Checklist · Legal Aid & Community Legal Practice
Duty lawyer brief and appearance note (NSW Local Court criminal list)
Brief for a Legal Aid NSW Local Court duty appearance: what the scheme covers, means and verification limits, and a file note of what was done and what was refused.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Australia, New South Wales
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the authority it cites, for Australia and New South Wales.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use on the morning of a rostered Local Court criminal duty list, and again before leaving court, so the file shows who was seen, what was in scope, and what application was lodged.
Used for these tasks
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may turn the court list and charge sheets into a first brief. The lawyer decides who is assisted, the plea and what is said to the court.
AI may
- Build a list of names, charges and sequence numbers from the court list and charge sheets
- Flag matters that the guidelines put outside duty scope, for the lawyer to confirm
- Leave a blank file-note row for each person the lawyer sees
AI must not
- Must not advise a plea, a bail proposal or a sentence submission
- Must not decide that a person meets the means test
- Must not appear, or draft words for the lawyer to say, in a defended hearing or a committal
The lawyer checks
- The appearance is inside guideline 13 (guilty plea that can be dealt with summarily, bail, mention or adjournment) and is not a defended hearing, a committal, or a matter that needs a disbursement
- Adult means are applied except on a first bail application, and Children's Court duty is treated as not means tested, as the guidelines state
- Verification documents are sighted before any later appearance. The first appearance may proceed without them
- The client has signed the duty application form, and a grant is lodged where the guidelines say the duty solicitor must lodge one
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
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- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Legal Aid & Community Legal Practice
- Application for legal aid (Legal Aid NSW): guide to helping a client apply
- Merit and means assessment table for a grant of legal aid (NSW)
- Plain-language letter of advice after a one-off advice appointment
- Client consent and authority to obtain information from a third party (Centrelink, a bank, a landlord or an agency)
- Extension request: work already done and the further work sought (Legal Aid NSW)
- Limited-scope (unbundled) retainer letter in plain language
- Community legal centre intake, safety and conflict-check form
- Warm referral to another service, with the client's consent to share information
- End-of-service (file closing) letter in plain language
- Appeal to the Legal Aid Review Panel against a refusal or termination of legal aid (NSW)
- Checklist: code a service to the National Legal Assistance Data Standards before reporting
- Sign-off checklist for AI-assisted self-help factsheets and kits
- Client notice and choice: AI-assisted notes, summaries and translation (plain language)
All precedents for Legal Aid & Community Legal Practice · Tasks and AI use in this area