Interested in doing legal aid work?

Lawyers who represent legal aid clients must be authorized to provide services in the geographic area in which they have an office or established practice, and in the area(s) of law they practice. Each area of law has Minimum Experience Requirements that lawyers must meet. These requirements help ensure legal aid clients receive high-quality services.

How to become a legal aid service provider

Step one: Submit an application

Before you can do any paid work for a legal aid client you must first be authorized by Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) to provide legal aid services in a specific area(s) of law and in the geographic area that your primarily practice law (if you practice in multiple cities, you must select one area as your home base).

An applicant must meet the applicable minimum experience requirements in the area of law they wish to provide legal aid services for. Where an applicant does not meet the applicable minimum experience requirements, LAO may grant a conditional authorization for up to 24 months. Roster members must comply with the Legal Aid Services Rules.

The authorization process can take anywhere from three to six weeks to complete.

Please complete and submit the following documents by email to rosterapps@lao.on.ca. All applications for roster membership must be submitted electronically and typed; handwritten forms will not be accepted. :

• Completed application form and request for authorization forms for those areas of law in which you wish to practice
  • Complex case rate
  • Consent and capacity board
  • Criminal
  • Duty Counsel – Family and CYFSA
  • Duty counsel—advice lawyer (domestic violence)
  • Duty counsel—criminal
  • Extremely serious matters
  • Family
  • CYFSA
  • Gladue
  • Ontario Review Board
  • Refugee and immigration—General
  • Refugee and immigration—Appellate
• A voided cheque for your business (your name or your firm’s name must be printed on the cheque)
• A completed direct deposit authorization form from your bank
• Your HST number
• An updated copy of your CV/Resume
• A release for information from your professional indemnity company
• A release for information from the Law Society of Ontario
• If relevant, an update of your Law Society of Ontario status to confirm that you are licensed to practice and a member in good standing

LAO Districts:

• Central East District
  – includes the counties of Haliburton, Bracebridge, Peterborough, Cobourg, Durham, Kawartha Lakes, Orillia, Newmarket and Barrie.
  Director General: Senem Ozkin
• Central West District
  – includes the counties of Norfolk, Haldimand, Brant, Hamilton, Niagara, Halton, Peel and Dufferin.
  Director General: Matthew Hammond
• East District
  – includes the counties of Hastings, Lennox and Addington, Frontenac, Leeds and Grenville, Lanark, Renfrew, Ottawa and Carleton, Prescott and Russell and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.
  Director General: Sarah Concettini
• North District
  – includes the districts of Kenora, Rainy River, Thunder Bay, Cochrane, Algoma, Timiskaming, Parry Sound, North Bay and Sudbury.
  Director General: Andreas Asmus
• Toronto District
  – includes East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and Old Toronto.
  Director General: Lisa Quesnel
• West District
  – includes the counties of Essex, Lambton, Chatham-Kent, Bruce, Grey, Huron, Oxford, Elgin, Middlesex, Wellington and Waterloo.
  Director General: Rocio Alvarez

Step two: LAO reviews application

Once all of the application documents are received, Roster Membership Services will forward your application package to the Director General for review. During this process, LAO may contact you to request additional information or clarification.  Following the review, you will receive a formal letter from the Director General confirming:

• Whether you are authorized to provide legal aid services
• the areas of law for which you have been approved
• the conditions, if any, that apply to your legal aid practice (if you are new to the practice of law or to a particular area of law, these conditions may include achieving prescribed standards in a set period of time, mentorship, or reviewing mandatory substantive law materials).

Roster Membership Services will forward your application package to Legal Aid Ontario’s Provincial Office for processing.

Step three: Await your Legal Aid Ontario welcome package

You will receive a Legal Aid Ontario welcome package that includes:

• your Legal Aid Ontario roster number/vendor number
• your tier level (the level at which you can bill; if you are a new call, you will be billing at the Tier 1 level for criminal, mental health, prison law, tribunals and civil litigation)
• your user ID, password and other information about Legal Aid Online (Legal Aid Ontario’s online billing portal for lawyers)
• technical tips for online billing
• contact information for billing questions/concerns
• information about conditions relating to the provision of legal aid services specific to your situation, if any.

Forms

• To access Applications forms, Request for authorizations forms, and Release of information forms please visit the following link: https://www.legalaid.on.ca/lawyers-legal-professionals/forms-library/

Questions

For more information on standards, please contact your local director general or LAO’s Central Roster Management Department at roster@lao.on.ca.

Contact the Finance Department if you have questions about the following:

• Fully completed applications that have been approved by district offices
• Tier level increases
• Maintaining records (address changes, updating banking information, etc.)
• HST refunds
• Government/legal garnishment
• Electronic fund transfer (bank EFT) rejections

Contact
Finance Department
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday
Fax: 647‑260‑0548
Telephone: 416‑979‑2352