Welcome to the website for the Access Pro Bono Society of British Columbia.

Access Pro Bono was incorporated in February 2010 to carry on the work of the Western Canada Society to Access Justice and Pro Bono Law of British Columbia, which formally merged as of April 1, 2010.

Our mission is to promote access to justice in British Columbia by providing and fostering quality pro bono legal services for people and non-profit organizations of limited means.

Access Pro Bono carries on the services and programs formerly offered by the two organizations including:

• over 75 summary legal advice clinics in community centres, social agencies, churches and courthouses located throughout the province;
• a province-wide roster program providing representation services to individuals and non-profit organizations of limited means;
• a superior courts civil duty counsel project in Vancouver; and
• a Children's Lawyer project in Nanaimo.

We are in the process of developing a new website that will replace our two existing websites. In the interim, we are maintaining the Access Justice and Pro Bono Law of BC websites in modified form to continue to assist our clients, lawyers, non-lawyer volunteers, and clinic organizations.

Links for the two websites are provided below.

Here are a few guidelines for which site may assist you:

• new clients who are seeking assistance are encouraged to review client information at both sites, and then call our client line as listed above;
• lawyers who are interested in volunteering can review opportunities at either website, and register online or phone or email us;
• non-lawyer volunteers who are looking to assist in our office or at our clinics can sign up at the Access Justice website;
• anyone who has log in privileges at either website can continue to do so.

Pro bono opportunities at Access Pro Bono

Access Pro Bono offers a variety of pro bono opportunities to suit the schedule and interests of all lawyers-ranging from summary legal advice to full representation. All Access Pro Bono lawyers are insured for their pro bono legal services, and those who provide full representation in poverty law cases qualify for disbursement coverage. To learn more about the various pro bono opportunities at Access Pro Bono, please click here.

Access Pro Bono thanks our funders for generous continued support of our work.

Our major funders include the Law Foundation of British Columbia, the Law Society of British Columbia, the Notary Foundation of British Columbia, the Province of British Columbia, and the Vancouver Bar Association. We acknowledge generous donations from many individual donors, in-kind assistance from the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, and fundraising support from the BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association.