One of the biggest indicators of a legal issue is official looking documents. It may be a filed court document, a letter, a notice, or some other official looking piece of paper.

Your client may have received the documents in the mail, been handed the documents by someone (a process server) or received as an email attachment. Your client could face serious consequences if they do not respond to a legal document or follow the instructions in it. For example, if your client ignores a Notice to Appear in court on a specific date, they could be arrested.

A person receiving legal documents should deal with them and get legal help right away. Sometimes there are short timelines for responding.

What to do?

1.       Ask your client if you can review the document with them.

2.       If your client does not have the documents, ask if they can remember anything about the document – what it looks like, when they received it, who or where they were from, what it said. Learning more about new developments in your client’s life may help you figure out what documents the client received. For example, if your client recently separated from their spouse, the document may have been a family court application for parenting time or financial support.

3.       Follow the 6-step process in Module 2 to connect your client to appropriate support.

Helpful links:


Last modified: Tuesday, 13 June 2023, 5:53 PM