CARTER - CHANGING CRIME

OVERVIEW
The Carter Reforms will be the most significant change to Criminal Billing since the abolition of the Legal Aid Board. The report is 204 pages long with 62 separate recommendations that if implemented will change the way crime firms are run.

Although the LSC is still in a period of “consultation” with respect to the changes, the general feeling is that the premise of the Carter report will be adopted by the Commission.

KEY CHANGES APRIL 2007
The key points which have so far emerged and are due to come into effect in April 07 are as follows:

1. DUTY SOLICITOR SCHEME

Under the recommendations, Duty Solicitor Rota slots will allocated to the firm rather than individual solicitors.

The reasoning behind this change is to prevent further fragmentation in the supply of Court and Police Station Duty solicitors. This is intended to encourage law firms to train duty solicitors without the danger of losing that investment on qualification. Previously, a duty solicitor could 'sell' their slots to other firms for increased salaries or set up their own practice, thereby fragmenting supply.

2. POLICE STATION BOUNDARIES/AREAS WILL BE CREATED

This will split the country into approximately 25 areas.

Each area will be assigned a different fixed fee (which will also including Travel + Waiting) for Attending the Police Station and a different length "Escape" clause after which, chargeable time can be recorded on a per hour basis, rather than the standard fixed fee.

One reason for the creation of these Police Station Areas is to facilitate the Police Station Block Contract i.e. firms will bid for contracts within a certain area and if successful, will then work in that specific area.

If a firm has been awarded a contract for a certain area it will also allowed to up to 20% of their Contracted Matter Starts to be performed OUTSIDE of the Contracted Area. This will allow firms to represent clients if they are arrested outside the firms contracted area.

3. MAGISTRATES COURT FEES CHANGES

Magistrate Court Fee's will be changed in two stages. The first stage will be effective from April 07.

This will see an increase in the Standard Fees but no claims will be allowed for Travel and Waiting (this will include CDS7s).

There will also be a reduction in the number of categories from 3 to 2. Stage 2 will be a Graduated Fee Scheme for Magistrates Court work which will be introduced in April 08.

4. CROWN COURT - GRADUATED FEES FOR SOLICITORS

This will see the biggest and possibly the most significant change in the billing practices.

The aim here is to make sure that the preparation of Crown Court cases is split into 9 basic fees (10 for advocates with the D+ subdivision) with uplifts for:
• Length of Trial
• Number of Pages Of Prosecution Evidence (PPE)
• Number of Witnesses
• Number of Defendants

There will also be a simplification of the Graduated Fees for Advocates (refresher rates removed, etc).

CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, the biggest change will be the removal of the need to time record in 99% of cases in the Police Station and Crown Court. With regard to Crown Court work clarification is required relating to the ability of the firm to receive money on account since the final bill is largely dependant on the number of days the trail lasts. This could mean firms will have to fund a lot more of this work type upfront.

However we believe firms will have to continue some form of work monitoring and time recording for internal management purposes. The whole method of payment means firms will have to carry greater levels of unpaid fees than ever before and monitoring the work is going to be vital for monitoring individual fee earner efficiency and for working out the firms average costs per case.

The ability to claim for the travel and waiting costs will be removed across the board. This should encourage firms to organise themselves so they reduce travel costs as much as possible for attendances at police stations an court. In the Magistrates Court this will be offset with an increase in the Standard Fee. At the moment however it is unclear if the Standard Fee thresholds will change.

In addition to this, Standard Letters and Phone Calls will no longer be charged for in the crown court and will be included in the basic fee. Again we are unsure if this will affect the Magistrates court billing or not.

DPS is fully committed to carrying out any changes that the LSC / Carter report introduce and will ensure their One Office software keeps pace with these changes in billing practice.
We recommend your ALL staff involved with billing familiarise themselves with the final LSC recommendations so as to ensure they are aware of the new procedures the software will be following. We will of course be providing courses on how to use the software released as a result of any LSC changes.

Once the LSC have released a final system/scheme for their procurement of legal services, we will be running a series of road-shows across the country explaining the changes and how DPS will be helping you

Our sales team will be happy to ensure that your IT systems are up to date and are prepared for the Carter changes.

MORE INFORMATION

For further information please contact carter@dpssoftware.co.uk

Legal Aid Procurement Review - Publications Document

Legal Aid Procurement Review

Legal Aid Procurement Review - Carter Review P1

Legal Aid Procurement Review - Carter Review P3