Referrals - Legal Aid

This page deals with help you can receive from Legal Aid.  Legal aid primarily deals with criminal, family and immigration law. 

View our Legal Aid Comparison chart to see the different areas legal aid and our clinic cover.

Legal Aid

Legal Aid Ontario

Services provided by Legal Aid Ontario include:

•  Advice lawyers - lawyers give advice on family law on the phone or at Family Law Information Centres

•  Certificates - given, if you qualify, for representation on family, criminal or immigration law matters

•  Duty Counsel - services are offered in most courts

•  Telephone applications for certificates

To apply for a certificate or to obtain 20 minutes of free legal advice (family or criminal law) please call Legal Aid's Client Service Center at 1-800-668-8258. (TTY users (telephone device for the deaf), call 1-866-641-8867.)  Press "0" and ask to speak to a Client Service Representative

View Legal Aid's eligibility requirements:   English   Français

View our Legal Aid Information Sheet which summarizes how to apply for a certificate, how to appeal or complain about services.

If you are refused Legal Aid:

First, visit the Legal Aid website to find out the types of cases that are covered.  They provide criminal law, family law and immigration and refugee law services.  There is no point in appealing a denial if it is an area not covered by Legal Aid.  To see if you qualify for services from Legal Aid, view their pages on financial eligibility to receive duty counsel or summary advice and financial eligibility for a Legal Aid certificate (to retain a lawyer for full representation).  Depending on your income, and whether you own property, you may be required to sign a contribution agreement, meaning you will have to repay Legal Aid for some or all of your legal fees.

If you are denied a Legal Aid Certificate, you have the right to appeal.  Write a letter of appeal within 15 days of the date on the Notice of Refusal of Application for Legal Aid. The appeal is heard by the local Area Committee.  If you are denied a Legal Aid Certificate from the local Area Committee you can then submit a letter or notice of appeal to the provincial appeals department in Toronto.  Your decision letter from the Area Committee will give you information about where to appeal.

Information about appealing a Legal Aid decision is found on the Legal Aid website, under "Making an Appeal," or call their Client Service Centre for more information.

If you are unhappy with the service provided by Legal Aid, visit their Making a Complaint page.  In Hastings, Prince Edward and Lennox & Addington counties you can submit your complaint to the Durham-Frontenac District office at 384 Water Street, Peterborough, or call 1-888-828-3827. 

Legal Aid Ontario's "call back" feature now fully operational

Legal Aid Ontario reports that wait times will continue to drop dramatically now that the newest feature on their toll-free telephone service (1-800-668-8258)* allows clients to enter their phone number and have a staff member return their call. Clients requiring the assistance of a toll-free client service specialist will hear an interactive voice recording that notifies them of this “call-back” option.

Clients who don’t want to wait on the phone to speak to a specialist can enter their telephone number when prompted, resulting in an automated call back when the next specialist becomes available. Clients do not lose their place in line.

Callers to the toll-free service first speak with representatives who can provide general information and referrals to duty counsel, community legal clinics or other agencies as needed. During the week of November 8, the average wait time for this level of service was two minutes and 51 seconds, with a low of 78 seconds recorded for November 12. Staff at LAO’s toll-free service centre answered more than 5,300 calls that week.

Some callers are connected with a second level of specialists who can take legal aid applications and arrange for the caller to receive summary legal advice from LAO staff. Given the more involved nature of this second level of service, wait times are generally longer than for the first level. In November, wait times for the second level of service averaged around 10 minutes, making the call-back feature a significant enhancement for clients needing these services.

________________________________

*Please note that this telephone line is for legal aid certificates in family and criminal law issues only, not for the types of services that our clinic provides.  See the Our Services page for more details of what we do here at the clinic.

Coordinating Legal Aid and Clinic Services Brochures

• Lennox & Addington county joint brochure

Legal Aid Comparison Charts - Who Does What?

• Services Funded by Legal Aid - Who Does What - Hastings, Prince Edward & Lennox & Addington Counties

• Services Funded by Legal Aid - Who Does What - Frontenac County

• Services Funded by Legal Aid - Who Does What - Northumberland County

Other Sources of Legal Help for Issues not covered by the Clinic or Legal Aid

• Our Where Else To Go For Help chart is a complete list of our referrals on a wide variety of matters.