7.7 Legal Advice and Legal Information – What’s the Difference?
Jamie Holmes and Gemma Smyth
Legal Advice and Legal Information
One of the most common questions students ask when starting a placement is about legal advice. When does legal information tip over into legal advice? How much can I tell a concerned client before being seen to provide legal advice?
The difference between legal advice and legal information can be murky, but understanding the contours of these concepts is important for students and lawyers alike. The role of advice and/or information differs depending on what roles the clinic, firm, or NGO plays. Some placements focus primarily on providing legal advice to individual clients, while others are more focused on providing education or legal information. Some provide a mix of both. For example, Legal Aid Ontario offers community-based legal clinics within First Nation communities. A legal aid duty staff lawyer attends the First Nation, typically one day per week. This type of clinic covers a variety of legal issues and provides both legal information and legal advice.
Pursuant to the Law Societies’ requirements, students are not permitted to give legal advice without direct supervision from their supervising lawyer. Students should never give assurances or advice during their first meeting with a client, or in any circumstances without direct instruction from their supervising lawyer.
But what is legal information? This term has not been defined in legislation, and is therefore difficult to reliably conceptualize. Examples of what might constitute legal information is: connecting clients with relevant resources, reviewing a piece of legislation in a public presentation, or setting out possible next steps to tackle a problem. As soon as legal information begins to be applied to an individual’s problem, it begins to veer into the realm of legal advice.
As noted in a Canadian Forum on Civil Justice blog post,
“Legal advice” and “legal services”, by contrast, are terms that are dealt with extensively in the provincial regulation. In the Ontario context, for example, the Law Society Act stipulates that legal services are provided when “the person engages in conduct that involves the application of legal principles and legal judgment with regard to the circumstances or objectives of a person.” Examples of such “conduct” have been defined as including activities like document drafting, negotiating settlements, providing legal advice and legal representation. Penalties for violating unauthorized practice (UAP) provisions can be quite severe, ranging from the issuance of cease and desist orders to the imposition of hefty fines and penal sanctions for severe violations.
Given the difficulty in defining the difference between legal information and legal advice, lawyers and other legal service providers often take a more conservative approach. This has can have disproportionate impacts on people with low income and other barriers. As such, students should be empathetic when they are not able to give the concrete answers clients are seeking.
An important feature of providing legal information is taking the time to ensure the client understands the information being provided to them. As a student interacting with clients, it is important to contextualize information in ways that are relevant to the client. Does the client have internet access? A phone? Reading and writing skill in English or French? Does the client have a private place to ask important questions? Sometimes clients may not know they are actually seeking legal advice and not legal information. It is important to recognize when the conversation shifts from seeking legal information to legal advice. When the conversation or the issue begins to develop into the realm of legal advice the student should let the client know and bring a licensed lawyer in to assist.
The Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta sets out a helpful chart with specific definitions and examples of “legal information v legal information”.
Legal Information |
Legal Advice |
| Legal definitions: what the words mean
Matrimonial property actions are civil claims that will divide the property obtained during a marriage between divorcing spouses.
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Legal interpretations: how the statutes and case law apply in a specific case
When we go over your list of assets I can explain which would be considered matrimonial property and which would not.
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| Procedural definitions, such as who the people are in court and what steps take place
There are different reasons why you, and/or the other party may want to adjourn the application. Some of these are…
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Procedural recommendations, such as what type of application to make or which level of court to use
At the next court appearance we should ask for an adjournment because…
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| How to find legislation, court rules and cases, as well as other online and print resources or workshops that explain the law
This booklet explains the guidelines for child support.
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Research of legislation, court rules and cases; applying the law to the facts of a given situation
There are a number of cases that would support your claim of $X for damages for personal injuries.
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| Providing samples of court forms and instructions; telling you if required sections of a form have been filled out
I have marked the three places on this form where you have not yet filled in the required information.
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Filling out forms or telling you to put in a form, e.g. specific people against whom to file pleadings or types or amount of damages to seek
In this section of the form we will ask for…
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| Descriptions of alternatives to court such as mediation
You may want to consider working with a mediator. They use an informal, confidential and structured process to resolve disputes so both parties have input into the solution. You can learn more about it from …
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Recommendations about whether or not to bring a case to court or what alternative would be the best choice for your situation
Let’s try mediation first. It could be a faster cheaper way to resolve your problem.
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General referrals |
Specific referrals |
| A legal clinic may provide free advice if you qualify. Here is a list of clinics that you could call to ask about it.
Options for dealing with a legal problem
I can describe four different ways that you could deal with this and then you can choose.
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I recommend that you work with Mr. Bean to get your financial documents in order before we go further.
Opinions on whether to follow a particular course of action; predicting the outcome of a case or course of action
I would say that you have a good case.
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| Explanations about court etiquette and the order in which parties can speak in court
When it is your turn to speak, you can summarize the facts set out in your court documents and make your arguments.
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Guidance about what to say in court or at a hearing; talking to a judge on your behalf
Today we will go over what questions you may be asked at your trial.
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| Can be provided by many different people including lawyers
I am a court clerk. I am a library technician. I work in the Office of the Public Guardian.
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Can only be provided by a lawyer (or in some jurisdictions specially-trained advocates or paralegals)
I am John Doe, LLB.
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