Lawyer’s annual self‑report

All Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) lawyers must complete and submit an annual self‑report to:

renew or retain membership on the legal aid roster and authorizations for all areas of law in which they work
confirm their ongoing compliance with the requirements for each area of law in which they provide legal services
automatically update their standing on LAO’s rosters

Lawyers can access, fill in and submit their self‑report on Legal Aid Online. The self‑report will be located in the Personal Info section.

Changes to the self-report process

LAO has made several changes to the 2023 LAO Lawyer Self-Report, these include:

Improvements to the layout of questions to improve user experience;
Addition of new compliance related questions;
New functionality to collect and update lawyer language information; and
New functionality to gather information about interest in mentorship.

Ontario Review Board – New Minimum Experience Requirements

Beginning January 1, 2024, LAO will be implementing new minimum experience requirements for roster members providing Legal Aid Services before the Ontario Review Board (ORB).

Development of the new ORB Minimum Experience Requirements was completed in consultation with stakeholders and reflects LAO’s commitment to ensuring high-quality, cost-effective legal aid services in accordance with LAO’s statutory mandate.

Roster members currently authorized on the ORB Roster will be automatically transitioned to the new minimum experience requirements by submitting their 2023 LAO Lawyer Self-Report.

Questions and answers

What is the annual self‑report?

It is a report that LAO requires all lawyers to complete about themselves, in order to maintain their continued standing on LAO’s roster and confirm ongoing compliance with standards.

On it, lawyers confirm that they continue to meet the requirements of the standards, i.e. they have:

attained the required minimum amount of related experience (or equivalency) for continued standing and
completed their annual professional development, as required by the standards during the previous calendar year.

What is the timeframe covered by the annual self‑report?

The report covers January to December of the previous calendar year.

Who must complete the 2023 LAO Lawyer Self-Report?

All Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) roster members who have been a member of the LAO roster for the entirety of 2023 must complete and submit an annual self‑report.

Roster members who joined the LAO roster after January 1, 2023 are not required to submit a 2023 annual self-report, but they will be required to submit one in future years.

Where can I fill out my 2023 LAO Lawyer Self-Report?

Roster members can access, fill in and submit their self‑report on Legal Aid Online. The self‑report will be in the Personal Information section.

What if the area(s) of law in which I provide legal aid services I am on is not on the list shown in the window?

Please contact your district office to make sure your list includes all the areas of law you are authorized to provide legal services in.

Do I need to keep records of my participation, attendance and/or viewing of continuing professional development (CPD) and continuing legal education (CLE), related to meeting the experience and CPD requirements of the standards?

Yes. LAO randomly audits lawyers to ensure that the information provided on their annual self‑report accurately reports the experience and CPD requirements for each area of law.

What happens if I did not submit last year’s (2022) LAO Lawyer Self-Report?

Roster members who did not file a 2022 self-report were administratively suspended on December 1, 2023.

Roster members who did not file their annual self-report in 2022 will be required to contact their local district office and request reinstatement of their status on the LAO roster.

What is the deadline to file the 2023 LAO Lawyer Self-Report?

March 31, 2024

What happens if I miss the deadline to file the 2023 LAO Lawyer Self-Report?

Roster lawyers will not be able to acknowledge new certificates or submit accounts to LAO until the report is filed.

Questions or technical difficulties

For technical difficulties with the online self-report, contact the Lawyer Service Centre at 416-979-9934 or 1-866-979-9934 (Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).

For questions about roster membership, conditional status, or other questions tied to the interpretation of the Roster Management Rules and Minimum Experience requirements please contact roster@lao.on.ca.