CDS News

The LSC has published revised guidance to support changes to the Crown Court Litigator Fee (CCLF) system following the introduction of Crown Court Means Testing (CCMT).

The new CCLF system will be released on 24 August 2010.

Please take some time to familiarise yourself with the new guidance as there are some specific changes that will affect the way you currently process your bills online.

Changes

To help you identify the key changes you need to be aware of, they have been listed below:

• Specify which magistrates’ court issued  the Representation Order and when

This will allow the system to identify whether CCMT applied to the case you are claiming for. 

If your Representation Order was issued following the introduction of CCMT, you will need to use the new CCLF system.

CCLF will automatically direct you to the new or old system after you input  the date of the Representation Order and the issuing magistrates’ court.

If you are directed to the old CCLF, you simply create your bill and claim as you would normally.

• Enter MAAT reference numbers into new CCLF system

If you are creating and processing a claim where CCMT applies, you will need to enter the MAAT reference number into new CCLF. You will find this number on the Representation Order or on the Contribution Order/Notice.

• Need to record details of all defendants represented in the same case on the same bill if CCMT applies

If  CCMT applies and you are  using the new CCLF system, you will need to record the details of all the defendants in the same case that you have represented on the same bill.

This is because we need to identify whether each defendant has a financial liability and work out what their individual final defence costs are.

• Evidence Provision Fee can be claimed as a specific claim item rather than as disbursement

This is now claimable as a specific fee rather than a disbursement. The new system will verify which tier of the fee is applicable to individual defendants.

• Judicial Apportionment can now be recorded and applied

The new system will allow you to enter the percentage of the apportionment against the defendant to whom it applies.

• Committal for trial fee can now be claimed as an identifiable item (in CCMT cases)

This is now claimable as a specific fee rather than a disbursement.

Guidance available

The changes to the system take affect from the 24 August 2010. If you have any queries regarding the use of the new system, please consult the revised guidance.

You can find this at the LGFS pages of our website

If you still have questions, please email them to litigators-fee@legalservices.gsi.gov.uk