In brief: News for lawyers

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is pleased to share two important resources aimed at achieving racial equity in bail proceedings and improving justice outcomes for Black clients.

Conditionally enrolled certificate roster members and duty counsel roster members will soon receive and must respond to a three-month advance notification on Legal Aid Online that their conditional roster authorization with Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is expiring. As a reminder, under the Legal Aid Services Rules, duty counsel roster membership is 24 months in duration and…

Starting April 30, 2024, Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) will cover the bail court/adjournment transcripts once a habeas corpus application certificate for bail is issued. What’s covered LAO will cover the bail court/adjournment transcripts in an electronic format at the expedited rate of $8.80/page up to a maximum of $300 without the need for counsel to…

LAO is continuing to support backlog reduction efforts in the Ontario court of Justice by providing additional coverage for judicial pre-trials (JPT). Last November, the Ontario Court of Justice (OCJ) introduced a practice direction committing courts to setting trial dates within six months of the information sworn date. Beginning April 27, roster lawyers will be…

On April 1, Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) raised the amount paid to legal aid lawyers in remote northern areas another five per cent. The five per cent increase to the Guaranteed Daily Rate is for: Services rendered in fly-in locations or locations at least 200 km from a lawyer’s regular place of business, and the…

We want to hear from you! Lawyers who have done certificate or duty counsel work for Legal Aid Ontario in the past year are invited to participate in Legal Aid Ontario’s Lawyer Satisfaction Survey, which is open until March 31, 2024. At Legal Aid Ontario (LAO), we want to ensure that our services meet your…

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is continuing to raise the amount paid to lawyers who provide legal aid services in remote northern areas. On April 1, 2024, LAO is increasing the Guaranteed Daily Rate another five per cent for: Services rendered in fly-in locations or locations at least 200 km from a lawyer’s regular place of…

Legal Aid Ontario is continuing to raise the fees that it pays roster members to do legal aid work. On Oct. 16, 2023, LAO implemented the first set of amendments to the Legal Aid Rules. These amendments established the first increase to the hourly rate payable to roster members since 2015. LAO is pleased to…

Each year, Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) closes duty counsel purchase orders and creates new ones for the upcoming year. ‘Old’ purchase orders are closed on March 29, 2024 and new purchase orders will be created to be effective April 2, 2024. Please prepare for this change by reviewing what you need to do. Per Diem Duty Counsel,…

Legal Aid Online will be unavailable this weekend to implement tariff amendments for March 4, 2024. To avoid any draft accounts from being deleted, please submit them by Friday, March 1 by 11:30 p.m.