Panel standards

Legal Aid Ontario’s (LAO) panel standards stipulate the minimum experience and professional development requirements for admission to, and continued standing on, the criminal law and family law certificate panels. These requirements vary depending on the type of panel.

Panel standards are part of LAO's statutory mandate to provide high-quality legal aid service to clients.

Criminal law
Every lawyer is required to have the following:

• A minimum of 15 completed criminal law files in the previous year, including at least three contested trials, preliminary inquiries or appeals; or,
• A minimum of 20 per cent of practice concentration in criminal law over the past two years and on an ongoing basis.

Family law
Every lawyer is required to have the following:

• Substantial involvement in a minimum of 10 family law files in the previous year, including matters of custody and access or wardship, child and spousal support, property and divorce; or,
• A minimum of 20 per cent of practice concentrated on family law in one or more of the above areas over the previous two years and on an ongoing basis.

Applicants certified as specialists in criminal or family law by the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) will be deemed to have met these standards.

A district area director has the authority to recognize expertise and involvement in criminal law; for example, involvement in long and/or complex criminal law proceedings.

An applicant may request an exemption from a district area director, who can grant exemptions based on specific criteria.

A district area director has the authority to recognize expertise and involvement in the family law. For example, substantial experience as counsel for the Children's Aid Society (CAS) or the Ontario Children's Lawyer (OCL) would be recognized as equivalents to the standards. An applicant may request an exemption from a district area director, who can grant exemptions based on specific criteria.

All new lawyers who wish to do criminal or family law certificate work are required to sign an agreement stating they will meet the minimum experience standards within two years and attend training courses as required by the district area director.

New lawyers are also be required to participate in mentoring for a specific period of time with an existing criminal or family lawyer. The length of the mentoring period, and the mentoring lawyer must be approved by the district area director.

The district area director will meet with the lawyer and create a plan for acquiring the minimum experience over a set period of time. Training courses and a mentoring period can be outlined in an agreement between the lawyer and the district area director.

Each panel member must complete six hours of continuing legal education in criminal or family law annually. For the specific criteria, please refer to the standards document.

Applicants who have been certified as a specialist in criminal or family law by the LSUC will be deemed to meet these criteria.

Lawyers are now required to complete 12 hours of CPD, including three hours of proffesionalism. Although LSUC does not have specific requirements as to topics for CPD, the following requirements are in place for LAO’s panels:

• Six hours of family CPD for the family law panel
• Six hours of criminal CPD for the criminal law panel
• Six hours of refugee CPD for the refugee law panel

Recognized professional development programs in any of the areas required for panel membership will count toward the mandatory substantive CDP hours for LSUC.

LAO provides support in several ways, including:

• partnering with other legal organizations to provide accessible professional development for criminal or family lawyers;
• increasing the use of technology to deliver these programs to make them more accessible and cost-effective province-wide;
• LAO's online research facility, LAO LAW, provides comprehensive research support and ongoing case law commentary. Precedents and facta are available online.

Every year, lawyers are required to report their compliance with the standards and their completion of the annual professional development to their district area director.

Only lawyers who are on a Legal Aid Ontario panel are on the district office lists, and can acknowledge certificates. This information is also clearly stated on the front of the certificate.

Please contact your local district area director, or Carene Smith in LAO's Quality Service Office at 416-979-2352, ext. 4687 or 1-800-668-8258, ext. 4687.