Information for Lawyers
Panel standards
Lawyers who represent legal aid clients must belong to the panel(s) for the type(s) of law they practice. The standards for each panel provide the minimum experience and professional development requirements that lawyers must meet. Panel standards help ensure that legal aid clients receive high-quality services.
Ongoing annual professional development is necessary to maintain panel membership.
Read through the FAQs, or contact your district area director if you have any questions about Legal Aid Ontario’s (LAO) panel standards.
New lawyers
Lawyers new to an area of practice may be admitted conditionally to a panel provided they agree to acquire the necessary experience within a specified time frame, and take approved continuing legal education or be mentored as required by their district area director. (This conditional admission does not apply to the Extremely Serious Criminal Matters panel.)
About the standards
Legal Aid Ontario’s panel standards were developed in consultation with:
- members of the refugee, criminal and family bars
- duty counsel
- lawyers practising before the Consent and Capacity Board
- judges
- lawyers' associations
- Law Society of Upper Canada
Request for panel membership
To apply for panel membership, you must complete the lawyer empanelment package (below), and submit it to your district area director (or supervisory duty counsel for duty counsel panels) for approval. Read the General Terms and Conditions before you apply.
Forms
Application form for tier level increase
Panel standards:
Find more information about each of the panels:
Questions
For more information on panel standards, please contact your local district area director. The panel standards were developed by Legal Aid Ontario's Quality Service Office.
