People in Grande Prairie who can’t afford legal advice will have access to a lawyer this month. The third annual Legal Advice Blitz on October 27th will bring together a team of lawyers who will donate their time to offer free advice to those in need.
Grande Prairie Legal Guidance Coordinator Tanya Ruigrok says the goal of the event is to help as many people as possible.
“For a whole day, they will offer their services. There’s no expectation of payment. The goal is just to help as many people who have legal problems, questions or need some guidance on what to do.”
People can come and ask about a number of topics ranging from landlord and tenant issues to civil and criminal law. Ruigrok says the program is designed to help those who can’t afford the fees to see a lawyer.
“We’re looking for people that going to see a lawyer for an hour would be kind of an economic hardship on them. We want to target the people that wouldn’t necessarily be able to hire a lawyer even to go in for a consult for an hour.”
Participating lawyer Derek Van Tassell from Stringam LLP says last year, the event had eight lawyers who saw 47 people. He says this year they have added seven more lawyers and registration is about 50 per cent full.
People who want to attend the event will need to register ahead of time by calling 780-882-0036. The cut off for registration is October 25th at noon.
The event will be held at Grande Prairie Legal Guidance from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
