Legal Aid Alberta gets financial boost

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

The province is giving money to worthy causes in October, including money devoted to improving legal aid for low income earners affected by crime who are looking to retain legal counsel.
Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Kathleen Ganley said a properly funded legal aid program is critical to a fair, effective and accessible justice system, which she expects will ensure legal services for those who cannot afford conventional legal representation. The province has boosted legal aid funding by $14.8 million for 2018-19. The operating grant will be increased to $110.4 million for 2021-22.
“Sustainable funding for our organization doesn’t just allow us to serve more Albertans; it allows us to improve the way we serve our clients and access to justice for all Albertans,” said Andrew Livingston, manager, communications and public relations, Legal Aid Alberta. “Over the next year, Legal Aid Alberta will look to redesign the way it does business, and will be looking at how we can modernize service delivery, so clients receive quality services appropriate to their circumstances in a timely and efficient way,”
Legal Aid Alberta handled 30,018 criminal cases and helped 11,490 people with duty council. There were 6,536 people helped in family court cases and 1,536 child welfare cases were taken. Immigration and civil cases were the remaining categories in legal aid representation for 2017-18.
Some people think legal aid in Alberta is free, but that is not the case. Livingstone said some services are free, but if a lawyer is appointed to represent people in court there are fees for these services. They can work out arrangements to make payments on those costs, and Livingstone said supported fees are considerably less than hiring a lawyer independently. It takes about four days to secure a lawyer after all the information on registration has been gathered.
Lawyers’ fees are not capped in Alberta. Livingstone wouldn’t speculate on whether it would make a difference for low income clients if legal fees were capped and a mandate enforced for lawyers to take a percentage of low-income clients.
“It may likely have a positive impact. Legal Aid Alberta currently has 1,400 roster lawyers who take cases at an already reduced rate for their work, and (that) is already having a positive impact on the work we do,” said Livingstone.
At current legal rates, Livingstone said people can apply to the Court of Queen’s Bench review office for an investigation into charges if they think they are being over-charged.