September 12, 2024: LAA systems temporarily unavailable or limited use from Sept. 18-23
What is happening?
Some of Legal Aid Alberta’s central technology systems, including the Lawyer Portal and DC Portal, will be temporarily unavailable or have limited functionality from 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18, through to 7 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 23.
We are conducting a ground-to-cloud data migration, which is essential to ensure the continued performance, reliability, and security of our systems.
LAA is open as usual during this period. We are taking all necessary steps to minimize the impact on clients. Phone lines are open during regular business hours, and we’re still taking applications. However, offers will not be issued during the maintenance window.
What systems will be impacted for roster lawyers?
System | What to expect |
Lawyer Portal | Unavailable |
Duty Counsel Portal | Limited functionality |
Shiftboard | Available, certificates for new shifts will be generated once systems are restored. |
Client Gateway | Available, applications will be processed once systems are restored. |
When will the systems go offline, and when will they be restored?
Offline: Wednesday, Sept. 18 @ 6 p.m.
Restored: Monday, Sept. 23 @ 7 a.m.
What to expect during the outage
Starting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18, you cannot log into the Lawyer Portal. While offline, no new offers will be issued, and you cannot submit invoices or authorization requests.
If you are a roster duty counsel or JP Bail lawyer, you will receive an additional email next week with specifics on the impact of this outage on the Duty Counsel Portal.
What to expect post-outage
Once the systems are back online on Sept. 23, you will receive certificate offers again and can resume invoicing and authorization requests as usual.
Duty counsel can resume checking the Duty Counsel Portal for the latest updates on clients’ applications and certificates.
To access Lawyer Portal, you will be required to set up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
To support you with this change, we’ve posted detailed steps on getting started with MFA, an FAQ, and a video tutorial on Roster Resources.
If you have any questions or need support, please contact [email protected].
Thank you for your understanding.
September 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.
In recognition of this, Legal Aid Alberta offices will close early to the public on Monday, September 30 to allow our LAA teams to meaningfully reflect on our role in reconciliation.
Services resume at normal hours October 1.
A strong lawyer-client relationship is vital to arriving at the best possible outcome for clients. To help ensure these relationships run smoothly for both lawyers and clients, we offer these tips to help avoid issues that can become harmful to this relationship.
Among the strategies we suggest in dealing with difficult client relationships: having a separate retainer letter, making sure your client understands which specific legal issues are covered by the certificate, establishing rules of communication, creating a list of resources that clients can access, and more. Click here for more details and more tips.
