Block fees

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO)’s block fee program pays authorized criminal lawyers fixed fees or rates (rather than hourly tariff payments) for providing services that lead to a guilty plea or stay/withdrawal outcomes on a number of common criminal charges.

• Benefits for lawyers: not having to submit dockets, less administrative red tape, more financial certainty

• Benefits for clients: faster resolution of appropriate cases, less time spent at court appearances

• Benefits for the criminal justice system: more efficient use of judicial resources, fewer court appearances

If a block fee-eligible matter is set down for trial, LAO pays the account according to the hours allocated by the regular criminal tariff and the lawyer’s tier rate.

Types of block fee

There are three types of block fees:

• Resolution fees: Block fees for guilty pleas, stays/withdrawals
• Proceeding fees: Block fees for common or specialized pre-trial proceedings, including bail hearings, Charter motions, judicial pre-trials, and bail reviews
• Vulnerable client fees: Block fees to address the needs of our most vulnerable clients, including Aboriginal clients and people with serious mental health issues

Get more information on the block fee rates page.

Charge categories and exclusions

Block fees paid for certificates or charges fall within one of the following three case categories:

• Summary I: Includes all provincial and federal non-Criminal Code of Canada offences and all summary conviction and Crown-option offences where the Crown proceeds summarily and the maximum sentence is six months.
• Summary II: Includes all Crown-option offences where the Crown proceeds summarily and the maximum penalty is greater than six months.
• Indictable: Includes several indictable offences and Crown-option offences where the Crown proceeds by way of indictment.

Go to the full list of charges under each case category.

Block fee exclusions

The list of block fee exclusions includes a wide range of complex proceedings and indictable offences. Go to the listing of block fee exclusions.

Director General exemptions

Director Generals may exempt block fee matters in exceptional circumstances as outlined in the Tariff and Billing Handbook.

Requests for exemption:

• must be made as soon as the lawyer becomes aware of the need for an exemption
• must be approved prior to submitting an account

The decision of the Director General is final. Please await the decision before submitting any accounts.

Charges heard separately and certificate amendments

LAO has revised its certificate amendment policy to account for block fee cases more effectively. For example, charges heard separately on block fee accounts are issued a new certificate.

Disbursements

Only the three most common, low-cost disbursements are included:

• faxes
• photocopies (except for out-of-office photocopies)
• process servers – service and filing documents within Ontario

All other disbursements may be billed in accordance with LAO’s existing disbursement policies, which are available in LAO’s Disbursements Handbook.

Articling students attending on a block fee withdrawal or stay of all charges

Lawyers can now bill a block fee withdrawal for an articling student’s attendance at a Crown withdrawal or stay of all authorized criminal charges so long as:

• counsel has negotiated a withdrawal or stay and
• the Crown has agreed in writing beforehand to the withdrawal or stay of all the authorized criminal charges.

This new rule applies only to court attendance by an articling student, and is limited to withdrawals and stays of all criminal charges. It does not apply to guilty pleas or sentencing hearings.

When billing for this online, please:

• allocate the block resolution to the panel lawyer who did the work to negotiate the withdrawal/stay with the Crown and is instructing the student to attend on the withdrawal/stay. This may be the acknowledging lawyer or an agent of the acknowledging lawyer who belongs to the LAO panel;
• attach the written confirmation of the withdrawal from the Crown;
• record the name of the articling student and the articling student’s court attendance on your docket.