We are protectors – we are removing barriers to justice
Our democracy guarantees fair access to justice. LAA works with its network of justice system and community partners to search out new ways to ensure that promise is met.
- Legal Aid Alberta improved service to vulnerable Albertans in sexual assault cases, by providing free legal support for complainants whose sexual history, relevant e-mails or text messages, and medical records may come under scrutiny in a trial. The move protects complainants and helps avoid trials from being delayed.
- We implemented new Early Appearance Advice system to improve access to justice, decrease the number of court appearances before resolution and reduce “churn” in the justice system.
- LAA plays an essential front-line role in Alberta’s expanding network of specialty courts – Mental Health Court, Indigenous Courts and Drug Treatment Court. This year we committed full-time staff duty counsel lawyers at new Drug Treatment Courts in Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Grande Prairie.
- LAA’s presence expanded this year. Staff lawyer D.J. Janjua has taken on the position of duty counsel in Grande Prairie. Born in Edmonton and educated at the University of Victoria, D.J. is responsible for docket and serves as LAA staff duty counsel in the new Drug Treatment Court.
#everychildmatters
- We continue to pursue innovative partnerships with Indigenous groups across Alberta to improve access to justice for the Indigenous clients we serve. We are working together to find ways LAA can support new initiatives in child welfare law, family courts and in simply being able to connect with LAA when even tried and true technologies such as phone and Internet are not viable options.
We took huge strides in improving the way we serve our clients, the quality of the service we bring to the table, and processes that sustain excellence.
- With the creation of the new Criminal Trial Group, LAA is combining the expertise of youth and adult criminal trial lawyers to improve access to justice for disadvantaged Albertans. The Criminal Trial Group lets us focus our lawyers’ expertise on vulnerable clients. This includes coverage under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as well as some clients who have not indicated a choice of counsel, who come to us with challenges and barriers that require the skills and experience of our staff lawyers to have the best possible access to justice. The Criminal Trial Group prioritizes needs-based representation instead of age or location.
- LAA also established specialized panels of roster lawyers with interest, aptitude, and experience in three important areas: representing young people facing criminal charges; representing children in high-conflict parenting matters; and representing complainants and other witnesses who have the right to respond to applications in criminal prosecutions – in most cases, involving sexual offences trails in which the complainant’s medical or sexual history comes into question.
“People working here genuinely believe in making a difference in society, and that opportunity arises every day.”
– Andrew Holko, staff duty counsel
Creation of these panels increases the quality of representation, allows a select group of staff and roster lawyers to gain more experience in a unique area of practice, and ensures lawyers taking these files have the specialized training and experience to assist vulnerable clients.
- Notable service improvements have been seen with the implementation of a new Interactive Voice Response system to help prioritize and direct callers and by migrating our telephone systems to a new Telus platform.
The IVR system interacts with our callers through a recorded message and the caller responds by pressing a number for an option connecting them to a team member. Clients in custody, under the age of 18, those making a new application or calling for Early Appearance Assistance will have their calls prioritized. We have included messaging while callers are on hold to provide them with the information needed to decide whether to stay on hold or speak to a team member at all. Since September 15, when the service began operating, we have taken in more than 1,000 EAA calls.
“I spend most of my days in the courtroom helping vulnerable Albertans during their darkest times.”
– student at law Guillaume Fogarty-Greenshaw
The Telus platform enhances the client experience with technology that avoids phone system shutdowns and reduces dropped calls. Additionally, Telus is a best-in-class service provider that now manages the back end of our technology platform for the contact centre.
- A new online Help Centre has been added to the LAA website, improving services to clients, supporting agencies, and roster lawyers. The Help Centre speeds service by providing answers at the click of a mouse. The centre covers everything from financial eligibility guidelines to selecting a lawyer and services for lawyers.
- A new approach to triage and responding to client concerns. Beginning this year, LAA formalized a process to evaluate and respond to client concerns and ensure that learnings from those concerns fed into business improvements.
We have established specific pathways, timelines, and deadlines to ensure complaints are responded to and resolved in a timely manner. These concerns generally fall into three areas: complaints about legal services received; complaints about a roster lawyer’s billing; and third-party complaints about LAA clients who may not be financially eligible to receive services.
The impact of this new approach has been impressive. From Jan. 1 – Nov. 30, 2021, we received 449 client concerns – 228 were resolved the same day they were received. The average processing time of a client concern from receipt to resolution in 2021 is 5.3 days.
We are accountable to Albertans
Our dedication to organizational excellence has grown alongside our commitment to supporting disadvantaged Albertans facing the most challenging of circumstances. We are independent – and accountable to Albertans. In 2021 we continued important behind-the-scenes improvements to sustain and support our people and our mission.
- In a typical year, LAA’s team of roster lawyers bill about $70 million representing clients on certificates. As part of our commitment to continuous improvement and accountability, we identified the need for a formal agreement with roster lawyers as a strategic priority. Following consultations with legal profession stakeholders, we created a Roster Agreement spelling out key rules that already exist and helps eliminate any uncertainties about a roster lawyer’s legal relationship with LAA. More than two-thirds of our 1,200 roster lawyers have signed the contract.
“My life was in danger. I felt protected and had peace of mind.”
– Muhanad Shaukat, refugee claimant
- LAA is fortunate to have recruited three new board members this year. Catherine Braeuer, Brad Pickering, and Kent Teskey, QC, have been appointed to three-year terms on Legal Aid Alberta’s board of directors – each brings unique and valuable backgrounds, experiences and perspectives to our organization. Directors are ambassadors for LAA and provide oversight of the organization and give guidance to the leadership team.