2. Appeal Legal Aid’s decision or re-apply if needed
Question & Answer
Do I have the right to a lawyer in my child protection case?If Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) rejects your application for a Legal Aid Certificate, you get a refusal notice with information on how to appeal.
To means that you disagree with the decision and want to ask someone with more authority to review it.
If you want to appeal, you usually need to send certain information to LAO within 15 days after you get LAO's decision. The notice says what information you have to send and where to send your appeal to. You have to send this information by mail.
Your appeal is decided based on the papers you send only.
If you want to ask the court for an order saying the government has to pay for your lawyer, you must appeal LAO's decision.
Re-applying
If LAO refused your application because your income was too high, and your income goes down after you applied, you can try again. Contact LAO and ask them to reconsider your application based on your current income.