Legal Aid Criminal - Creating and Invoicing a Criminal Court Duty Matter

12/02/2025
Knowledge

How To

Setting up a Recurring Matter Template

Before creating a new legal aid Criminal Court Duty matter it is useful to set up a Recurring Matter to assist with opening future court duty matters. To do this complete the following steps.

From the LEAP Menu > select Recurring Matters.
Click on the New button.
Give the template a name i.e. Court Duty, then click OK.
Select Criminal Law as the Matter Type for the template, enter a Description i.e. Court Duty, and click OK.
Click on the Defendant table type on the Details & Correspondence tab of the template, enter Court Duty into the defendant’s Surname field and click Save & Close.
Click Save & Close.

Creating a New Court Duty Matter

To create a new criminal legal aid court duty matter, complete the following steps.

Click on the drop-down arrow for the New Matter button.
Select New Matter from Recurring.
Select the relevant matter name from the list of available matters that is displayed.
Enter any additional information into the matter description; i.e. the date of the court duty session and then click OK.
Complete the relevant staff details.
Select Legal Aid from the Billing Mode drop-down menu.
Click OK.
To enter the relevant legal aid details, from the Details & Correspondence tab, click on the Legal Aid Matter Details button.
Complete the relevant information and click Save & Close.

Criminal Law matter details required for court duty matters

Field	Description
Branch	If your firm has multiple branches, select the branch that will be responsible for this matter
UFN	Date of initial attendance/first instruction on your client. For Court Duty matters enter the date of the court duty session. Unique File Number > Matter start date + 3 digits Case ID = DDMMYY/NNN
Rate	Define if the claims will be costed at London or National hourly rates and fixed fee.
Undesignated Area	If your firm falls within an undesignated area, travel and waiting will also be awarded when claiming standard fees.
Court	The court where court duty will/or has taken place

Time recording and Invoicing for Court Duty Matters

To time record and invoice a criminal court duty matter, complete the following steps.

Click on Time & Fees and click on the New Billable Items button.
Select the Staff, Date, Billing Stage and Activity Rate.
Select the relevant Activity, enter a Billing Description, and the number of Units.
Click Save & Close.

Invoicing

Click on the Time & Fees tab.
Click on the drop-down arrow for New Invoice, within the Legal Aid section, and select the stage of work you wish to raise the invoice for. Proceedings is for a magistrate’s claim.
Select 0 Uncategorised from the Category drop-down, and PROD Court duty solicitor session, from the Stage drop-down.
Enter the Date Concluded, Date Billed and number of Defendants.
The Status of the invoice can be set to Draft - Unapproved, Draft - Approved or Final – Printed/Sent by using the drop-down menu. The default selection is Final – Printed/Sent.
Click Save & Close.

Last Modified Date

12/02/2025 5:18 am

Title

Legal Aid Criminal - Creating and Invoicing a Criminal Court Duty Matter

URL Name

Legal-Aid-Criminal-Creating-and-Invoice-a-Criminal-Court-Duty-Matter

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