Law Commons^™

The Cost Of Uncertainty: Navigating The Boundary Between Legal Information And Legal Services In The Access To Justice Sector, Jennifer Bond, David Wiseman, Emily Bates

Journal of Law and Social Policy

The self-regulatory bodies that oversee legal professionals in Canada maintain strict control on the delivery of legal services, and access to justice projects must therefore always be conscious of activities that would violate certain restrictions. Careful adherence to these parameters is made difficult, however, by the lack of clarity about where the relevant boundaries are drawn. Using a project that provides legal assistance for refugees as a case study, this article highlights the challenges that the unclear distinction between “legal information” and “legal services” creates for access to justice initiatives. We conclude that the uncertainty can carry a variety of …