Appendix I: Glossary
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Adult refers to persons 18 years of age and older.
Appeal refers to an appeal of a lower court or administrative tribunal decision, not an appeal of a refused application. Each application is counted despite the fact that the matter may have been dealt with by the plan in the past.
Application refers to a formal request, evidenced in writing, whereby a person applies to a legal aid office for assistance. When aggregated, the total number of applications reflects the number of individual requests for summary and full service assistance, rather than the total number of persons seeking assistance. Formal requests for assistance are recorded on the intake document used by the legal aid office. Related legal matters enumerated at the time of contact with the office are included on one application, regardless of the requirement for a court appearance. If a matter related to that on the original application arises at a later date (other than an appeal), a new application is not filed. Separate applications are counted for criminal and civil matters. The total number of applications reported for the fiscal year includes all such applications filed during that time, irrespective of when the application was approved or rejected. The count excludes requests for duty counsel services.
Approved application for full service refers to an application for legal assistance which is granted as described in a certificate, referral, or any other authorization denoting that the applicant is entitled to legal aid services. Once an application is approved for full service, it is not subsequently counted as a summary service although in some cases relatively little service may be required to fulfil the request. This count measures the number of units of service rather than the number of persons assisted, and is mutually exclusive of all summary service (including written legal opinions) and duty counsel services.
Approved application for summary services refers to the provision of legal advice, information, or any other type of minimal legal service to an individual during a formal interview. It can include simple legal tasks such as making a telephone call or drafting a letter on behalf of a client. Excluded are inquiries made at the "front desk" of the legal aid office or telephone ("hot-line") inquiries. Summary services are provided to individuals in two circumstances: a written request has been submitted at the office, or a verbal request has been made. Only written requests are included in the count. No file is opened for the client who is provided summary services. This count excludes: any application which requested extensive legal assistance (full service) but received summary service upon refusal; applications originally approved for full service but subsequently rendered summary services; and duty counsel services. The count measures the number of units of service provided rather than the number of persons assisted.
Central administrative expenditures include monies spent on head office functions and on offices that do not employ staff to advise and represent clients.
Client contributions refer to monies received from the aided person for legal assistance; flat user fees are included.
Contributions of the legal profession refer to monies received from the law profession other than trust account interest reported separately.
Cost recoveries refer to the party costs ordered or agreed to be recovered in the case. They include monies recovered from a judgement, award or settlement.
Coverage restrictions refer to applications refused on the grounds that the legal matter is not covered by the Legal Aid Plan.
Criminal duty counsel refers to services in criminal matters that are generally provided at a court or place of detention.
Direct legal service expenditures are the sum of payments made to private law firms and the costs of legal service delivery by Plan staff. These expenditures include monies spent on the provision of legal advice and representation services to clients including special target groups. All law office and contracted community clinic expenses are included (i.e., staff salaries, benefits and overhead expenses). Central administrative expenses and other expenses of the Plan are excluded.
Direct legal service staff refers to persons whose primary function is to deliver legal assistance and/or legal representation directly to clients. Notaries are included in the staff lawyer count. Paralegals are included in the non-lawyer count.
Duty counsel services refer to legal services provided without charge by a lawyer at a location other than a legal aid office, where the person assisted had not previously applied in writing for services to be rendered. Cases coming before a circuit court are typically provided duty counsel services. Consequently, circuit court cases are included in the duty counsel service count rather than in the approved application count. Only circuit court matters granted a delay are included in the approved application count. The provision of duty counsel services does not bar the recipient from subsequent application for legal aid services. This count measures the number of times duty counsel services were provided rather than the number of persons assisted, and is mutually exclusive of both the summary service and approved application counts.
Expenditures refer to the actual gross dollars expended by the Plan in a given fiscal year. Expenditures made on behalf of the Plan by other agencies are not included. Total expenditures are the sum of expenditures on direct legal service, other program expenditures, central administrative expenditures and any other expenditure.
External project expenditures (included in ‘Other program expenditures’) refer to monies expended by the Plan on projects undertaken external to the Plan (e.g. university clinics). Note that funding of community clinics is not included here.
Family matters refer to proceedings related to divorce, separation, support, custody/access, mediation, wardship/child protection, adoption, change of name and all other matters of a family law nature.
Federal government contribution to criminal legal aid refers to monies contributed by the Department of Justice.
Financial ineligibility refers to a refusal for legal aid based on some financial information disclosed by the applicant pertaining to his/her income, assets and liabilities.
Government contributions figures are reported by the legal aid plans and refer to both federal and provincial/ territorial monies allocated to the Plan through the provincial or territorial government. A detailed breakdown of federal contributions made through the separate federal/provincial or territorial cost-sharing agreements to criminal adult legal aid, young offender legal aid and civil legal aid are not reported to the Legal Aid Survey since monies are generally directed to the consolidated revenue fund of the province and not to the Plans directly.
Interprovincial Reciprocity Agreement refers to the informal agreement among Legal Aid Plans in Canada to handle non-resident civil dossiers. Under the terms of the agreement, applicants must request legal aid in their province or territory of residence rather than in the province or territory where the legal recourse is sought. An approved application is then forwarded to the Plan which will provide the legal aid service. Incoming dossiers refer to the number of applications approved for civil legal aid by other provincial or territorial Plans and forwarded to the Plan for service. Outgoing dossiers refer to the number of applications for civil legal aid that are approved by the Plan and then forwarded to other provincial or territorial Plans for service.
Lack of merit refers to applications refused because the nature of the case or the seriousness of the matter does not warrant legal assistance.
Legal research expenditures (included in ‘Other program expenditures’) refer to monies expended by the Plan for conducting research related to legal matters. This component excludes the cost of maintaining libraries.
Legal research staff (included in ‘Other staff’) refers to persons working within a specific program area conducting research related to legal matters. This excludes persons maintaining Plan libraries.
Non-compliance/abuse refers to a refusal for legal aid based on either an applicant's prior or current experience with the Plan. These refusals include applications where similar services were already rendered; services applied for are abusive of the legal process; or failure to cooperate with the legal aid lawyer.
Number of private bar lawyers who provided services includes those active members of the private bar who actually delivered legal services and billed the Plan during the fiscal year. Active bar members include the total number of lawyers certified and insured to practice in the jurisdiction. Government employed and legal aid staff lawyers are excluded. Notaries are included in the total counts provided.
Other expenditures refer to any other monies expended by the Plan on functions not accounted for in any other expenditure category (e.g. capital expenditures).
Other civil matters refer to all other civil proceedings which are not of a family nature such as landlord-tenant disputes, worker’s compensation claims, Canada Pension Plan issues, social assistance, consumer protection, employment insurance appeals, foreclosures and bankruptcy.
Other program expenditures includes monies spent on external project expenditures, legal research activities, public legal education and grants to other agencies.
Other reasons refer to reasons for refusing an application other than financial ineligibility. Other reasons may include: coverage restrictions, lack of merit or non-compliance/abuse.
Other revenues refer to revenues that have not already been accounted for in any other revenue category. The other category may include, among others, revenues from investments, research sales, and general interest earnings.
Other staff refers to persons whose primary function does not involve the provision of legal advice and/or representation directly to clients; for example, lawyers performing primarily administrative functions, article clerks, accountants, librarians, law students, clerical staff, public legal education staff, and legal research staff.
Personnel resources refer to the actual number of staff employed by the Plan, as of March 31st. These data are broken down in two ways: by type of service provided and by type of personnel. The type of personnel on staff with the Plans are divided into: lawyer and non-lawyer counts. Staff lawyers refer to lawyers who are hired by the Legal Aid Plan to work from the legal aid office. Salaries are paid by the Plan.
Private law firm expenditures include fees and disbursements, together with other specific costs (e.g. travel expenses) incurred by private lawyers for the provision of legal services to legal aid clients.
Provincial and territorial contributions refer to monies contributed by the provinces and territories to the Legal Aid Plans.
Provincial and territorial matters refer to those offences under provincial or territorial statutory responsibility. Also included are infractions under municipal by-laws.
Public legal education expenditures (included in ‘Other program expenditures’) refer to monies expended by the Plan on preventive law programs, educational programs and publicity.
Public legal education staff (included in ‘Other staff’) refers to persons working within a specific program area conducting preventive law programs, educational programs and/or publicity.
Refused applications refer to all formal requests for legal aid evidenced in writing that have been denied legal services. This total includes applications for which no services have been approved, as well as those applications denied for full service that subsequently receive summary service. An application can be refused, appealed and still refused. Only the initial refusal is counted. Reasons for refusal are a product of legislative and policy restrictions. If an application involves two reasons for refusal, the most important is counted as the main reason.
Revenue refers to all monies received directly by the Legal Aid Plan during a given fiscal year. Funds received for specific projects from agencies external to the Plan are not included as revenue.
Staff direct legal service expenditures include monies spent on the provision of legal advice and representation services by Plan staff to clients, including special target groups. All law office and contracted community clinic expenses are included (i.e. staff salaries, benefits, and overhead expenses). These expenditures include, for example, professional and support staff salaries and benefits, legal disbursements and overhead costs of direct legal service offices. Associated overhead includes the cost of office supplies, equipment and maintenance, conferences, meetings, membership expenses, rent, etc. Central administrative expenses and other expenses (e.g. capital expenditures) are excluded.
Summary service refers to the provision of legal advice, information, or any other type of minimal legal service to an individual during a formal interview. It can include simple legal tasks such as making a telephone call or drafting a letter on behalf of a client. Excluded are inquiries made at the "front desk" of the legal aid office, or telephone ("hot line") inquiries. Summary services are provided to individuals in two circumstances: a written request has been submitted at the office, or a verbal request has been made. A written request refers to a request of assistance as evidenced by the completion of a legal aid application. A verbal request refers to a request by a non-applicant made in-person at a legal aid office or by telephone to a direct legal service professional. Only written requests are included in the count. Summary services may be provided to fulfil the request itself or follow the refusal of a written request for more extensive legal service (full-service). Once an application is approved for full service, it is not subsequently included in a summary service count although relatively little service may be provided. Also, no file (dossier) is opened for the client provided summary services. Summary service counts measure the number of units of service provided rather than the number of persons assisted, and are mutually exclusive of both the approved full service application and duty counsel counts.
Youth refers to persons who are 12 years of age or older, but under 18 years of age under federal and provincial statutes. Two provinces (Ontario and Nova Scotia) have designated maximum age for youth at 15 years of age for most provincial/municipal matters.
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