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HALIFAX – A clinic that provides legal advice and information to anyone, regardless of income level, opened on Thursday at the Law Courts on Upper Water Street.

“People reach a point where they can’t afford legal representation […] and they come here with no other avenue,” said Tyler McLean, volunteer coordinator at the Free Legal Clinic

The clinic, which was previously tested last March, is now open Thursdays on an appointment-only basis between 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Two lawyers and two law students are available, working in pairs with each client.

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In total, eight one-hour sessions are available a week; plans are in the works to add another morning of service.

“I think that this program is probably overdue, but the fact that it’s here now is a great, great sign that things are moving in that direction,” said McLean, regarding fixing the current state of inequality in access to legal services.

Brian Casey, a lawyer with BoyneClarke in Dartmouth, said that about 40 per cent of civil cases don’t have representation on one side of the file.

“It’s not appropriate that somebody lose a case because they don’t know how to present it,” said Casey, who was part of the testing of the program earlier in the year.

The Chief Justice previously approached lawyers to do something about this problem, and so the clinic was born.

Casey’s firm and four others are supplying the service.

The advice is limited to helping with civil law cases before the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, with a few other exceptions.

“The knowledge that I’ve gained from them is going to help me immensely,” said Harold Isles, one of the first few clients of the clinic. “I wish it was here eight years ago.”

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One of the goals of the program is to expand it to other courthouses in Nova Scotia.