The Billing of Crown Court Work - An Introduction for Criminal Lawyers

Introduction

This virtual classroom seminar has been specifically written for those people within the firm who are new to the billing of Crown Court Litigator work. It will deal with the specific concepts applicable, fees claimable and where to find them and guidance published by the Legal Aid Agency. It may all seem a bit daunting initially and this live session will give you the confidence you need in terms of knowing what documents you need to look at. It is very much a ‘big picture’ live session.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive course will cover the following:

• The importance of understanding how the case arrived at the Crown Court - was it committed for sentence? Was it sent? Is it an appeal?
• The circumstances in which your Crown Court fee is a Fixed Fee, committals for sentence/appeals
• The circumstances in which your Crown Court fee is a Graduated Fee i.e. dependent upon a page count (PPE) and also dependent upon length of trial, if it is a trial case, for cases that have been sent to the Crown Court
• Special preparation when billing the case from the perspective of Litigator - an examination of what it is and the hourly rates claimable
• Unused material, an examination of what it is, your initial fee and hourly rates thereafter
• Uplifts if you represent more than one client
• Definitions - the definition of a guilty plea/cracked trial/trial
• The things you cannot claim for, e.g. viewing CCTV footage/listening to audio tapes/discs, these are not ‘documents’ within the Regulations
• The actual Regulations, Statutory Instrument 2013 No. 435 and, in particular, Schedule 2 which relates to the billing of the case as Litigator
• Knowing your way around the very latest ‘Crown Court Fee Guidance’ document published by the Legal Aid Agency
• The billing of your Proceeds of Crime work, hourly rates and where to find them
• A word or two about cases you just might consider sending to a costs draftsman as a result of their technicality

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.