Legal aid firms told to claim £100 million in outstanding fees

Legal aid firms are being urged to claim a potential £100 million in unbilled fees as they try to weather the effects of the coronavirus crisis, a minister reported in early May.

Justice Minister Alex Chalk MP appeared before the House of Commons justice committee, explaining that the Legal Aid Agency’s workforce has quadrupled to handle fee claims. “If you haven’t billed your case, please do get on and bill it, because there is something like over £100 million worth of work that has been completed but unbilled, which there are now four times as many staff to get through”, Chalk urged.

According to the minister there is an additional £140 million available through a hardship scheme, which entitles all crown court representatives to submit a payment claim for work on a case they have been doing for at least one month and are unlikely to receive final payment in the next three months. Only 16 hardship payment claims have been made so far.

Recent research from the Law Society found that more than 50% of all legal practices in England and Wales were at risk, with legal aid practices being particularly vulnerable due to the plunge in available work while courts handle only urgent work.

According to the Law Gazette, Courts Minister Chris Philp MP told the committee that the courts system is being rebooted while Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service identifies ways to ensure hearings can go ahead.

Philp said that he was unaware of any prosecutions being discontinued as a result of the pandemic and assured the committee that there was “categorically no question at all under any circumstances of the right to jury trial being removed”. While jury trials in the crown court are currently on hold, discussions continue about whether jury members should be reduced to seven in a bid to enable members to socially distance from each other.