by Tracey Tyler, legal affairs reporter
Source: The Toronto Star
URL: [link]
Date: April 9, 2010

Lawyers representing low-income Ontarians found out by chance this week the province’s legal aid plan has stopped funding civil cases and is urging lawyers to take cases for free in the hope their fees will come from any money a court awards to clients.

The development comes during a time of upheaval at Legal Aid Ontario, with tensions also escalating over the future of Ontario’s 80 legal clinics, which serve the disabled, the elderly, immigrants and aboriginals, among others.

A March 30 memo sent to clinics from the Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario said Bob Ward, chief executive officer of Legal Aid Ontario, has indicated it would “make more sense” if there were only 40 to 50 clinics and feels the clinic system has grown stale, with too much money spent on administration.

Kristian Justesen, a Legal Aid spokesperson, told the Star Friday there is “no plan or idea” to reduce the number of clinics, but noted mergers of some clinics, including two in northern Ontario, have improved services and reduced costs.


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