A recent “Summary Legal Advice Services in Alberta” report from the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family (CRILF) examines two years of data from almost 8,000 client surveys regarding summary legal advice received from community legal clinics in Alberta. The clinics that participated in the study are:

• Calgary Legal Guidance
• Edmonton Community Legal Centre
• Central Alberta Community Legal Clinic (Red Deer)
• Lethbridge Legal Guidance

Key findings from the report include:

• 93% of clients were very comfortable or comfortable receiving legal advice in English
  • Of note: It was impossible to determine the number of potential clients who did not attend the clinics because they are uncomfortable receiving legal advice in English
• Family law matters accounted for 46% of clients’ legal problems, followed by landlord-tenant disputes (14%) and immigration and sponsorship issues (9%); family law matters were most likely to a problem for clients aged 35 to 44
• 90% of clients reported that they had a better understanding of their legal rights and responsibilities, their legal options and the pros and cons of those options, and what to do next as a result of attending the clinic
• 40% of clients had 15 to 29 minutes with the clinic lawyer; 38% had 30 to 44 minutes
• 90% of clients felt they had enough time with the clinic lawyer to talk; clients with appointments longer than 30 minutes were more likely to agree that they had a better understanding of their legal issue and what to do next than clients with shorter appointments
• Almost two-thirds of clients received a written summary of the lawyer’s advice; those receiving a summary were more likely to agree that they understood their legal rights and responsibilities, their legal options and the pros and cons of those options, and what to do next
• The number of clients receiving a written summary increased by 14% between the first and second years of the project
• The majority of clients responding to a follow-up survey administered two months after clients’ appointments had made use of the advice they received
• 63% of clients were women, 54% were between the ages of 25 and 44, 61% had completed or taken some post-secondary education and 40% were employed full- or part-time

The complete “Summary Legal Advice Services in Alberta: Survey Results from the First Two Years of Data Collection” report is available on the CRILF website here: http://www.crilf.ca/Documents/ALF_Clinic_Survey_Year_2_-_May_2018.pdf. This report was produced at the request of the Alberta Law Foundation.

The details in this post were taken from information circulated by the CRILF.