How do I Learn my Legal Rights?

You can learn your legal rights by contacting free law information services in your area. If you can't find legal aid or other community-based law services in your area, then you may have to contact a regional, provincial or state society. A law society may not be able to give you rights information directly, but it's likely that this type of legal organization will direct you to a program or firm that can do this.

Many law firms hold free clinics for the public. You may find their announcements in local newspapers. Another suggestion is to call law firms in your area to ask if they do hold free legal rights clinics. Many times, the legal clinics or seminars are held at local colleges as night school classes rather than in a particular law office. Offering the sessions in the evenings or on weekends can allow full-time workers access to this information.

It's very likely that the information given will be on a subject matter that relates to the type of work the law firm does. For instance, a family law firm may offer free sessions on what the legal rights of non-custodial parents are. You should contact firms in the types of law that most pertain to what information you need most. For example, if you contact a wills and estates law firm when you want to know what your rights are in the case of wrongful dismissal on the job, you'll likely just be wasting everyone's time including your own.

It may also be possible to take paid law classes that cover your legal rights. These could be offered at colleges as non-credit courses or they may be credit classes included in a business law program. Phoning different colleges or night schools in your area may help you to locate the types of classes you hope to take.

Free helpful brochures as well as website content are also directed at the public to help inform them of their legal rights. These can be a good source of basic information about your rights under the law. You may also want to check your phone book or directory for law schools as they may have recorded telephone information from a main menu in which you can select different legal issues. After listing to the message, you may be able to leave your name and phone number to be called back to be given more personalized information.