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Legal Clinic - Frequently Asked Questions

The Centre For Spanish Speaking Peoples Legal Clinic is a Legal Aid Clinic funded by Legal Aid Ontario to provide a variety of legal services to low income individuals in the Spanish Speaking Community. The Legal clinic is just one of several programs provided by the Centre. The Legal Clinic deals with many files each year and engages in many law reform initiatives to improve the quality of life for low income individuals. We would like to take this opportunity to answer some frequently asked questions about our legal clinic and the services we provide.

When can I call the Legal Intake Line?
*The number for the legal intake line is 416-533-0680. Intake is provided as follows:

• Mondays- 1-4:00pm- Worker's Rights, EI, CPP
• Wednesdays-10-1:00pm- Ontario Works, ODSP, Landlord & Tenant
• Thursdays-10-1:00pm-Immigration and Refugee
  

*Note: Hours may be subject to change.

I called the Legal Intake Line but I can't get through!
The need for legal services for low-income individuals is great. The legal clinic is comprised of a staff of four people - 2 lawyers, a community legal worker and an office manager, all of whom work together to provide much needed and high demand services. Unlike other legal clinics that provide legal services only to those living within its geographical boundaries, our clinic does not have any such boundaries. We take calls from clients living anywhere from Toronto to North Bay, Ontario. Unfortunately everyone will not be able to get through to our line, but we are working hard to answer as many calls as possible. Your call is important to us. Please be patient.

I can't get through to the Legal Intake Line so now what do I do?
Please contact your closest legal clinic. There are approximately 79 legal aid clinics in Ontario, each providing a variety of legal services. To find the phone number and addresses of the legal clinic closest to you, consult the white or yellow pages of your phonebook and look under "Legal Aid". You can also visit Legal Aid Ontario's website at www.legalaid.on.ca or call 416-979-1446.

Why can't you take my case?
While we try to represent as many people as possible, we are not able to take on every case for a number of reasons. Firstly, we have limited funding and limited staff and unfortunately can only take on so many cases at any given time. Secondly, while we recognize that all legal matters are important to our clients, because of limited funding, we have to prioritize which types of cases we can take on. Thirdly, the clinic does not provide legal services in all areas of the law. Currently we provide legal services in the areas of Immigration and Refugee, Landlord and Tenant, Workers Rights, Social Assistance, Employment Insurance and CPP. We do not provide legal services in the areas of Family Law*, Criminal Law, Small Claims Court matters, Wills and Estates, or Corporate Law.

*Note: The Centre has the services of an Advice Lawyer provided by Legal Aid Ontario to assist women with family law matters. The Advice Lawyer is not employed by the Centre but merely attends on specified dates to provide advice only. Please note that this is a 20 min consultation. The Advice Lawyer can only provide advice to those who are financially eligible. Please call 416-533-8545 for more information.

The clinic has taken on my case. How do I contact my caseworker?
Once we have taken on your case, your caseworker will provide you with his/her name and telephone number. If you would like to speak with your caseworker, please call him/her to set up an appointment. Unfortunately we are not always able to accommodate clients who drop in without an appointment. It is best to call first. Please make a note of any appointments you have with your caseworker.

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