Situation scenarios
Following a break up, you wish to have custody of your child and to be paid a support payment. You are facing a criminal charge and the whole proceedings being undertaken are making you anxious. You received a lease termination notice and you intend on challenging it.
This is only a small example of situations where a lawyer’s intervention could be of great help.
It is in your best interest to check with a legal aid office whether or not you have access to professional legal advice.
Who has access to it?
Legal aid is provided to persons who are financially eligible, and as long as the required service is covered by the Act. Depending on your financial situation, these services can be provided either free of charge or upon payment of a contribution.
The Centre communautaire juridique de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue boasts 16 competent and experienced lawyers who practise in eight offices throughout all the Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Nord-du-Québec Regions. Besides the regular lawyers of the organization, lawyers in private practice who accept such mandates can also provide these services.
To make sure that you have access to these services, you must apply at the legal aid office nearest you. Meanwhile, you may visit our website to learn more on legal aid and the various eligibility requirements.
A little history
It is in 1972 that the Legal Aid Act was adopted. This act was part of the social laws that accompanied the beginning of the 1970s. From this legislation emerged the legal aid network that made it possible to provide legal services to economically disadvantaged persons throughout the province of Quebec. With eleven regional corporations that had their own separate boards, a decentralized structure was called for, and it is on June 14, 1973, that the CCJAT was officially established during the Board of Director’s first meeting. The then incumbent directors did not waste time and worked on setting up various legal aid offices in each of the areas of the region. Over time, legal aid took shape, and today, nearly 12,000 applications are processed annually. The Centre always relies on volunteer directors of the legal community who give generously of their time. They are people who believe that providing access to justice, especially to persons with little means, is crucial.
Management team
Julie Lorusso, LL.B.
executive director, lawyer
Carole Bouffard, LL.L.
Director, lawyer
Erika Marier, LL.B.
director, lawyer
Marie-Claire Lemieux, LL.B.
Directror, Lawyer
Roger Bélanger
Director of Administrative Services
Board of directors
The Centre communautaire juridique de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue’s Board of Directors is currently made up of the following people:
- Ms. Nancy Burrows, Chair
- Me Marie-Andrée Dubois, Vice-Chair
- Mr. Sylvain Blais
- Me Nathalie Gingras
- Mr. Pier-Paul Belzil-Lacasse
- Me Kathy Tremblay
- Ms. Hélène Larose
- Ms. Linda Grégoire
- Me Derreck Giroux-Lacasse
- Ms. Johanne Lacasse
- Ms. Sharon McBride