Preferred supplier newsletter — October 2023
This month:
Changes to the Court Liaison Service
The state-wide coordinator of the Court Liaison Service (CLS) will implement new initiatives to address significant delays experienced in the provision of CLS reports in the Magistrates Court effective from 6 November.
Expression of Interest – Criminal Law Duty Lawyer Intensive 7-8 December 2023
Legal Aid Queensland is pleased to launch this expression of interest for participation in a 2-day criminal law duty lawyer intensive to be conducted by Legal Aid Queensland at the head office in Brisbane at 44 Herschel Street on the 7 and 8 December 2023.
As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting our preferred supplier law firms, LAQ will be opening up the training to law firms in South East Queensland, that is, firms from Maroochydore to Toowoomba to Southport inclusive, and areas in between.
It is not necessary to already hold any duty lawyer accreditation to attend the training. The training is aimed at improving the duty lawyer skills of early career lawyers. The course runs over two days and covers relevant topics such as bail, sentencing, ethics, mental health, and Childrens Court matters. Presenters are drawn from a range of experienced criminal law practitioners and judicial officers. The course also involves a practical advocacy component where participants will have an opportunity to take part in mock advocacy exercises and receive feedback from experienced criminal law counsel. Due to the nature of the training, it is only offered face-to-face. The training is free of charge to lawyers in our preferred supplier law firms. Participants may claim a significant number of CPD points.
Due to the nature of the training, numbers will be strictly capped and not all applicants will be able to attend. Depending on the interest and success of the training, LAQ will look at delivering more criminal law duty lawyer training opportunities for other regional locations in future.
To express your interest, please complete the EOI form and return it by COB on 6 November 2023 to the Coordinator Duty Lawyer Services at criminallaw.dutylawyer@legalaid.qld.gov.au
If you have any queries, please email criminallaw.dutylawyer@legalaid.qld.gov.au or phone 3917 0404.
Publications and resources
LAQ produces more than 100 publications and resources from factsheets to posters, brochures, wallet cards and comprehensive legal information guides on a range of topics. You can check out the publications on the LAQ website and they can be ordered online at no cost.
For more information about our publications or to order copies of the duty lawyer session report form, email publications@legalaid.qld.gov.au .
Continuing professional development (CPD)
Looking for professional development opportunities to boost your CPD points? Many of our CPD seminars are recorded and available on Grants Online under the Information Resources tab.
Feedback
We welcome feedback and comments from clients, the community and our suppliers. As preferred suppliers you play an important role in helping us to provide quality legal services to disadvantaged Queenslanders. If you would like to provide comments or suggestions about our services, policies, processes or staff members, you can complete a contact form or email us at complaints@legalaid.qld.gov.au at any time. We ensure a senior staff member investigates all issues thoroughly and we also analyse all feedback regularly to improve our policies, processes and services. View our Feedback and Complaints Policy.