER-ED website, which is a community-based legal education and facilitation project for temporary foreign workers.

* Justice for All? [video 8:49 min] from Access to Justice.ca describes the legal aid cutbacks in BC.

* Protesters’ Guide to the Law of Civil Disobedience in British Columbia – Olympic Edition by Vancouver lawyer Leo McGrady, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada . [45 pp PDF] November 2009

* West Coast Environmental Law has a new site which contains links to their publications, newsletter, blog and media releases.

Video: Clicklaw HelpMap Top 5 List

New from the Clicklaw team on the Clicklaw Blog this week:

A 5 minute video posted on YouTube has been created to give a flavour for what the new Clicklaw HelpMap offers. The top 5 things you can do on the HelpMap are:

* You can search by community in British Columbia for someone who can help with legal problems.
* You can locate a result on the map (where we’re integrating with Google Maps).
* You can narrow your results down in a few different ways — by topic (e.g., show me only “Family law” services) or by type of help (e.g., show me only services that provide “legal advocacy, advice or representation”).
* You can start your search by clicking on a topic and narrow down from there.
* You can find services that are provided in languages other than English (by starting with a community in BC and narrowing down by language).

The team would like to hear your feedback on the Clicklaw HelpMap. Please consider taking our 3-minute Clicklaw feedback survey online, posting a comment on the Clicklaw blog, or contacting the editors at editor@clicklaw.bc.ca.

Two New Titles From the LawMatters Project

We are pleased to present the following titles produced for BC public libraries, but available to anyone to download:

Legal Help for British Columbians: A Guide to Help Non-legal Professionals Make Legal Referrals for Clients by Cliff Thorstenson of the Nicola Valley Advocacy Centre. [60 pp PDF] 2009. The Guide updates the 2008 Legal Help for Rural British Columbians legal guide, and print copies will be distributed to all BC public and courthouse libraries in January.

• Legal Information Reading Guides [17 pp PDF] October 2009. 206 titles from Law Books for Libraries arranged by subject headings.

New Feature On The Clicklaw Website: HelpMap

New on the Clicklaw Blog this week:

A HelpMap was recently added to the Clicklaw website. Integrated with Google Maps, HelpMap assists the public in finding those who can provide assistance with legal problems in their community. It also assists service providers who are making referrals for clients who have legal issues. HelpMap includes information about legal services provided by groups including:

- pro bono clinics, community legal clinics, and legal aid offices
- court registries
- courthouse libraries
- organizations with community legal advocates
- Native Courtworkers
- free and low cost legal services
- other law-related helping services

Many more services will be added to HelpMap in the future. If you have any feedback about the new HelpMap, you can post a comment on the blog post of December 22nd, or email editor@clicklaw.bc.ca.

Incidence of legal problems surveys

As the LawMatters project prepares for the second annual legal reference survey of selected BC public libraries [see blog posts of March 5 and September 10, 2009], it is interesting to see which legal topics are reported as most often experienced in other jurisdictions, and how frequently people experience legal problems.

The following are excerpts from Civil Legal Needs Research Report by Carol McEown for the Law Foundation of BC, 2nd Edition [39 pp PDF] March 2009. The report summarizes research from several provincial, national and international studies:

Results of legal needs studies

Citizens experience legal problems in the course of their daily lives. Many of these problems are seen to be difficult to resolve and have serious consequences. Canadian civil legal needs studies suggest that over 1,500,000 adults in BC will experience one or more serious legal problems in a three-year period.

• Consumer, debt, and employment problems occur more frequently than other problems and people will most likely try to resolve these problems themselves or, in the case of employment problems, look to their union or a government agency to help.
  
  
• Housing issues and neighbour problems rank third in the BC survey and second in the 2008 Canadian Study.
  
  
• Family, wills, and personal injury cases also occur frequently. People most often seek legal assistance for family law problems, wills and threat of legal action.
  
  
• People with low incomes and/or who are otherwise disadvantaged tend to experience more problems than average, especially in the areas of debt, family law, housing, income assistance, and mental health. If they are unable to find help, they tend to experience more serious consequences and have further problems that can result in a downward spiral.
  
  [excerpts from pp 31 - 32]

New Legal Information Online Update

New on Clicklaw website:

* Brydges Line wallet card, Legal Services Society, 2009. Help for individuals who are in police custody, arrested, or detained and want to speak to a lawyer free of charge.

* Dealing with a Problem Roommate factsheet, Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre, 2009

* PATHWAYS: The Family Law Diagnostic Tool interactive website, The Law Centre, 2009

Other new titles:

* Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship study guide, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, [83 pp PDF] November 2009

* Native Land Claims and Treaties in BC Law Connection, SFU Centre for Education, Law & Society and Justice Education Society, November 2009

* Privacy Rights in the Digital Age Transitions, from the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities. Contains articles on E-Health and privacy issues. Fall 2009

* What Every Renter Needs to Know series of 3 videos from Residential Tenancy Branch of BC Ministry of Housing and Social Development. Topics include Beginning of the Tenancy, Security and Pet Damage Deposits and Ending the Tenancy. 2009

* What is an Aboriginal delegated agency? Frequently asked question from Family Law in BC website, Legal Services Society, December 2009

* From JP Boyd's Family Law in BC website: New Rules 101 , an overview of new BC Supreme Court family law rules; Blog posts include 'Website Begins Integration of New Rules', December 7, 2009 and 'Section 15 Reports', December 3, 2009.

* From Cleonet: Bylaws, letters patent, and constitutions Audio interview, Charity Village, November 30, 2009
When an organization in Canada seeks incorporation, it is necessary for them to have a consitution, bylaws, and letters patent in place. This podcast explains each of these terms, describes what types of information must be included in each document, and suggests where organizations can go for more information on preparing them.