Minimum experience requirements

Legal Aid Ontario’s (LAO) minimum experience requirements outline the legal experience that a prospective roster member must have before joining LAO’s roster of lawyers.

Read the full document outlining our minimum experience requirements.

LAO’s minimum experience requirements were developed after extensive consultation with the bar and other justice system stakeholders, and they are in place to ensure that LAO’s roster lawyers provide high-quality legal aid services as set out in the Legal Aid Services Act, 2020.

The specific requirements that a roster member must meet depend on the area of law in which they provide legal aid services. Our minimum experience requirements currently apply to those providing legal aid certificate services in the following areas:

• Criminal law
• Family law
• Immigration and refugee law
• Mental health law (CCB)
• Child Protection Law (CYFSA)

In addition, there are separate minimum experience requirements which apply to those providing legal aid duty counsel services in the following areas:

• Criminal (Adult and Youth)
• Family
• Domestic Violence

Generally, our minimum experience requirements require prospective roster members to

• have a certain amount of experience in specific types of legal matters or proceedings
• review materials provided by LAO
• complete a certain number of hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) each year in each area of law they practice in

Annual self-report

LAO tracks roster lawyer experience using an annual self-report. This is a report that LAO requires all lawyers who have been on the roster for at least one complete calendar year (from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31) to complete about themselves in order to maintain their continued standing on LAO’s roster and confirm ongoing compliance with the minimum experience requirements.

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 for continued standing and
• completed their annual professional development, as required by the minimum experience requirements during the previous calendar year.

For more information about the self-report, please visit our lawyer’s annual self-report webpage.

Meeting the minimum experience requirements and gaining authorization to provide legal aid services

To encourage new lawyers to join our roster and gain experience, LAO offers prospective roster members authorization to provide legal aid services as they work towards meeting the minimum experience requirements. A roster member’s type of authorization to provide legal services will depend on whether they meet the requirements.

There are two types of authorization:

1. Regular authorization:
   You meet the minimum experience requirements upon applying to join the roster. You have full authorization to provide legal aid services in your area(s) of law.

2. Conditional authorization:
   You do not meet the minimum experience requirements upon applying to join the roster. You have conditional authorization to provide legal aid services in your area(s) of law provided that you meet the minimum experience requirements within 24 months of being granted conditional authorization. A further discretionary conditional status of 12 months (36 months total) is available for certificate rosters only.

   Conditional authorization requires lawyers to meet the minimum experience requirements within 24 months. Local conditions or specific areas of law may also require additional conditions, such as mentorship or training. These additional conditions will be discussed with prospective roster members upon application.

   Duty counsel have additional considerations for their authorization process, and you can learn more by visiting our duty counsel authorization process webpage. Authorization to provide duty counsel services may be limited based on local conditions.

   For a complete understanding of authorizations, please see our process maps for gaining authorization or read the full minimum experience requirements document.

Frequently asked questions

What type of experience does LAO consider when evaluating whether a lawyer meets the minimum experience requirements?

LAO only considers experience gained as a lawyer practicing in Ontario and licensed by the Law Society of Ontario. LAO does not consider experience gained as a summer student, articling student, volunteer, paralegal, or immigration consultant. In rare cases, LAO may consider experience gained practicing in another province as a lawyer and licensee of that province’s law society.

Aside from the minimum experience requirements, what other requirements must roster lawyers meet?

Roster members must meet all the obligations set out in the Legal Aid Services Act, 2020 as well as the Rules made thereunder. Some of the requirements include maintaining a status of “In Private Practice” at the Law Society of Ontario (meaning only lawyers licensed to practice law in Ontario may provide legal aid services); maintaining current liability coverage and providing releases of information to LAO. Roster members must also have an office or established practice in the geographic area in which they intend to practice.

In addition, certain individuals may be ineligible to become a roster lawyer. We encourage you to review the Rules for further detail.

More information

• Legal Aid Services Act, 2020
• Legal Aid Services Rules
• Consultation Feedback Summary Report
• Minimum Experience Requirements – Rules
• Conditional authoizations
• Key changes to LAO minimum experience requirements
• Process maps for gaining authorization
• Duty counsel authorization process
• Lawyer’s annual self-report