• The Clinic serves low-income members of the community. Individuals seeking legal services from the Clinic are required to declare their gross monthly household income and its source (e.g. employment or social assistance). Individuals whose income falls below a certain level or who are in receipt of social assistance will be financially eligible for representation or summary legal advice, subject to the remaining criteria.
   
• Undergraduate students of the University of Ottawa and Carleton University are automatically financially eligible, subject to the remaining criteria. 

• Generally, we represent clients who reside in the City of Ottawa regarding legal issues that arose in the City of Ottawa. We do not appear in courts or tribunals outside the City of Ottawa, and are not able to act on matters that occurred in another province, such as Quebec.

The following are the areas of law practiced by the law students and lawyers at the Clinic:

• Criminal law and Quasi-Criminal law, limited to where a person is charged with a summary conviction offence and not facing jail, such as:
  • Assault
  • Theft
  • Fraud
  • Threatening
  • Drug offences
• Offence(s) under the Provincial Offences Act
• Family law, including:
  • Decision-making responsibility
  • Parenting time
  • Child support
  • Spousal support
  • Divorce
• Tenant law*, including:
  • Maintenance and repair issues
  • Rent deposits
  • Termination of tenancy
  • * except where acting for a tenant may result in the eviction of another tenant

• Lawyers are prohibited from taking on a client where they have a conflicting interest against a new client or a former client. This could include cases where a new client has a legal problem involving a former client of the Clinic.
• Whenever a client approaches the Clinic for legal assistance, we are required to search our database of past clients to ensure that we will not be acting against a previous client of the Clinic.