Free legal aid applications up by 20% as unemployment rises

APPLICATIONS to the Legal Aid Board increased by almost a fifth last year with more people qualifying for aid because they lost their job.

The Legal Aid Board (LAB) Annual Report for 2008 also showed a 21% increase in the number of individual clients who registered for refugee legal services last year, as well as an increase in overall caseload and a rise in the number of cases processed by the board’s Private Practitioner Service. The growth in demand has led to longer waiting times for clients. LAB CEO Moling Ryan said that while just one of the organisation’s 31 centres last year had waiting times of a maximum of four months, as of this month, up to eight centres have seen average waiting times extend to four months and beyond.

He also said the number of applications this year is up 23% compared with the same time last year. The LAB provides advice and where required, legal representation in courts.