Requirements for submitting completed Basis of Claim forms

1. Requirement to submit Basis of Claim forms to LAO

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) requires roster members to submit completed (signed and dated) Basis of Claim (BOC) forms and narratives to LAO within 30 days of completing the BOC.

This requirement applies to all BOC certificates, whether or not RPD hearing authorization is or will be requested.
Submitting the BOC form will not generate a request for RPD hearing coverage. If your client requires RPD hearing coverage, you must make a separate request.

2. How to upload a BOC – Document code 115

Step 1: Under the Certificate tab, select “Submit certificate coverage materials”, then select “Document Attachments”.

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Step 2: From the Certificate Look Up Page, select the BOC certificate by clicking on the CE in the Certificate field or by searching for it in the Certificate Number field. This will take you to the Certificate page where you select Document Attachments.

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Step 3: On the Documents Attachments page, under the Description field, enter “Hearing coverage not required at this time” or “Requesting hearing authorization”.
Step 4: Under the Document Code field, enter 115 or click on the magnifying glass and select “Signed/Dated BOC and Narrative”.
Step 5: Under the Add Attachment field, click on the paperclip icon to search through your file directory and locate the file that you want to upload.

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Step 6: Once the file is visible under the Attached File field, select the “Submit” button.

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3. How to request RPD hearing authorization – Document Code 102

To have the RPD hearing authorization added to a BOC certificate, you must submit documentation that confirms that your client’s claim has been referred to the RPD. The Acknowledgement of Claim document is not an acceptable document.

Acceptable documents include:

Confirmation of Referral document.
Refugee Protection Claimant document.
Notice to Appear for a hearing.
Correspondence from the IRB indicating the claim may be eligible for the Less Complex Claim process.
Any other correspondence from the RPD which confirms the claim was referred to the RPD.

When uploading the document confirming referral of the claim to the RPD, on the Document Attachments page for the BOC certificate:

Step 1: In the Description field, enter “Requesting hearing authorization“.
Step 2: In the Document Code field, enter 102 or click on the magnifying glass and select “RPD authorization materials”.
Step 3: Under the Add Attachment field, click on the paperclip icon to search through your file directory and locate the file that you want to upload. Once the file is visible under the Attached File field, you can select the “Submit” button.

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This will automatically generate a review of your request for hearing coverage.

The completed BOC form and narrative must be on file for the hearing authorization request to be considered.

If you have previously uploaded the BOC and narrative, you do not need to upload them again.
To upload the BOC and narrative, follow the process outlined above in section 2.
If your certificate has already been authorized for 12 hours (9 hours of BOC preparation plus 3 hours to prepare and file documents in accordance with the IRB expedited/file review process), to receive hearing authorization you must submit the Notice to Appear for a hearing. Hearing authorization for these certificates will not be considered unless the Notice to Appear, in addition to the BOC and narrative, are submitted to LAO.

4. Upload requirements

When uploading your document via Legal Aid Online, please keep in mind the following requirements:

File names should only contain letters and numbers. Do not use any special characters to minimize issues with uploading your file (e.g. !@# ($%^&*()-_=+\|[]{};:/?.)<>,`).
The file name must be less than 64 characters.
File size must be under 15MB.
The file cannot be password protected.

5. Troubleshooting

Your file is too large

If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro, there are two methods to reduce the size of a PDF file:

File > Save As Other > Reduced Size PDF; or
File > Save As Other > Optimized PDF.

If you have Adobe Acrobat Standard:

System appears to be stalled
When uploading your documents, do not close your browser or hit escape until you see your document appear in the “Attached File” field. For some files, this process could take a few moments to complete. If you exit during the uploading process, the transaction will end and you will need to complete the entire process again.

Once the document is visible in the Attached field, you can proceed to select the “Submit” button.

6. Frequently asked questions

Q: What should be done in situations where the BOC filed with the IRB was not signed by the client?

A: LAO requires that BOCs be signed and dated by the client. In a case where the client was unable to sign and date the BOC, a copy of the filed BOC should be uploaded with a brief explanation in the Comments section of the document attachment page explaining why the client could not sign the BOC.

Q: Would the LAO system automatically stop the payment of an account for BOC preparation if a copy of the BOC has not been provided?

A: LAO requires roster members to submit completed Basis of Claim (BOC) forms and narratives to LAO within 30 days of completing the BOC. In situations where no BOC was provided to LAO, a payment received by the lawyer may be subject to further review or recovery by LAO. Repeated non-compliance with the requirement for BOC submission could also lead to roster management consequences including administrative suspensions or removal from the roster.

Q: What happens if the client relationship ends before I have completed the BOC?

A: If you have acknowledged a BOC certificate but your relationship with the client ends before you can complete the BOC, when you bill, the certificate your detailed final account and docket must clearly indicate why the BOC was not completed (e.g. client decided not to make a claim, client withdrew claim, client disappeared, there was a solicitor-client relationship breakdown).

Q: What happens if the BOC was filed without assistance of counsel, and the 30-day deadline to submit the completed BOC to LAO has passed?

A: If a client has been issued a BOC certificate but BOC services are not required, lawyers should upload the BOC and a document confirming referral of the claim to the RPD and request that the certificate be amended to cover only RPD hearing services. If no BOC services have been provided, lawyers should not bill against these hours.

If the BOC preparation authorization on the certificate is being used to prepare an extensive BOC amendment, lawyers should upload the original signed and dated BOC and narrative as soon as possible, with a note in the Comments field that although the BOC was completed by the client alone, the lawyer has acknowledged the BOC certificate to complete a BOC amendment. Lawyers should upload a copy of the BOC amendments within 30 days of completion.

Q: Does the requirement to upload BOCs announced on December 19, 2023, require lawyers to submit previously completed BOCs?

A: The requirement only applies to BOC forms completed on or after December 19, 2023. Lawyers requesting RPD hearing coverage, or lawyers who have been directed to submit BOCs under a roster management condition, are still required to submit completed BOCs regardless of the date, pursuant to the previous requirements.

More information

Contact the Lawyer Service Centre at 1-866-979-9934 from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET for questions or concerns about billing.