Legal Aid New Brunswick Small Claims
You are about to file a claim in Small Claims Court and cannot afford a lawyer. The first place most people check is Legal Aid New Brunswick — and the answer is going to be frustrating.
Legal Aid Does Not Cover Small Claims
The New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission (NBLASC) administers criminal defence, specific family law duty counsel programs, and immigration and refugee matters. It explicitly provides zero coverage for civil small claims litigation. If you call Legal Aid about a $5,000 unpaid invoice or a contractor dispute, you will be turned away.
This is not an eligibility issue — it is a coverage gap. Even if your income qualifies you for Legal Aid in other areas, civil small claims is simply not in their mandate.
Free Resources That Do Exist
While there is no free lawyer for your small claims case, several organizations provide legal information (not legal advice) that can help you navigate the process yourself:
PLEIS-NB (Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick)
The most useful free resource for small claims litigants. PLEIS-NB publishes plain-language guides, procedural overviews, and fillable PDF forms in both English and French through their website at legalinfonb.ca.
What PLEIS-NB provides:
- Downloadable court forms (Form 1 through Form 20 and beyond)
- General explanations of how the Small Claims Court works
- Summaries of limitation periods, service rules, and fee schedules
What PLEIS-NB does not provide:
- Step-by-step filing instructions for your specific situation
- Evidence organization tools or hearing binder templates
- Help filling out your actual claim form
- Advice on whether your claim has merit
Courts New Brunswick Information Line
The toll-free number 1-844-673-4499 connects you with administrative staff who can provide courthouse locations, hearing schedules, and general procedural information. They cannot evaluate your claim or tell you how to structure your evidence.
Court Registry Clerks
The clerks at each of the eight judicial district offices (Bathurst, Campbellton, Edmundston, Fredericton, Miramichi, Moncton, Saint John, Woodstock) accept documents, collect fees, and verify basic form completion. By law, they cannot assess the merits of your claim, assist with evidence selection, or advise on service strategy. Some clerks may informally review your paperwork if you ask politely, but they are not obligated to do so.
Law Society of New Brunswick Lawyer Referral Service
If you want professional advice, the Law Society operates a referral service that connects you with lawyers who offer initial consultations. This is not free legal representation — it is a way to find a lawyer and typically involves a consultation fee. For a claim worth $3,000 to $5,000, the cost of even a brief lawyer consultation often approaches a significant fraction of what you are trying to recover.
Why Most People Self-Represent
The math is straightforward. Retaining a lawyer for a small claims matter in New Brunswick routinely costs between $2,000 and $15,000. For claims at the lower end of the court's jurisdiction, legal fees can exceed the amount in dispute. And unlike Ontario, New Brunswick does not allow independent paralegals to represent clients in Small Claims Court. Your options are a licensed lawyer, an articled student-at-law, or yourself.
The Small Claims Court was designed for self-represented litigants. Hearings are informal, the Adjudicator actively manages the proceeding, and the rules of evidence are relaxed compared to the Court of King's Bench. Most claimants file and argue their own cases.
Free Download
Get the New Brunswick Small Claims Filing Checklist
Everything in this article as a printable checklist — plus action plans and reference guides you can start using today.
Bridging the Gap
Free resources tell you what the rules are. What they do not provide is how to apply those rules to your specific case — which forms to file in what order, how to calculate pre-judgment interest, how to organize your evidence bundle for the hearing, or what to do when the defendant does not respond within 30 days.
The New Brunswick small claims filing guide fills that gap with step-by-step instructions, worksheets, and deadline tracking — built specifically for people navigating the process without a lawyer.
Get Your Free New Brunswick Small Claims Filing Checklist
Download the New Brunswick Small Claims Filing Checklist — a printable guide with checklists, scripts, and action plans you can start using today.