Your First Appointment - Barwon Community Legal Service
Our office will be closed from 12pm on Friday, December 20, 2024 and will reopen at 9am on Monday, January 6, 2025. If you require legal assistance over this period, please contact Victoria Legal Aid 1300 792 387. If someone’s safety is at risk contact Victoria Police on 000.
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Your First Appointment

Preparing for Your Appointment

Once we have confirmed your eligibility and completed a conflict check we will book an appointment with a lawyer at a time that suits you.

You will also be asked to bring any paperwork about your matter to the appointment or, if you are receiving phone advice, to supply copies of this paperwork prior to the appointment.

Examples of paperwork that may be needed include:

  • Letters of demand for payment
  • Fines or Infringement notices
  • Copies of a Will or Power of Attorney
  • Letters from Centrelink
  • Court orders

Providing paperwork prior to your appointment will help you to get the most out of your time with our lawyer and may avoid the need for a follow-up appointment. Sometimes a lawyer may not be able to provide advice without this paperwork.

We understand that discussing your legal matters can be quite stressful. It is a good idea to think about what you need to tell the lawyer about the matter as well as any questions you might want to ask the lawyer. Making some notes before your appointment can help you keep you on track when speaking with one of our lawyers. You may also like to bring a support person to the appointment to help take in the advice.


At Your Appointment

At your first visit, we will complete a client intake form with you where we gather information about your circumstances and general contact details. This process will always be done before you receive any legal advice. We will also ask you to sign an authority to allow us to keep your files for seven years and automatically destroy them after this time.

Your lawyer will ask you to provide a summary of your legal matter and will discuss what options are available to you and how we may be able to assist. No further action will be taken by our lawyers without your permission. When speaking with your lawyer, you may also be asked to complete authorities which allow them to contact other people or agencies on your behalf about your legal matter.

Your legal appointment and the information you provide to the lawyer and service is completely confidential and will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent and authority. We also will not provide information about yourself or updates about the status of your legal matter to your support worker or casework manager without your consent.

Sometimes the next steps that you need to take to resolve your matter are not something that the we can help with. This might be, representation at court or complex and lengthy negotiations with the other party to your matter or their lawyer. In these instances, you will be given a referral to a service or private lawyer that can progress your matter and provide the assistance that you need.

Last modified on December 2nd, 2020 at 9:44 am

The content on this site is information only and is not legal advice. If you need legal advice please contact us.