OBA submitted feedback during consultation process with Legal Aid Ontario
The Ontario Bar Association has made a written submission on Legal Aid Ontario’s proposed changes to the minimum experience standards, which prospective roster members must meet to be authorized to provide legal aid certificate services.
The Legal Aid Working Group prepared the written submission. This working group includes members who engage in LAO certificate work and practise in various areas of law. The working group presented the document during the consultation process initiated by LAO from Dec. 13, 2021, to Jan. 24.
Through the written submission, OBA supported maintaining the minimum experience standards, including the imposition of reasonable conditions on a roster member’s enrolment. However, OBA noted that lawyers keen for legal aid work should not be placed at a higher standard than the Law Society of Ontario requires.
The OBA said that conditional enrollment is still possible under the proposed changes for those who failed to meet the minimum experience standards.
Under the existing standards, such as criminal law, new lawyers can be enrolled as roster members if they use mentorship for a specified period. But the OBA noted that the proposed changes are silent on the matter, except for Extremely Serious Criminal Matters (ESM), which no longer permits conditional authorization to provide legal aid services.
“This could be confusing and could deter competent lawyers from applying,” the OBA wrote. “We recommend that conditional enrolment requirements be clearly indicated on the same page as minimum experience standards.”
The OBA also observed that the minimum experience standards failed to consider regional and linguistic differences, creating barriers to accessing legal aid services in small, rural, Indigenous, and racialized communities. For instance, lawyers in northern jurisdictions rarely get the opportunity to conduct a jury trial, which is a requirement to be on the ESM roster.
“These applicants should also be given reasonable and realistic opportunities, such as training programs, to meet their required experience standards,” the OBA wrote.
Aside from the list of proposed materials that an applicant must study before becoming a roster member, the OBA suggested that similar educational videos, such as the “Gladue at practice CLE,” should be added to the reading list.
“. . . Providing useful resources and support that will allow them to excel in their everyday delivery of high-quality legal services is also fundamental to a strong and sustainable system,” OBA said.
To ensure high-quality legal aid services, the OBA proposed that LAO attract competent applicants and retain roster members through an updated compensation model that reflects the current legal practice realities.
