Law Times

November 9, 2009

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PAGE 8 NEW An online resource tool 1.800.263.3269 Bestcase earlug.indd 1 3/26/08 11:52:01 AM Focus On FAMILY LAW Family lawyers also waiting for legal aid boost But Bentley not saying exactly what funds will do until working groups report BY HEATHER CAPANNELLI For Law Times O f the $150 million that's been pledged by the government to trans- form legal aid, there is certainly something in it for family law. But until the release of recom- mendations from the working groups charged with sorting it all out, no one knows just what it will be. "I'd like to get the best advice from the working groups, and as soon as that advice starts fl owing, we'll get the money fl owing," Ontario's Attorney General Chris Bentley tells Law Times. "We got the groups together and got a fa- cilitator. I think that's pretty good in the grand scheme of things." John McCamus, chairman of Legal Aid Ontario, will lead the fi ve legal aid advisory groups. Th e groups will focus on poverty law, family law, immigration and refugee issues, standard crimi- nal cases, and big criminal case management. On Sept. 30, Justice Sidney Linden, former commissioner for the Ipper- wash Inquiry and Ontario's confl ict of interest commis- sioner, was appointed to as- sist the advisory groups com- prised of representatives from organizations including LAO, the Ontario Bar Association, the Criminal Lawyers' Asso- ciation, and the Law Society of Upper Canada. Calling the funding "the single largest investment in Legal Aid Ontario history," the province has committed to developing an approach to family law where "chil- dren and their parents will have access to a faster, less confrontational, and sim- pler system." But as of yet, there are no hard details as to how or when this will all come together. In terms of family law, Bentley says "there's been a call at virtually every lev- el for more assistance up front, Bentley says the proceed- ings will also look at allowing people more opportunities to resolve their issues faster and at ways to support the people working in the system. "Ob- viously, the investment can drive the broader issue of process reform." The real test will be in 'ensuring the money delivers services to the front lines,' says Randall Bocock. whether it's in terms of legal advice, mandatory information sessions, helping people going through the court process or ADR options." Family law a major target for LawPRO claims BY HEATHER CAPANNELLI For Law Times 2007. Th e increase pushes the number of claims to the highest it's been since 1995 with litigation — which includes family law — ranked second in terms of distribution of claims costs by area of practice. So what does all of this mean to family lawyers? A ccording to LawPRO's 2008 annual re- port, the number of claims reported last year increased by three per cent over Be vigilant about the types of clients you take on. Be proactive in how you manage them and fi nd out how the assessment process works so that if you ever receive a notice of assessment, the fi le is ready to go, experts say. "Unlike having an institutional client, where it might be one of many matters and a decision is made and everyone moves on, a family law client might not accept the decision and continue the fi ght," says Ed Upenieks of the Brampton, Ont., fi rm Lawrence Lawrence Stevenson LLP. When this happens, it's not unusual for the fi ght to See Unhappy, page 10 While it has been a topic of discussion for many years, the issue of fees payable to lawyers under the legal aid regime came to the fore in June when the CLA an- nounced a boycott by senior defence counsel in Toronto of homicide and guns-and- gangs cases funded by LAO. Th e number of lawyers and other supporters now par- ticipating in the boycott is now estimated at about 750. Th e protest was an attempt to draw attention to the im- balance between the hourly fees paid to criminal defence lawyers by LAO (currently, it's $98 per hour) and the resources aff orded to police and Crown prosecutors. "We've taken the position that the money was a good fi rst start," CLA president Frank Addario tells Law Times. "But throwing money at it isn't the solution to the problem. "You can't analyze what's go- ing to happen with the working groups without also analyzing whether it achieves the out- come that the government set out to achieve," he says. In this case, Addario says the objective was to revitalize the plan, bring back the lawyers who've left, re- tain counsel who are doing the work now, and recruit new ones. "Th at won't be achieved through this welcome but insuffi cient injection of funding." November Specials Visit our web site and save 20% Assignment, Subletting and Change of Control in a Commercial Lease: A Practical Guide Editor: Harvey M. Haber Q.C., and contributing authors The Commercial Lease: A Practical Guide, Fourth Edition Harvey M. Haber, Q.C., LSM Distress: A Commercial Landlord's Remedy Editor: Harvey M. Haber, Q.C., and contributing authors Landlord's Rights and Remedies in a Commercial Lease: A Practical Guide Harvey M. Haber, Q.C. But as much as there is dis- parity between the resources al- located to Crowns and defence counsel, the gulf is just as wide among family law practitioners who take on legal aid clients and those who don't. According to LAO's 2007 annual report (which is the most current avail- able), there were 109,101 legal aid certifi cates issued in 2006- 07, of which nearly 25 per cent went to people in need of family law assistance. Th e report boasts of 750 more family law certifi - cates being made available per year and an increase in the legal aid tariff of fi ve per cent for duty counsel services rendered on or after April 1, 2007. "Th e new tariff rate increase will make it more fi nancially feasible for lawyers to provide legal aid ser- vices," the report said. Th e reality for practitioners taking on legal aid cases, how- ever, is that under the Legal Aid Services Act, the hourly rate ap- plicable to family law and child- protection matters ranges from $67 to $77.56, depending on when the certifi cate was issued. Th is largely explains why there are fewer senior family law prac- titioners who accept legal aid certifi cates. "I started taking le- gal aid clients because I'm a new lawyer," says Lorna George, a sole practitioner called in 2005 who works in Hamilton and Toronto. "You've always got those who've been out longer and still take them on, but new lawyers prac- tising criminal and family law almost have no choice." Th e bureaucracy involved in managing a family law case for a client on legal aid is immense, es- pecially for the sole practitioner, See Family, page 12 November 9, 2009 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com Web Discount (LT 1-4x5).indd 1 11/4/09 9:33:55 AM

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