In brief: News for lawyers

Following the province’s April 11th instruction to Legal Aid Ontario to use only federal funding for refugee and immigration services, LAO may only use an estimated $13 to $16.5 million in current federal funds for new services in this current fiscal year. LAO is permitted to use provincial dollars for transition costs. Our projected costs for 2019‑20 refugee…

Join us for a free webinar on how to effectively use the Legal Aid Online billing portal to get paid quickly and accurately. As a bonus, participants will earn one professionalism CPD hour. Date: Saturday, March 2, 2019 Time: 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. LSO ACCREDITED CPD Space is limited. Register today. Secure your spot by emailing lawcpd@pm.me with…

Starting February 24, 2019, certificate accounts eligible for automatic payment will be paid on the first Wednesday or Friday 14 days after they are submitted—instead of the current 21. We are pleased to announce that about 120,000 accounts per year will benefit from this change, made in response to your ongoing feedback and our latest Lawyer Satisfaction Survey….

Stay connected to Legal Aid Online by making sure your email address on file is up to date. If you can’t log in to your account, request a new password through the password reset form on the Legal Aid Online sign‑in page. For extra protection, set up a personal security question and answer in the…

Clients can now quickly and conveniently complete the following essential tasks online, in either French or English. Complete the Consent & Declaration (C&D) agreement. View all communication with LAO in one place. View personal information. Find a lawyer that accepts legal aid certificates. New legal aid recipients will be informed of the client portal when…

As of November, LAO will administer a six‑hour restraining order certificate without the client needing to have another contested issue. As part of this administrative change, LAO will identify the appropriate cases to issue these certificates. More information If you have any questions about the certificates for restraining order, please contact the Lawyer Service Centre at 1‑866‑979‑9934.

Starting October 10, 2018 LAO will allow lawyers to make same‑day legal aid applications for clients who are in custody and in court. To apply, you must be in court and ready to move ahead with a meaningful appearance like a bail hearing or resolution. If your local court already has a similar process, you can…

Legal Aid Ontario is building a more user‑friendly public website and we need your help to make sure it serves the needs of private bar lawyers. Giving your input is quick and easy: all that’s required is 30 minutes of your time to complete three online feedback exercises (10 minutes each). You can complete the exercises from…

Beginning Monday, September 17, for a three‑month trial period, authorizations for bail review applications with a medium or strong chance of success will be guaranteed. How it works You can submit the bail review application via Legal Aid Online. While it may take a few days, authorization is guaranteed when, in counsel’s professional opinion, the review…

In November 2017, Legal Aid Ontario’s Mental Health Appeals Program (MHAP) began once again considering merit for Consent and Capacity Board (CCB) appeals. A two stage modified merit assessment test requires area committees to consider reasonable likelihood of success of appeals based on the strength of legal arguments put forward by counsel in opinion letters. Appeals with…