Annual Report 2021 - 2022
Private lawyers
Legal Aid NSW works in partnership with private lawyers, who receive funding from us to represent legally aided clients in assigned matters.
Private lawyers are appointed to Legal Aid NSW panels under the Legal Aid Commission Act 1979 (NSW). This year, private lawyers provided 71.2% of all casework services, and 41% of all duty lawyer services. Further details appear in Appendix 5.
Total panel members
| 2017–2018 | 2,146 |
| 2018–2019 | 2,184 |
| 2019–2020 | 2,152 |
| 2020–2021 | 1,521 |
| 2021–2022 | 1,474 |
| Number of private lawyers on Legal Aid NSW panels 2021–2022* | |
|---|---|
| General panels | |
| General Civil Law Panel | 357 |
| General Family Law Panel | 623 |
| Summary Criminal Law Panel | 1,110 |
| Specialist panels | |
| Appellate Criminal Law Barrister Panel | 82 |
| Care and Protection Panel | 157 |
| Children’s Criminal Law Panel | 470 |
| Complex Criminal Law Barrister Panel | 189 |
| Domestic Violence Panel | 508 |
| Independent Children’s Lawyer Panel | 129 |
| Indictable Criminal Law Panel | 613 |
| Indictable Criminal Law Barrister Panel | 189 |
| Mental Health Advocacy Panel | 357 |
*Some lawyers are active members of more than one panel.
Figures include current active panel members whose appointment start dates were before 30 June 2022.
The lawyers who sit on our panels
Where our panel lawyers are located*
*Based on the panel member’s primary office location.
Monitoring quality and supporting private lawyers
We have continued to implement our Private Lawyer Quality Framework, which was created to improve our engagement with private lawyers undertaking legal aid work and to drive and monitor quality to ensure our clients receive great legal services.
Review of fees paid to private lawyers
On 1 July 2021, the base hourly rate in state matters increased from $160 to $170. Fees not based on the hourly rate increased by 6.25%. This was the second of four annual increases following on from the allocation of $87.7 million by the NSW Government in November 2019.
We also introduced a new fee scale for assigned lawyers and counsel appearing in high risk offender matters.
Audits
We undertake audits to ensure compliance with the Legal Aid NSW Quality Standards. Where issues of non-compliance are identified, we may take no action, offer support and/or training, conduct follow-up audits, or in cases of serious non-compliance, may remove a law practice from panels.
Total audits completed in 2021–2022:
| Quality audits | 6 law practices (20 files) |
| File reviews | 20 law practices (62 files) |
| Spot check audits | 25 law practices |
Regional visits
The Private Lawyer Quality Standards Unit conducted targeted regional visits in 2021–2022 once COVID-19 safety measures were eased to listen to and encourage feedback.
Proactive supports
New content was added to our lawyer education series and the Legal Aid NSW website in 2021–2022 to provide updates and training to private practitioners.
Complaints
We use complaints as the primary mechanism to identify concerns about panel member performance. Since implementing, promoting and embedding our complaints-handling process, the number of complaints received and investigated by our team has increased.
Complaints received:
| 2018 | 65 |
| 2019 | 62 |
| 2020 | 43 |
| January to June 2021 | 156 |
| July 2021 to June 2022 | 311 |
Removals
In 2021–2022 a total of four practitioners were removed from panels due to breaches of the Legal Aid NSW Service Agreement and/or our Quality Standards.
Care and Protection Panel changes
We reviewed the eligibility criteria to represent adults and children in the care and protection system on behalf of Legal Aid NSW. Panel membership now requires mandatory completion of lawyer education series training, as well as completion of the Care and Protection Representing Children Workshop provided by Legal Aid NSW. For practitioners who had never previously been on a care and protection panel, a referee report confirming five years post-admission experience in the care and protection jurisdiction is also required.
These changes were implemented in response to an identified need to give greater focus and support to practitioners in the care and protection jurisdiction. Our clients in this jurisdiction are some of our most disadvantaged and vulnerable, and outcomes can have lifelong or even intergenerational consequences.
The year ahead
- We will continue to support private lawyers through engagement and CPD-accredited training.
- We will review the Legal Aid NSW Panel Service Agreement and our Quality Standards to ensure they remain relevant and consistent.
- We will continue to engage with external and internal stakeholders to develop ways to gather feedback and monitor quality.
- We will continue proactive monitoring through audits and regional visits.
JWe will continue to investigate complaints in accordance with the Quality Management Framework.