January 9, 2025 – At Legal Aid Alberta, we believe an important measure of success is the satisfaction and trust of our stakeholders. That’s why we are committed to enhancing our services and making your interactions with LAA effective and efficient.
To ensure you can hit the ground running in 2025, here is a list of key improvements to the roster and client experience implemented this past year. Be sure to use them to your full advantage.
Helping clients find you
A user-friendly online Lawyer Directory that allows clients to search for a lawyer from our website is
proving to be wildly popular with clients – the directory is one of the most-visited pages on the Legal Aid Alberta website.
Clients can filter by area of law, location, or language preference to find a lawyer that best suits their needs. Roster lawyers can choose to opt in or out of the Lawyer Directory. Call an LAA Certificate and Tariff Officer (CTO) to be added or removed from the directory.
Travelling? You’re covered.
Compensation for travel is now provided on all levels of certificates where a client has preferred counsel.
Streamlining your client’s application process
The Client Gateway form has been expanded to capture financial information from the client, allowing for a seamless online application for both new and existing criminal clients. This allows counsel to collect necessary information in one step and helps to reduce callbacks from the Contact Centre.
Client info at your fingertips
DC Portal access expanded to our Criminal Roster Duty Counsel. Duty counsel can check a client’s application status in real-time, eliminating the need for emails or calls and creating a more streamlined docket appearance. The Client Gateway form is easily accessible through the DC Portal.
Protecting your information
Your Lawyer Portal information is better protected. Multi-Factor Authentication improves the security of your information.
Listening closely to concerns
Implemented in November, a new standardized online form is available on our website for clients, lawyers, and other stakeholders to share feedback and concerns about LAA services. This single source for concerns
allows for more efficient tracking and managing of concerns. The form can be found on the LAA Concerns page.
Legal Aid Alberta is continuously striving to improve. Your feedback is valuable, and we encourage you to keep sharing your thoughts and suggestions with us. We are excited about what the new year will bring.
Legal Aid Alberta is seeking to fill a full-time lawyer for Duty Counsel representation in Grande Prairie, AB. This is an exciting opportunity to provide vital access to justice in a vibrant community. This position will appeal to an individual who likes to take initiative, is client-focused, and is exceptionally strong in delivering high-quality results.
Representation of children in high-conflict parenting matters is a mandated service under Legal Aid Alberta’s Governance Agreement and a priority area of practice. To ensure that counsel who are taking on these specialized files have the necessary training and experience, LAA established the Child Representation Panel in April, 2022 with a panel term of three years.
For those current panel members who wish to continue on the panel, please complete the Re-Empaneling Application and submit it by the January 24, 2025 deadline.
In addition, LAA is accepting new applications to join the Child Representation Panel. Applicants must complete the Application Form and provide a copy of their CV by January 31, 2025.
Qualifications and Competencies for the Panel:
Please note panel lawyers are required to attend eight hours per year of professional continuing education in the area of representation of children to maintain their panel membership.
Resources:
Child Representation Panel Competencies
Standards
Re-Empanelment Application Form
Application Form
Contact: [email protected].
