Duty services in Belmont Local Court pilot
EXPRESSION of INTEREST for DUTY LAWYER SERVICES in BELMONT LOCAL COURT
Legal Aid NSW seeks to appoint a Law Practice(s) or consortium for a twelve (12) month pilot of an alternative contract arrangement for private practitioners to undertake legal aid criminal law work, specifically to deliver criminal law duty solicitor services in Belmont Local Court.
The Pilot aims to deliver a consistent, high quality criminal law duty service to Belmont Local Court to better meet the needs of socially and economically disadvantaged clients.
Legal Aid NSW will retain a duty lawyer presence in Belmont Local Court for the life of the pilot and may not operate the BUDS allocation scheme at Belmont for 12 months.
Further information can be found in the Expression of Interest, Service Agreement and Annexures to the Service Agreement. Applications for the expression of interest have now closed.
For any enquiries, please contact Cherie Pittman, Director Legal Services on cherie.pittman@legalaid.nsw.gov.au or (02) 9134 9383.
Amendments
Please be advised that where the EOI and Service Agreement refer to the “General Crime Panel” this should read the “Summary Criminal Law Panel”
Frequently asked questions
Q: What is the minimum and maximum number of defended hearings permitted?
A: This number is not prescribed. It will depend on the capacity of the firm and the detail from the law practice in the expression of interest.
Q: What is the lump sum daily fee payable?
A: The fees are the standard rates for Legal Aid NSW duty services. The daily rate is capped to a maximum of five hours at $850 (plus GST) per day.
Q: What is the administration fee?
A: This fee is to be nominated by the applicant law practice in the expression of interest and is to reflect the amount of time required to undertake the administration of duty files.
Q: Do Legal Aid want a firm to do the roster for all lawyers who are currently on the BUDS scheme?
A: The BUDS scheme will not operate during the 12 month pilot. A law practice or practices will be contracted to do all duty solicitor work at Belmont LC for the 12 month pilot.
Q: Is Legal Aid asking for firms to express their interest in being contracted as the provider/s for the current BUDS service at Belmont?
A: Yes
Q: Is the expression of interest is for a lawyer, or firm, to take over the rostering of Belmont Court? Would Legal Aid have no involvement?
A: It will be a contract to provide all of the duty lawyer services at Belmont LC including defended hearings if there was capacity. Legal Aid will have a nominal role in the duty work as a back up (if that was ever required).