Legal Aid Team Serves 40% More Clients with Quillio
A regional NSW Legal Aid office uses Quillio across its criminal, family, and care and protection practices to prepare case summaries, research sentencing authority, and draft submissions for Children's Court care proceedings under the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW). The team increased client capacity by 40% — serving 280 additional clients per year — without additional funding or staff.
What they were trying to solve
Legal Aid offices operate under chronic resource constraints. This regional office serves a catchment of 180,000 people with 6 solicitors covering criminal duty, family law grants, and care and protection matters. Solicitors routinely carried 60+ open files each. Case preparation consumed evenings and weekends, and the office was declining meritorious grant applications due to capacity. Wait times for family law appointments exceeded 6 weeks.
Why Quillio
Quillio assists across all three practice areas. In criminal law, it researches sentencing ranges and prepares Local Court submissions. In family law, it analyses financial disclosure for property matters and drafts parenting order submissions. In care and protection, it reviews the Department of Communities and Justice casework and produces submissions for care proceedings in the Children's Court, addressing the paramount consideration of the safety, welfare, and wellbeing of the child under s9 of the Care and Protection Act.
Implementation
The office manager introduced Quillio to 2 solicitors initially — one criminal, one care and protection. After 3 weeks of parallel running, the remaining solicitors and paralegals adopted it. Total rollout took under 6 weeks with minimal disruption to caseloads.
Measurable outcomes
40% increase in client capacity across all practice areas
Average preparation time per matter halved across criminal, family, and care
Appointment wait times reduced as solicitors cleared backlogs faster
Solicitors report significantly less evening and weekend case preparation
Office now accepts meritorious grants it previously declined due to capacity
Children's Court submission preparation time more than halved
"Our clients are the people who can't afford a private lawyer — and we were turning some of them away because we didn't have enough hours in the day. Quillio gave us those hours back. We're serving 280 more people a year with the same six solicitors."
How it works in practice
Criminal sentencing research and Local Court submissions, family law financial disclosure analysis and parenting submissions, Children's Court care and protection submissions under the Care and Protection Act 1998, grant application triage, and duty solicitor case preparation.
What they avoided
Continuing to decline meritorious grant applications, burning out solicitors with unsustainable after-hours work, applying for additional government funding with uncertain outcomes, or reducing service quality to increase throughput.
Case study FAQs
Is Quillio suitable for Legal Aid and community legal centres?
Yes — Legal Aid offices and CLCs are among the strongest use cases for Quillio because they need to maximise the number of clients served with limited resources. The time savings translate directly into additional people helped.
Can it handle care and protection matters?
Yes — Quillio reviews DCJ casework, analyses the factual matrix against the grounds for care orders under the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW), and drafts Children's Court submissions addressing the paramount consideration under s9.
Does it work for duty solicitor preparation?
Yes — Quillio can prepare a case summary and sentencing research brief in minutes, which is particularly valuable for duty solicitors who often meet clients on the morning of court.
How does it handle sensitive client information?
Quillio processes data securely and does not retain client information after the session. Legal Aid offices should review Quillio's security documentation against their own information security policies before deployment.
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