The government says the reforms will narrow the gap between
legal aid fees paid to barristers and solicitors for doing similar advocacy work.
The meeting took place against the backdrop of the uproar concerning further cuts to
the legal aid fees paid to practitioners following the recent additions to the Advocates» Graduated Fee Scheme («AGFS»), a matter which naturally made its way into the conversation through constructive questions and statements.
Not exact matches
Judges are obviously
paid and the
legal aid fee will probably come to # 1,000 for each case.
The reality is that while some clients may be able to
pay privately for the Art 8 parts of their case (which is of course a bonus to the firm on top of the fixed
fee they would otherwise get from
legal aid funding), many more can not afford to do so (if they have been assessed as eligible on means for public funding for the asylum part of the case it is hard to see how they are expected to have easy access to private funding for the Art 8 part of their case).
The proposals, if implemented, will have the effect that many migrants and prisoners will no longer be eligible for
legal aid; access to judicial review will be restricted; contracts for criminal work will be the subject of competitive tendering; and
fees paid to
legal aid solicitors and barristers will be reduced, by more than 50 % in some instances.
Since then, and particularly in recent years, there have been a large number of initiatives designed to curb costs, such as limiting
Legal Aid, and the removal of the ability to claim so - called additional liabilities in «no win, no
fee» agreements - from
paying defendants, costs budgeting and the use of alternative dispute resolution.
There would be no success
fee or uplift for those cases which are successful at the permission stage (which would compensate the lawyers for cases that failed at the permission stage and that would not be
paid by
legal aid).
Despite the increase, many people in Ontario still fall into the grey area of being too «rich» to qualify for
legal aid, but too «poor» to
pay the average lawyer's
legal fees.
In order to ensure that recipients of
legal aid had a meaningful choice of counsel and that senior members of the bar participated in the plan, the Joint Committee recommended that lawyers»
fees be
paid at a reduced but reasonable rate — approximately 75 per cent of their usual
fees.
The MoJ is also proposing that
fees paid to advocates appointed by the court to cross-examine victims of abuse will be cut from private to
legal aid rates.
Sam Glover: It sounds like how this plays into the access to justice idea is that you've got landlords coming to you who are, they have lots of assets, they almost certainly don't qualify for
legal aid, but they're also going to have trouble
paying your
fee.
The government's stated intention of
paying a single
fee per
legal aid case stimulated unilateral trench warfare.
A
legal aid firm managing a straightforward divorce finance case which goes to full hearing would be
paid # 2,106 at present, but # 1,299 under the new fixed
fee rate.
Between July and August 2011 the Government carried out an extremely limited consultation on cutting the
fees which are
paid to Law Firms and Not for Profits for carrying out
legal aid work.
She is already in talks with several
legal aid organizations, she said, and plans to charge a licensing
fee according to a sliding scale based on what the organization can
pay.
The
Legal Aid Certificate
pays all or part of your lawyer's
fees.
While those involved say industrial action would be a last resort, Justice Minister Alan Shatter is on a collision course with lawyers over the restructuring of
fees paid under the
legal aid system.
There are also some types of cases
Legal Aid does not handle, such as criminal cases and
fee - generating cases, like car accidents where you want to make the other person
pay for your injuries or the damage to your car.
Legal aid covers the costs of making a claim, but you might still have to
pay a contribution towards the
fees depending on your financial situation.
«There is a huge group of «sandwich» accused people who make more money than the
legal aid cut - off, yet not enough to
pay two, three or four thousand dollars or more for lawyer
fees.»
Where a judge has made an appointment and
legal aid is not available, section 684 (2) provides that the
fees and disbursements of counsel are to be
paid by the Attorney General.
Instead, it uses the information you provide to steer you in the direction of how to deal with your
legal aid issue or where you might find direct assistance with your needs for free, for a reduced
fee, or through a
paid service, depending on your circumstances.
This may look like individuals or groups who can not afford to
pay legal fees or are not entitled to
legal aid.
Many have questioned the utility of the widely used system, often called judicare, where private lawyers are
paid a
fee for each case they take on a
legal aid certificate.
It can be expensive if there's a major disagreement and you'd have to
pay legal bills yourself unless you qualify for
legal aid for
legal fees.