how does legal aid work?
Question by Anna: how does legal aid work?
Hi, I need to understand how legal aid works in Quebec Canada. When you are approved and get a legal aid certificate, what is this certificate, what does it say? How many free legal hours do you get with this certificate. Also how are these legal aid lawyers paid? What does the government pay these lawyers and for how many hours can they bill the gov’t?
Best answer:
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The certificate frees you to find a lawyer . You give the certificate to the lawyer of your choice and he/she is paid by sending it in with the hours worked.
You get as many free hours as you need. If you murdered someone you could get 2 years of free hours.
The fund is kept afloat by contributions from lawyers and the govt. The lawyers get half of what they would get from a paying client.
Lawyers are also the ones who take turns being the Public Defender .