What areas of law does CLASSIC deal with?
We deal with a variety of areas of law through our different program areas. Our Walk-in Advocacy Clinic is unable to handle family law, serious criminal law matters, and fee-generating civil matters. The reasons for this are: a) we work with students, who are not able to do family law or serious criminal matters, and b) we have a policy not to take fee generating work because lawyers at other law firms do this work. If your legal issues involve these areas, you may still qualify for our Legal Advice Clinic for free advice from a volunteer lawyer.
Please see the What We Do page to read more about what services we can provide.
How do I receive CLASSIC services?
Please come on Monday or Wednesday, between 1pm and 4:30pm to do an intake, which must happen before we can determine if we can provide you legal services. Intakes are on a first-come, first-serve basis. For an intake, you will meet with a law student who will gather your details and stories in a private and confidential setting. Law students are not allowed to give legal advice and will not be doing so during an intake. The student will then provide your intake file to the supervising lawyer to determine if we can open your file, which can depend on many factors (e.g. capacity, area of law, etc.).
Who is eligible for CLASSIC services?
One of the main considerations we make when we assess an application is financial need. CLASSIC provides free legal services to low-income members of the community who cannot afford a lawyer. Therefore, to determine if you are eligible for our services, we do require some financial information. Although our goal would be to help everyone in need, we do not have the resources to open every file. Every file is assessed on a case-by-case basis, and the supervising lawyers determine what files CLASSIC can assist on, considering a number of different policies and guiding documents.
How long will it take for CLASSIC to decide if they can open my file?
Once your application has been submitted it takes us about two weeks to determine whether we will accept you as a client. Our office will contact you when we have considered your application, regardless of if we can accept you as a client or not. This means we will let you know either way.
We recognize that some legal matters cannot wait two weeks. If your issue is time sensitive, please notify CLASSIC of this at your application. In these cases, although we will do our best to assist people who are eligible for our services, we may not have the capacity to act on such short timelines. Each matter is considered on a case-by-case basis. Please apply for CLASSIC's services as soon as possible.
If you open my file, who will I be dealing with at CLASSIC?
You will work with law students from the College of Law that act as advocates on your behalf. CLASSIC students are supervised by our staff supervising lawyers. You may work with one of CLASSIC's lawyers, and not a student. These decisions are made internally.
Does CLASSIC ever charge clients?
CLASSIC's services are free (any legal advice, representation, information, etc. that we personally provide). However, clients are responsible for any and all external fees that other organizations/institutions may impose, such as court costs, filing fees, and any other costs that arise in the process of the legal proceeding. Many of these fees are no longer charged to CLASSIC's clients thanks to the Fee Waiver Act. However, certain fees are not covered by this Act and may still be charged. CLASSIC will advise you about any fees before proceeding.
What is the difference between the Walk in Advocacy Clinic (WAC) and the Legal Advice Clinic (LAC)?
The main difference between the WAC and LAC is that the WAC clinic deals with your legal issue from start to finish (full representation), while the LAC is a free appointment where you discuss your matter with a volunteer lawyer one time.
The WAC clinic is a walk-in legal clinic where a law student or staff member does an application with you. They will collect as much information about your legal issue as they can. The application is then given to a supervising lawyer to determine whether we can assist you in your legal matter. If we can accept you on as a client, a law student and supervising lawyer, or a supervising lawyer alone, will work with you through the entirety of your legal matter. CLASSIC students and lawyers assist clients in many legal matters such as appearing in provincial court and various tribunals, as well as assisting with drafting of required documents.
The LAC clinic is a 15- or 30-minute appointment with a volunteer private practice lawyer. You can talk with the lawyer and ask questions and seek their advice. Outside of that appointment, the lawyer will not be assisting you with your legal matter in any other way. The LAC typically deals with family matters, and more serious criminal issues if Legal Aid has denied services. The LAC also deals with civil matters. These appointments may be in person or by phone, depending on the volunteer lawyer.
Please see the What We Do page to read more about each program.
Do I have to live in Saskatoon to receive CLASSIC services?
Our policy requires clients to be a resident in Saskatoon and readily available for all aspects of dealing with their matter. If you reside in the surrounding areas of Saskatoon and have a legal matter being dealt with in Saskatoon, please complete an application with us to see if we can help on your matter.
