Archive: Discretion Consultation (May 2012) closed

Discretion Consultation

Discretion is a compensation tool that allows Legal Aid Ontario to approve, in exceptional circumstances, lawyers’ written requests for additional compensation above the hourly tariff rate. Lawyers who represent vulnerable clients, manage complex cases or achieve extraordinary outcomes can apply to Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) in writing for discretion pay.

Between May 7 and May 25, 2012, Legal Aid Ontario will be reaching out to criminal, family and refugee lawyers in communities across the province for their feedback on proposed guidelines to improve the discretion request process.

The feedback from these consultations will help LAO develop guidelines that make the discretion request process clearer for lawyers while ensuring fair and effective stewardship of public funds in providing legal services to legal aid clients.

Participate in person/by video conference

LAO is holding in-person and video conference consultation sessions for criminal, family and refugee law from May 7 to 25. If you are interested in participating, register online.

Consult online

If you are unable to attend a consultation session in person or by video conference, you can view the discretion presentation on Legal Aid Ontario’s website and provide feedback electronically. All videos are open-captioned.

Question and answers

Find answers to some common questions about Legal Aid Ontario’s discretion consultations and the discretion process in the Q&A section. Questions that are not listed can be submitted to Legal Aid Ontario online.