To protect your ability to end services to your client when the available hours have been used, consider taking the following steps:
- Use a retainer agreement that clearly sets out the scope of your services and confirms your intention to end services once your LSS retainer ends.
- Review the BC Code of Professional Conduct on withdrawal from representation and consider keeping a signed Notice of Intention to Act in Person in your file.
- Keep your client informed about the limitations of your retainer and regularly review the available hours with them.
- Consider preparing your clients to take steps on their own when the retainer ends and helping them use the Family Law website or other available resources.
- Seek authorization for extended services in a timely manner in order to protect your ability to withdraw as counsel. We suggest you review the status of the case at least two months prior to any scheduled hearing.
When LSS introduced the simplified Family Tariff in 2010, a number of preparation items that existed under the prior tariff were combined into one block of general preparation hours. Our intention is to provide you with the flexibility to determine priorities and best strategies to resolve your client’s issues. This approach requires that you manage the available hours carefully. You should expect that the hours available in the initial referral are all that will be provided, except for clearly exceptional cases.
An important goal of the simplification process was to create greater certainty regarding the cost of each referral. But, unexpectedly, family tariff spending has increased significantly with the simplified tariff. An increase of $2.1 million from the government to fund family cases has helped LSS to manage pressures on the tariff, but the upward trend of family tariff spending continues.
To manage demand for our services, we’re restricting the number of cases we approve under our discretionary coverage (exception review) and the number of authorizations we approve for extended services. In 2011/12, approximately 22 exception reviews were approved each month. This number has been reduced to approximately 8 per month in 2013/14.
We appreciate your continued efforts in helping to meet the challenge of making the best use of available funds and managing client expectations.