Panel standards

The duty counsel standards include minimum requirements for probation, shadowing, experience, professional development and performance feedback. Panel standards ensure that lawyers doing legal aid work meet all requirements, as well as receive training and support to do their jobs.

Unless there are specific concerns, your performance feedback will likely consist of a letter from your district area director (DAD) or supervisory duty counsel (SDC) indicating your performance is satisfactory. If there are performance concerns, they will be noted and you will be asked to meet with your DAD/SDC to discuss these issues.

As noted above, the district area director or supervisory duty counsel will ask to meet with you to develop a plan to achieve improvements. They will also review the resources available to you including education and training opportunities, mentoring, review of available written materials, the LAO LAW website and duty counsel hotline. You will also be encouraged to generate other alternatives.

Depending on the performance issue and the level of concern, you may continue to be scheduled as duty counsel during the improvement period. If the perceived performance concerns are strong enough, the DAD/SDC may commence the process to have you removed from the duty counsel panel.

You will receive a letter from the DAD/SDC advising that you will not be scheduled for further duty counsel assignments, and all existing scheduled assignments will be re-assigned to someone else until you do meet with the DAD/SDC as requested.

Legal Aid Ontario assumes that any lawyer acting as duty counsel is performing up to the required quality standards unless there is information or evidence to the contrary. Information received from third parties or the experience of predecessors in the DAD/SDC position is also considered, not just information obtained by direct observation.

You will have ample opportunity for a full discussion at your meeting with the DAD/SDC. If the DAD/SDC maintains the position that improvement in one or more of the areas is required, you will be advised whether or not you will continue to be scheduled as duty counsel.

Supervisory duty counsel are encouraged to pass on compliments and positive feedback in your performance feedback form, which is kept with your file in the SDC or district office. This performance review is not intended to distinguish between duty counsel, or "rank" your performance.