The BLC Process

Practice Areas
The Business Law Clinic provides free legal research and information on matters that include, but are not limited to: 

• Incorporation

• Financing

• Charitable Registration 

• Intellectual Property Protection 

• Shareholder Agreements

• Franchise Agreements

• Partnership Agreements

• Contracts

• Business Liability

• Employment Law

• Government Regulation

• Taxation

Students in the Business Law Clinic are not lawyers and are not licensed to give legal opinions. Students may only provide information about business law issues as they relate to business planning and operations. 

The Clinic does not provide information regarding family law, administrative law, criminal law or litigation.

Eligibility
The Business Law Clinic's services are available to a broad range of business owners, entrepreneurs and non-profit advocates who operate within British Columbia. The clinic assists individuals who have questions about business legal issues. The Business Law Clinic's services are available to individuals with business law issues within British Columbia.

If you are unsure if you are eligible, please feel free to submit an application.

Intake
Intake is conducted on a rolling basis. BLC services are available year-round, with the exception of April, August and December when law students are in exams. 

If you require business law information or assistance, please contact the BLC by email, phone, or by filling in the form below. A BLC representative will assess whether your query falls within the BLC’s practice areas, and respond to your message as soon as possible indicating whether you are eligible. If your particular issue or legal question is well-suited for the program, the clinic will schedule an interview so you can discuss your situation with a BLC student.

Initial Interview
Please bring any documents that you feel are relevant to your legal challenge to your initial intake interview. After the interview is conducted and the file has been approved by the clinic director, a student will be formally assigned to your file, and the assigned student begin to research the legal issue(s).

Clients living in and around Victoria are typically interviewed in person at the University of Victoria, Faculty of Law, while those living in other communities can be interviewed by telephone or Zoom. 

Please note that in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, all intake interviews are currently being conducted via Zoom or telephone.

Research Memo
Your assigned student will then prepare a memo that will include information relevant to your legal questions. The memo will be reviewed by the Clinic Director and a local, practising lawyer-mentor, who volunteers their time. Clients generally receive the memo within four to six weeks. 

Get in touch

Unsure if you are eligible for free business law research? Submit your legal question to the clinic, and one of our students will reach out.

Apply to the clinic ▸