Become a legal aid lawyer

Application Guidelines and criteria for providing legal aid services or specified legal services

You can only provide legal aid services if you’ve been approved and entered into an agreement with the Secretary to do so.

To be approved, you must provide sufficient information to satisfy the criteria set out in the Legal Services Act 2011 and the Legal Services (Quality Assurance) Regulations 2011.

Before you apply, please take the time to read the Applying to be a legal aid provider – Step-by-step guide. This guide will help you to determine what sections of the form you need to complete and what supporting documents you need to provide. It also provides information about the application process and what to expect.

Prescribed Manner

All applications need to be completed digitally using the below PDF forms and submitted electronically by email to legalaidprovider@justice.govt.nz along with any supporting information. 

To read and complete PDF files from our website, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download this software free of charge from the Adobe website.

Get Acrobat Reader for Windows, MacOS, Linux(external link)  or Xpdf for Linux(external link)

Before you begin filling in the PDF form, open it and save it to your computer.  Once you have completed the form save it again before sending it to us.

We recommend you keep your application to 150 pages or less.  

Applying to be a legal aid provider - Step-by-step guide [PDF, 501 KB]

Application to provide legal aid services [PDF, 1.4 MB]

Additional case example coversheet [PDF, 1.3 MB]

Additional reference declaration [PDF, 1.5 MB]

Firm undertaking [PDF, 954 KB]

Examples of client care letters [PDF, 64 KB]

Contract for services [PDF, 475 KB]

Application for internal review [PDF, 2.1 MB]

Areas of law

Applicants can apply to provide legal aid services in the following areas of law:

  • Criminal
  • Parole Board
  • Family
  • Civil
  • Mental Health
  • Refugee and Protected Persons
  • Māori Land Court and Māori Appellate Court
  • Waitangi Tribunal
  • Court of Appeal and Supreme Court
  • Employment Advocate (non-lawyers who are members of the Employment Law Institute of New Zealand can apply).

Applicants can also apply for approval to provide the following specified legal services:

  • Duty Lawyer
  • Police Detention Legal Assistance Service (PDLA)
  • Family Legal Advice Service (FLAS).

Types of approval

There are different types of approval depending on your level of legal experience and the circumstances of your application.

Lead provider approval is granted to applicants who can demonstrate they have the knowledge, experience and skill across the area(s) of law they’re approved in. The lead provider is responsible for all work undertaken on the legal aid cases that are assigned to them. The Ministry aims to get you a decision on your lead application within 15 working days.

Supervised provider approval is granted to applicants who haven’t yet demonstrated they have the required knowledge, experience and skill to be approved as a lead provider. The Secretary will grant approval provided the applicant is under the supervision of an approved lead provider. The Ministry aims to get you a decision on your supervised application within 5 working days.

Limited approval is granted to applicants who wish to seek approval for a proceeding or type of proceeding. This approval is granted to provide continuity of services, because of their specialist skills and experience or a shortage of existing providers with the necessary skills and experience. The Ministry aims to get you a decision on your limited application within 15 working days.

Referral to the Selection Committee

All applications for lead provider approval will be referred to the relevant Selection Committee for their consideration and recommendation to the Secretary.

Please note that applications are added to Selection Committee meetings as they are received. A maximum of five applications are considered at each Selection Committee meeting.

To be included in a Selection Committee your complete application must be received at least five working days before the meeting date. If there is insufficient capacity your application will be considered at the next available meeting date.

Additional information on how the Selection Committee assesses applications can also be found here:

Selection Committee guidance [PDF, 423 KB]

A list of the upcoming Selection Committee meetings is below:

Criminal Selection Committee Upcoming Committee Meetings

The Criminal Selection Committee assesses applications for all the following approvals:

Criminal Provider Approval Level 1-4
Police Detention Legal Assistance
Duty Lawyer
Parole Board
Court of Appeal and Supreme Court

21 March 2024 (Full)
28 March 2024 (Full)

4 April 2024
11 April 2024
18 April 2024
24 April 2024

 

 

 Family/Civil Selection Committee  Upcoming Committee Meetings

The Family/Civil Selection Committee assesses applications for all the following approvals:

Family
Family Legal Advice Service
Civil
Mental Health
Employment Advocate
Refugees and Protected Persons
Court of Appeal and Supreme Court

19 March 2024 (Full)
26 March 2024

2 April 2024
9 April 2024
16 April 2024
23 April 2024
30 April 2024

 Waitangi Selection Committee  Upcoming Committee Meetings

The Waitangi Selection Committee assesses applications for all the following approvals:

Waitangi Tribunal
Māori Land Court
Māori Appellate Court

19 April 2024

(This page is updated monthly)