Triennial Review of Legal Aid

Current state

Claiming for legal aid

Legal aid lawyers are required to keep accurate records of all work done and expenses incurred, including dates, descriptions of services, and time spent. Lawyers submit their claim detailing the work undertaken on the case either once the legal aid assignment is completed, or throughout the case.

In fixed fee legal aid cases, lawyers are paid fixed amounts for completing activities specified in the relevant schedule.  In non-fixed fee cases, lawyers are paid on an hourly basis to a maximum number of hours for specific steps in the case.  

Amendments to grant

Where significant additional work is required in a legal aid case the lawyer can apply for an amendment to grant (ATG) for funding and disbursements to complete further work on the case.

ATGs are high volume, with 43,785 ATGs approved in 2023/24, a 79% increase from 2019/20 where 24,410 ATGs were approved.

Timeframes and forms

Invoices and ATG requests are submitted on prescribed forms which are available in a Word template or PDF formats.

The Legal Services Regulations 2011 outline that all legal aid invoices must be submitted within six months after the date that services are provided or after the task is completed in fixed fee cases.

ATGs made after the final disposition must be made within 15 working days of the final disposition.

Problem or opportunity

The Law Society’s 2021 Access to Justice survey[1] found that 47% of those not interested in providing legal aid cited administrative burden as a primary reason. For the 25% of current legal aid providers who were planning to do less legal aid work, 37% of them cite administrative burden as a reason for this.

Legal aid lawyers often cite the processes for amending grants and justifying additional funding as onerous and time consuming.[2] Issues have also been raised with invoicing processes and forms.

There are concerns that timeframes for some processes, such as submitting invoices and ATGs, are unreasonably tight.  

What we are considering

Reducing the administrative burden associated with legal aid could include:

• Changes to the level of information required for legal aid applications.
• Changing the fixed fees to limit the need for ATGs.
• Increased pre-approval of some disbursements.
• Improving invoicing processes.
• Facilitating easier access to Legal Aid Services staff.  

Initial analysis

Reducing administrative requirements for legal aid may help to retain existing legal aid providers and encourage them to take on more cases. It could also encourage other lawyers to become legal aid providers.

Any changes to administrative processes must balance the need for efficient processes with the responsible management of public money. 

The Ministry also needs to ensure that the service provided to legal aid clients is of good quality and that costs incurred by legal aid lawyers are fair and reasonable. This will need to be considered when making any changes to administrative processes.