Class 1: How to Recognize Legal Problems

1. How do you identify health-harming legal issues?

Legal problems are common, but some kinds of problems (like family and criminal law problems), are easier to recognize than others (like problems with a landlord, employer, collection agency, or government benefits).

Although these kinds of civil legal problems might be harder to spot, they are deeply connected to the social determinants of health, and can have serious health-harming impacts.

Despite that, only 20% of people with a legal problem get legal help. Why? Here are some of the reasons:

• Many of these problems are not obviously "legal" problems, and solutions go unrecognized
• Even if someone recognizes they have a legal problem, they may not know where to go for help, or assume they cannot afford help from a lawyer
• They do not like or trust lawyers

We know from research that people will go to someone they know to talk about a legal problem - like a friend, relative, trusted helper, or healthcare provider - long before they seek legal help. This means that healthcare providers may be the first to learn about a health-harming legal issue. Then, healthcare providers can help resolve these problems just by acting as a bridge: help people to see these problems as legal problems, tell them about free services available, and help people feel less scared about getting legal help.

2. Why is it important to identify legal issues early?

Just like in medicine, legal problems that are left untreated tend to grow more complicated and get harder to resolve with time. Take this example:

• Andrea has just moved in to a new apartment. She has drafty and missing windows. Andrea tells you about these problems. You refer her to her local legal clinic.
  • Great: the legal clinic gets her landlord to make repairs.
• But what if Andrea doesn’t know about the legal clinic? Now imagine she’s lived there six months, and it's winter. The house is electrically heated. The windows are driving up the electricity bill. She can't afford to pay rent and the electricity, so she skips rent and gets an eviction notice.
  • Still ok: if Andrea gets referred to a legal clinic now, the clinic may still be able to prevent the eviction AND get the apartment fixed.
• But, what if that doesn’t happen? If Andrea doesn’t get that referral – she’s likely to get evicted. And that eviction will uproot her family, and upend her life.
  • This was preventable with a little help, a little sooner.

Please review this module's case studies for concrete examples of legal problems in housing, income security and employment – areas that are most likely to impact patients living on a low income. And remember to prescribe legal help when needed.

Research Cited in this Class:

Cohl, K., Lassonde, J., Mathews, J., Smith, C. L., & Thomson, G. (2018). Part 1 - Trusted help: The role of community workers as trusted intermediaries who help people with legal problems. The Law Foundation of Ontario.

Farrow, T. C. W., Currie, A., Aylwin, N., Jacobs, L., Northup, D., & Moore, L. (2016). Everyday legal problems and the cost of justice in Canada: Overview report. Canadian Forum on Civil Justice.