Information for Lawyers
Information for new lawyers
Interested in doing legal aid work?
As you consider the first steps of your legal career, take a look at what legal aid work can offer. Legal aid work is a rewarding alternative to large corporate firms, and is an excellent way to make professional contacts and gain courtroom experience.
Legal aid work offers significant benefits to new lawyers, including the chance to contribute to the improvement of Ontario's justice system by helping disadvantaged people. For many lawyers, the flexibility of legal aid work is an attractive career and lifestyle choice.
"Providing legal aid to low-income Canadians is an essential public service. We need to think of it in the same way we think of health care or education. The well being of our justice system—and the public's confidence in it—depends on it."
Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin
Supreme Court of Canada
How to work with Legal Aid Ontario
Want to work on legal aid cases? There are two options:
Working as a private practitioner
All lawyers who want to do legal aid work must apply to join Legal Aid Ontario’s certificate and duty counsel panels. These panels detail the standards that lawyers must meet to work on legal aid cases in criminal, civil, and other areas of law.
Find more information about panel standards, or apply to work on legal aid cases as a private practitioner.
Working as a staff lawyer with LAO
Legal Aid Ontario’s Lawyer Workforce Strategy (LWS) is a talent management initiative designed to provide rewarding and challenging careers for lawyers. Under the LWS, staff lawyers gain experience in different areas of law, and improve their skills by rotating through different positions.
For current job opportunities at Legal Aid Ontario, please see the Careers@LAO section.
For more information
Interested in making legal aid part of your career? Contact us!
