In brief: News for lawyers

Showing 1 - 10 of 171 results

2025 lawyer annual self-report period starts Jan. 2

Published January 2, 2026

The annual self-report for 2025 opened on Jan. 2, 2026. As in previous years, the 2025 Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) lawyer self-report is available through Legal Aid Online. All roster members who have been a member of the LAO roster for the entirety of the 2025 calendar year (from Jan. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 2025 inclusive) are…

2026 update to Lawyer Self-Report: AI compliance confirmation

Published December 12, 2025

Starting January 2026, Legal Aid Ontario will require roster lawyers to annually confirm through the annual Lawyer Self-Report that they have read and are complying with the following from the Law Society of Ontario: Generative AI: Your professional obligations Practice tips for using AI Licensee use of generative artificial intelligence The requirement reflects the growing…

New coverage for Section 19 Youth Conferences

Published December 8, 2025

Legal Aid Ontario has introduced new coverage for Section 19 Youth Conferences under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. This update recognizes the time and expertise roster lawyers dedicate to supporting youth in these proceedings. Starting Dec.14, 2025, roster lawyers can request this coverage through Legal Aid Online when submitting a judicial pre-trial request. Similar to…

Action required: update ‘My Location’ settings in the Duty Counsel Worksheet

Published December 4, 2025

Beginning Dec. 7, you will need to set the court addresses where you provide legal aid services in the ‘My location’ and ‘sub location’ in the duty counsel worksheet. Making it mandatory to set court locations will ensure a seamless start to the account generation process as service codes will now be automatically added to…

Simplified duty counsel account submission and improved reporting

Published December 4, 2025

Starting Dec. 7, you will only need to submit one account for both criminal and family services, rather than multiple separate accounts. A new dropdown menu also has been added to the account page to make it easier to select the appropriate service category for each client and improve reporting accuracy. Key benefits This update…

Update on system outage and service availability

Published November 28, 2025

Last weekend, Legal Aid Ontario experienced an unexpected service disruption that caused a temporary outage affecting several core systems, including Legal Aid Online. Access has now been restored; but you may notice slower performance, as we continue to stabilize the system. To prevent future disruptions, we may need to schedule short maintenance periods over the…

Legal Aid Ontario settlement conferences: a valuable dispute resolution process in family law

Published October 24, 2025

Help your clients resolve their family law matters quickly, at no charge, and without going to court. Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) settlement conferences offer a practical, accessible alternative to traditional family law litigation. For more than 30 years, these conferences have helped parties resolve disputes through voluntary settlements, guided by impartial, experienced facilitators – all…

Join the inaugural Legal Aid Summit on Nov. 6

Published October 15, 2025

We are pleased to share details of the inaugural Legal Aid Summit, taking place on Nov. 6 and hosted by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO). This full-day event brings together experts in access to justice and legal aid to share strategies for building a rewarding and sustainable practice. Participants will gain practical insights on…

New LSO Status Notification Function on Legal Aid Online

Published September 29, 2025

As part of ongoing enhancements to the Legal Aid Online portal, Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) has created a new notification process to streamline updates regarding roster members’ status with the Law Society of Ontario (LSO). Roster members must maintain “In Private Practice” status with the LSO, in accordance with the Legal Aid Services Rules and the…

Mailing alternatives for lawyers during Canada Post service disruption

Published September 26, 2025

The ongoing Canada Post labour disruption is impacting Legal Aid Ontario’s (LAO’s) ability to send and receive mail. We will continue to process mail as we receive it, and we will resume sending physical mail once the service disruption is resolved. Please continue to submit documents electronically through the lawyer portal. If you need to…


Showing 1 - 10 of 171 results