Law Times

Page 2 November 3, 2014 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com NEWS Legal aid eligibility rises to $11,500 by yamri Taddese Law Times W hen they open their doors this morning, lawyers who take certificate work and legal clinics across Ontario can expect to be able to serve more clients than they previously could following an announcement last week about increased eligibility for legal aid. In what Legal Aid Ontario chairman John McCamus called "a historic break- through for access to justice," the pro- vincial government has announced $95.7 million in new funding over three years to increase eligibility for certificates, duty counsel, and legal clinic services. The current eligibility guidelines for a single person applying for a certificate, which had sat at $10,800 for years, has risen by six per cent to $11,448 as of this month. The new funding will make it possible for an additional 385,000 people to qualify for legal aid at the end of the three years as the government gradually increases the eligibility threshold. Today, that means 121,000 more peo- ple are eligible for certificates as well as duty counsel and legal clinic services. In April, an additional 128,000 people will qualify for the same services when the threshold rises to $12,135 with expanded eligibility for 136,000 more individuals a year later. After the three-year period, the number of people who could qualify for legal aid will go from the current 1 million to 1.4 million with the income threshold reaching $12,863, according to LAO. Al- though LAO can't say exactly how many new certificates the funding increase will translate into as that would depend on a number of factors, such as how many peo- ple commit a crime and face jail time, it estimates that by March 2017, it will have issued some 50,000 new certificates. Anthony Moustacalis, president of the Criminal Lawyers Association, says he's "pleased" with the announcement on in- creased eligibility. "My hope is that the system uses the money as intended, which is to permit the highest level of service by way of private counsel or clinic counsel where appropri- ate," he says. "If everyone works together, there won't be a problem with proper allocation of resources," he adds. "But I stress that it has to be an open process that allows all of the lawyers who are involved in legal aid work to have meaningful input and I'd invite the par- ticipation of the attorney general's office to ensure that the process remains open." And as LAO says it has yet to allocate the funds to clinics, the legal director of one organization has concerns about serving more clients starting today with- out getting the money first. "I can count the new people coming in based on those new guidelines but I don't know when I get the new money," says Jack De Klerk, director of legal services at Neighbourhood Legal Services. LAO says it's working with the clin- ics, including through the Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario, to get the money to them as quickly as pos- sible so they can build up their capacity to manage more clients. While it's clear what the new guidelines will mean for certificate work, that's not the case for legal clinics, says De Klerk. "On the certificate side, it's relatively easy to measure. The financial eligibility guideline right now is $10,000 and that's going to be increased by six per cent, so presumably someone with an income of $10,000 plus six per cent would be able to qualify and get their certificates," he says. "With legal clinics, we don't operate on certificates," he adds. "So until we hear about how this is go- ing to work out for clinics, it's very dif- ficult to say whether this is good or bad because if they turn around and say we'll give you the money after you serve the clients, that's going to hurt our current clients." LAO says it will allocate the funds shortly but notes the immediate six-per- cent increase isn't going to result in "an army of people" looking for services from legal clinics. "The money is going to have to be al- located fairly quickly but it's a six-per-cent increase [for now]," says LAO spokes- woman Genevieve Oger. "So it's going to be gradual and it's not going to be this army of people knocking on the door right away." For Lenny Abramowicz, executive di- rector of the Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario, waiting for the funds to start rolling in is "a situation we can live with" as long as there's a commit- ment to allocate them expeditiously. "Quite frankly, it's more important that we be engaged in that conversation of how the money is allocated rather than have the money come down on Nov. 1 without a conversation," he says. According to the Ontario government, this is the first change to the legal aid eligibil- ity threshold since 1996. "Our legal aid system helps ensure On- tarians have access to the legal services they need, regardless of their ability to pay," said Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur. "I'm proud of this investment, which will double the number of people currently eli- gible for this vital service. We will work with our partners to implement this plan and further support vulnerable citizens." "This new investment will make the courts work more efficiently by reducing the number of self-represented litigants in the judicial system — this is good news for all Ontarians," said McCamus. LT 'My hope is that the system uses the money as intended, which is to permit the highest level of service by way of private counsel or clinic counsel where appropriate,' says Anthony Moustacalis. NEW VERSION Peel Back The layers WIth CaSE LOgIStIx® One of the most intuitive document-review tools available, Case Logistix® will help your discovery teams organize, analyze, and produce anything from paper to Electronically Stored Information (ESI). And now you can supercharge your speed and accuracy with a new user interface, advanced search, and analytics. For more information, please visit legalsolutions.com/caselogistix Or call 1-866-609-5811

• Cover