Calgary Legal Guidance’s top volunteer is a busy Okotoks lawyer who is running his own law firm while raising three young children with his wife.
Terry Meyers runs Achieve Legal in Okotoks and in his spare time gives free legal advice to those who can’t afford it through Calgary Legal Guidance’s (CLG) volunteer lawyer program.
Meyers was recently named CLG’s volunteer of the year and received the honour over Zoom from Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Ola Malik.
He is one of 182 lawyers that volunteer for CLG, that provided almost 2,300 hours of free advice last year.
“I’m just honoured and blown away,” he said. “CLG is an amazing organization. It has unbelievable bench strength. It is a very well-respected organization. To have a Provincial Court judge honouring me in front of my peers is such a different experience than I’ve had in the last nine years.”
Meyers spends two evenings a month sharing legal advice on civil law on issues like landlord-tenant disputes, civil lawsuits, foreclosure and debt collection.
“What I volunteer with is an evening civil clinic where people come in with just strictly civil matters and are given a half-hour phone call, now – before the pandemic it was in person – and we sit down and listen to them and give them as much guidance as we can in that half an hour,” he said.
There has been new reasons people need legal help due to the pandemic and some standard issues, he said.
“We’ve had lots of people calling about wrongful dismissals and changes in their employment situations at the beginning of the pandemic,” Meyers said. “We frequently have people coming in over landlord-tenant advice. So, things like, I’ve discovered mould in my house what do I do, and I’ve got bedbugs and my landlord isn’t helping with it and even evictions.”
The volunteer lawyers provide advice and are able to refer clients to other programs that CLG delivers, such as their homeless outreach, elder law, social benefits advocacy, immigration, domestic violence and Indigenous outreach programs, which provide further free help in these areas.
Meyers sees up to four people per month through his Calgary Legal Guidance volunteering and said it is important everyone has access to a lawyer.
“Normally people would probably have to pay a retainer for up to a thousand dollars,” Meyers explained, adding that pro bono work through CGL allows lawyers to give limited legal advice, which they cannot do when hired by a client. “It’s actually getting people over that hurdle of not being able to get advice at all.”
Meyers has been volunteering for CGL for just over four years and was called to the bar in 2012. Previously he had been working in Edmonton and Sherwood Park and volunteering at similar organizations.
“It was very rewarding work,” he said. “It was a good opportunity to use what I learned and what I’ve had the opportunity to do and what I was involved in for the benefit of people who may not necessarily be able to use it. It’s a good opportunity to be a lawyer for people who can’t necessarily afford a lawyer.”
Kim Feodoroff, CGL volunteer manager, said Meyers stands out because of his generosity with his time and reliability.
“He just has that extra compassion and dedication,” Feodoroff said. “He takes at least two shifts per week and most people take one. We have a deal where he puts his kids to sleep first and then he takes calls.”
Meyers is often tapped to train lawyers new to CGL.
“He takes the time to mentor them and gives them tips on time management,” she said.
If she could, Feodoroff said she would clone him.
“We need more Terrys in the world,” she said.
