Since August, I have been helping a family member find a lawyer in a small town in Canada. As it usually goes for a respondent, the need to hire a lawyer is sparked by the stress of needing to respond to court materials and potentially appear for a case planning conference. While we as lawyers may not find responding to a motion or appearing before a CPC intimidating, the average Canadian finds any association with the court system, be it civil or criminal, terrifying. After reaching out to nearly a dozen lawyers, we still have not found a lawyer who is the right fit.
While my use of right fit may sound like our search efforts have been selective, the reality is quite the contrary. We are simply in search of a lawyer who has availability, sufficient expertise, and a reasonable billable hour. A handful of the lawyers we contacted were booked solid until the end of the year, one lawyer was winding down her practice and was no longer accepting contentious matters, and a couple of lawyers were prohibitively expensive due to geographical distance and the “in person nature” of litigation.
As of now, my family member still does not have a lawyer, but may have some promising leads.
Being part of the solution as lawyers
The process of finding a lawyer is draining, both mentally and financially. From both an access to justice perspective, and a pure business perspective, the inability to connect with a lawyer is a failure. There is an individual who is in need of legal services, and who is ready, willing, and able to pay (reasonable) legal fees. This is telling of a broken system that cannot actualize on present opportunities.
While there are many incredible Canadian lawyers making progress in addressing access to justice issues, most systemic challenges require widespread effort. We need more lawyers across the country to be available to help with the legal issues that many Canadians face. My goal with peppercorn is to see legal tech play a larger role in bridging this gap—helping to connect clients with the right lawyers more efficiently, while also supporting lawyers, particularly those working in “people law,” as they grow their practices.
Request to join early access
Peppercorn is accepting early access requests from lawyers looking to grow their practice in British Columbia.