A Southampton firm will lose out on three months’ duty solicitor work due to government ‘bureaucracy’ that could have devastating consequences – and it is not alone, the Gazette has learned. 

Peter Clarke Solicitors says it has been left off a three-month duty solicitor rota beginning in October due to a ‘bureaucratic problem’ with the Legal Aid Agency’s e-tendering portal. Had the firm been told its CRM12 form was incomplete, it would have rectified the problem immediately.

‘This will have a predictably devastating effect on our business and our revenue and this is causing a great deal of anxiety amongst the fee earners and employees alike. We are a small firm and are unable to bear the loss of three months’ duty solicitor revenue,’ the firm said.

Since then, more firms left off the duty solicitor rota have contacted the Gazette.

Surrey firm Goodhand and Forsyth acknowledged that it did not rectify compliance issues with some of its forms in time. However, founding partner David Forsyth said: ‘It is a draconian punishment for a procedural or relatively minor issue.’

Forsyth said the LAA’s portal was not user-friendly. In August, the LAA announced that firms would receive a CRM12 form to complete to join the January rota. Goodhand and Forsyth contacted the LAA to check if it needed to submit a new CRM12 form but did not hear back.

Only after resubmitting its CRM12 form for the October rota did the firm receive an updated form to complete. Had the firm not made proactive efforts to find out what needed to be done, the firm could have lost out on another three months’ work.

Meanwhile Southampton firm Carlton Place Law has submitted a complaint to the Legal Aid Agency after being left off the October rota.

David Olden told the Gazette that the firm received conflicting messages from the agency. ‘I still do not know in which way we are alleged to have failed to complete the verification process which apparently prevents them from including us in the rota’.

In its complaint, the firm says firms had until 5 September to accept the crime contract. ‘The rota is not going to be published until mid-September. The rotas are frequently amended after their publication to accommodate changes of firm and personnel. You will appreciate that these are difficult times for criminal practitioners. We have survived Covid and the downturn in activity. At present we are coping with the barrister strike. In light of the above we would have thought it entirely appropriate that you could give us the benefit of the doubt and include us in the October rota.’

An LAA spokesperson said: ‘We support all duty solicitors with bids to join the rota system, including IT assistance and regular updates on their application status. They play a crucial role in the criminal legal aid sector which will benefit from an extra £135m a year, meaning professionals are better paid for the work they carry out.’

The agency said it was applicants’ responsibility to ensure they submit the correct forms and information, depending upon their circumstances and the classes of work they are tendering for. Organisations who submitted a non-compliant form were notified on 8 August that they would not be added to the October rota, and told why.

 

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