Law Times

Page 4 January 26, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com LAO revamps standards for refugee panels By yamri Taddese Law Times s Legal Aid Ontario bolsters the standards for refugee lawyers in order to weed out the unskilled among them, mem- bers of the refugee bar worry the new rules may create a bu- reaucratic nightmare that could drive away competent counsel as well. "Having standards that are more specific than the old stan- dards is a good thing because the old standards were a bit vague," says Toronto refugee lawyer Raoul Boulakia, who's also the president of the Refugee Lawyers Association of Ontario. But "the new standards are very rigorous and if you're really to do all the things in the new standards, we'd routinely exceed the hourly limit on legal aid cer- tificates," he adds, noting good lawyers may throw in the towel in the face of the changes. The concern is the changes may go too far, according to Boulakia. While the associa- tion has been urging LAO to take action on sloppy lawyers on its immigration and refugee panels, the response shouldn't be "an overreaction," he says. "If the demands made are not realistic or they make it such that lawyers who are ethical and very good lawyers would say, 'I can't cope with legal aid anymore,' or they get fed up with it and quit, it would have a really negative impact because it would lead to refugees not being able to get a lawyer," he says. "It's all about balance," he adds. LAO's board recently approved a revamp of the standards for its immigration and refugee panels to create two separate criteria for general and appellate practice. The updates follow several disciplinary hearings against refugee lawyers for failing to prepare adequate cases for their clients. While previously enrol- ment on the panel required only a one-time application for an indefinite member- ship, the changes provide for a three-year time frame. They can renew their mem- bership on the condition that they demonstrate "continuing compliance with quality stan- dards," according to LAO. The new guidelines re- quire lawyers working under the general panel to meet with clients at specific points during their representation and failing to hold these meetings is a breach, says An- drew Brouwer, senior legal counsel for refugee services at LAO. Lawyers should also make accommodations for clients with disabilities. In order to do appellate work, lawyers must file copies of their legal arguments, including af- fidavits and decisions rendered, to a legal aid panel that will re- view them for quality. If the legal aid assessment team finds an appearance of in- competence, peers in the private bar will review the file again. "That is really substantially different. Legal aid didn't in the past look at the quality of the material that was filed by mem- bers," says Brouwer. But refugee lawyers say part of the concern is also around exactly who is going to be doing these assessments at LAO. "Who is going to be qualified to do those assessments? Is there transparency in this process?" asks Toronto refugee lawyer Preevanda Sapru. "There are maybe three or four senior lawyers at legal aid who may be able to do these as- sessments," she says. "Most of their lawyers, and this is a concern that I've raised with them, are young lawyers." The new standards, adds Sapru, are more stringent than the Law Society of Upper Cana- da's rules for lawyers. They may exclude younger and less-expe- rienced lawyers who may want to do legal aid work for the right reasons, she suggests. Brouwer, who helped draft the new standards, says they're hardly aspirational. "These are minimum stan- dards and I really think that the vast majority of refugee lawyers meet these standards and we did quite a lot of consultations," he says. "I would say that ultimately that the refugee walking into the lawyer's office has rights to be represented up to these minimum standards. I mean, people's lives are at stake and my sense is the vast majority of law- yers and all of the conscientious refugee lawyers do all of this." To be eligible for the appel- late panel, lawyers must typical- ly have dedicated 50 per cent of their practice to refugee or im- migration work in the last two years and completed specific types of work. While the former standards applied to refugee certificates only, the updated requirements are applicable to "everyone who provides legal aid refugee/im- migration services, including lawyers on certificates, staff law- yers, paralegals, or professionals on a service agreement with a clinic," according to LAO. For Boulakia, the risk of law- yers turning away from legal aid work is a serious one, especially since he believes the changes for the refugee panel set a precedent for what's to come in criminal and family law panels as well. "Every time you add another layer to people who are already feeling that they're doing a pub- lic service and they're accept- ing to do work when they're not being paid for all of their work, every time you add something else, it creates a risk of a turn away," he says. LT NEWS For more information, please contact Jennifer Brown Email: jen.brown@thomsonreuters.com | Phone: 416-649-8867 The Canadian Lawyer InHouse 2015 Innovatio Awards is the pre-eminent award program recognizing innovation by members of the in-house bar within the Canadian legal market. The second annual awards celebrate in-house counsel, both individuals and teams, who have found ways to show leadership by becoming more efficient, innovative and creative in meeting the needs of their organizations. NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN AND THE SEARCH IS ON FOR CANADA'S MOST INNOVATIVE IN-HOUSE COUNSEL NOMINATE YOURSELF OR YOUR DEPARTMENT IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: • Law department management • Diversity • Best practices in compliance systems • In-house M&A/Dealmakers • Working with external counsel • Litigation management • Risk management • Tomorrow's leader in innovation NOMINATIONS CLOSE FEBRUARY 16, 2015 Nomination forms and more information can be found at: www.innovatio-awards.com Untitled-6 1 2015-01-13 3:01 PM A Raoul Boulakia believes the changes for the refugee panel set a precedent for what's to come in criminal and family law as well.

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