March 29, 2022 – Further to Legal Aid Alberta’s continued goals of accountability for billings, for both clients and roster, roster lawyers will now be required to submit an annual interim invoice for every certificate issued on or after April 1, 2022, calculated from the Date of Acceptance on the Certificate.
Some of you have asked: Doesn’t legal aid require a minimum amount to invoice? The answer is no.
Our clients are required to pay for the legal aid services billed by our roster lawyers. Interim invoicing provides clients with more consistent clarity on what they will owe LAA for legal aid services after their roster lawyer invoices. More stability and consistency in roster lawyer billing to Legal Aid will help our clients plan ahead with their payment plans, rather than receiving a large bill after several years. For roster lawyers, interim invoicing provides more income stability and tariff items are less likely to be missed.
The Interim invoices will be required 12 months from the date of the certificate being accepted – not based on calendar year. Roster lawyers will receive an email reminder at the 11-month mark: one-month before the interim invoice is due on that certificate. If there are multiple certificates, multiple emails will be received. Exceptions to the interim invoicing requirement will be handled on a case-by-case basis through an authorization request.
Reminder on final account submissions
Final accounts must be submitted to Legal Aid Alberta no later than six months following the last step taken to complete a certificate. The final bill must include the outcome of the case, the date upon which certificate services were completed and any other materials required by Legal Aid Alberta. Legal Aid Alberta has no liability for the payment of an account rendered more than six months after the completion of services covered by the certificate.
If you have any other questions, please get in touch.
We appreciate your continued cooperation and support of our shared goal to serve and stay accountable to our most important stakeholders – Albertans.
