Kirk Makin
Globe and Mail Update Published on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010 4:01PM EST Last updated on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010 6:18PM EST
An eleventh hour deal has ended a legal-aid boycott by over 700 Ontario lawyers that was scheduled to escalate on Monday.
Sources say the seven-year deal calls for about $80-million to be added to the Legal Aid Ontario budget for services to indigent clients who qualify for legal aid certificates.
Today's agreement between Attorney-General Chris Bentley and the Criminal Lawyers Association will make up about 75 per cent of the shortfall legal-aid lawyers have suffered due to inflation over the past 20 years.
At the end of the seven-year period, the increase will have increased the legal-aid certificate program's budget from approximately $200-million to $280-million.
“I'm relieved it got settled, because we were headed toward a long unpleasant standoff,” said Frank Addario, a past CLA president who spearheaded the boycott.
“It's an achievement to get a funding increase of this size in the midst of a tough economy. I'm pleased for the service-providers and for the people who rely on legal aid to get a fair shake in court.”
The CLA was on the verge of ratcheting up its seven-month-old boycott of the province's legal aid program by extending its boycott to another, new tier of cases in an attempt to bring the government to its knees.
The boycott had so far been restricted to murders case and those prosecuted under guns and gangs legislation.
A 60-day truce with the Ministry of the Attorney-General had come to an end today.
The boycott was launched last June, after the Criminal Lawyers Association said that its membership was fed up after waiting 15 years for a meaningful hike in the legal-aid fee structure.
In September, Mr. Bentley responded by injecting $60-million into the struggling program's annual budget. However, the CLA scoffed at the increase as being insufficient to attract experienced lawyers back to the plan.
"Our investment in legal aid in this time of economic restraint demonstrates our government's commitment to providing a strong, stable legal aid system that provides excellent support to clients and is effective and sustainable for the future," Mr. Bentley said of today's deal.
John McCamus, chair of Legal Aid Ontario, said that the increase will significantly improve compensation for legal-aid lawyers, "and better reflects the importance of the work they do in addressing the legal needs of low income individuals."
Well over a hundred trials have been affected. Many mental-health lawyers and appellate lawyers have also joined the boycott.
Legal aid pays experienced counsel a top rate of approximately $98 an hour. In contrast, lawyers who work on contract for the province are paid $192 an hour. Criminal lawyers in private practice typically charge clients $300-$400 an hour.
In about two dozen cases, counsel have asked trial judges to order a higher rate of pay.
LAO has attempted – with little success – to locate lawyers who are willing to accept a bonus to conduct these cases.
A judge of the Ontario Court of Appeal is attempting to case-manage appeals of these rulings into one manageable appeal.