Newfoundland and Labrador
Association of School System Administrators
Legal Assistance
Legal assistance necessitated by employee-employer relations shall refer to
direct costs for a lawyer, to court costs, or to costs for alternate dispute
resolution services. Costs for travel and accommodations for the member are
not covered under this policy.
Guidelines
Stage 1
a.
Requests for legal assistance shall be made in writing.
b.
The President and at least one other member of the Executive
shall decide whether assistance is granted. When the President is
involved in the dispute, a Vice-President shall serve in President’s
stead.
c.
Legal assistance at this stage shall be provided on a cost-shared
basis, with the Association covering 90% of the cost up to a
maximum of 6 billable hours. If the matter is a test case, each
additional person will be provided 1 hour of legal assistance up to
a maximum of 6 hours.
d.
The Executive shall be briefed by the appropriate legal counsel as
the matter proceeds.
Stage 2
a.
Before granting additional support, the Executive shall receive a
written report from the appropriate legal counsel.
b.
Upon receipt of the written report, the Executive may approve
financial assistance on a cost-shared basis, with the Association
covering 90% of the cost up to a maximum of $5000.00. The
Executive shall be briefed by the appropriate legal counsel on each
request for disbursement.
Stage 3
•
After the amounts granted under Stages 1 and 2 have been
exhausted, the Association, upon the recommendation of the
Executive and by majority vote of the membership, may grant such
additional legal assistance as deemed necessary by the
membership.
Appeal
Decisions rendered by the Executive under Stages 1 and 2 may be appealed to
the membership during a duly constituted general meeting.
The following section on Maintenance of the Legal Fund was passed at AGM
June 2001.
Recovery of Legal Costs
The following principles will guide the Executive in decisions affecting funds
disbursed for legal costs:
1.
All legal costs will be sought in court action.
2.
Two percent of the financial settlement shall be returned to the fund,
but in no case shall this amount exceed the legal costs of the
settlement.
3.
The repayment terms shall not extend to salary or pensionable
income beyond the first year of any repayment schedule.