Criminal billing

Providing a high-quality criminal billing service tailored to your requirements.

Criminal Billing Services

IG Legal has established itself as one of the leading Cost Drafting Firms in the UK for services involving all aspects of criminal billing. We have built up a substantial client base of large and small firms and we undertake criminal billing on their behalf. 

Our vast experience of the Criminal Justice system allows us to work with our clients to ensure that they are able to maximise the profitability of their fee earners regardless of the type of case and ensure maximum cost recovery. We are also able to provide a range of feedback to our clients to help them manage their workload and work in the most cost-efficient way possible.

We handle cases across all areas of criminal billing, including Magistrates Court Billing, Crown Court Billing and Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and Confiscation. 

Our Criminal Billing Services Include:

Crown Court Billing

We are able to claim for criminal legal aid work done in the Crown Court on your behalf under the graduated fee schemes. Our experience and knowledge of the Criminal justice system allows us to ensure the maximum cost of recovery. Our understanding of the system ensures we can respond immeditaley with the changes to fee schemes to ensure our clients are able to bill for every element of work.  The 2020 changes introduce the ability to make more Special Preparation claims for PPE and reviewing Unused Material.

We have an extensive knowledge of Crown Court billing and working with the Legal Aid Agency systems in regards to the Crown Court Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme and the Litigators Graduated Fee Scheme system.  More importantly the volume of work we deal with ensures we can effectively bill all cases and can see the way the LAA assess claims and ensure claims are submitted in such a way as to be piad with minimum delay or rejection.

With the advent of digital working, we are now able to submit claims in a way that complies with the Criminal Cases Unit’s assessment process.

Electronic Prosecution Pages of Evidence (PPE)

The Prosecution Pages of Evidence (PPE) has an impact on the Fee Schemes for Crown Court billing and is also known as the page count. The page count is dictated by the Prosecution as they decide how many pages of evidence they will serve during a particular case. 

The issue for both Litigators and Advocates, not to mention Costs Draftsman, is that the Prosecution will often serve as little evidence via PPE as possible and instead will serve large proportions of additional evidence electronically on a disc or file sharing platform such as Egress or Evidence.com. This type of Electronic PPE can either fall under the definition of  PPE or Special Preparation. 

Electronic PPE can be claimed as an additional payment to the main fee claimed and The Legal Aid Agency take into account the viewing and reading of this electronic evidence. It is extremely important that this fee is claimed correctly to maximise the amount recovered during Crown Court cases. 

The LAA strives to work with all  providers to ensure that any electronic PPE cases are submitted in a way that allows a fair and reasonable assessment. Thanks to the wide range of clients that we represent, we are able to identify and audit any issues that arise and address them during submission. This helps to ensure that all claims are processed quickly at first submission, helping Firms receive a fair payment. 

Here at IG Legal, we have extensive knowledge of what the LAA considers as electronic evidence and the criteria that are used to assess claims. This allows us to apply our expertise on a case by case basis and address any issues that are likely to be raised. 

We also have extensive experience handling Special Preparation claims and are able to ensure that all supporting paperwork needed to allow the claim to be fairly assessed is in place at the first point of submission. 

As part of our service, we offer extensive advice on how to meet the criteria and provide any additional information required to support a claim. We offer a market-leading rate for dealing with these claims and one that offers value for money and a service second to none.

Magistrates Court Billing

All Magistrates’ Court work and police station work can be recorded and billed to the Legal Aid Agency as part of the Crime Lower Monthly submission. It is very important for fee earners to understand that the decisions they make during the case can have an impact upon the fee payable. 

We have built a team of people who understand the billing process and can therefore offer extensive criminal billing services for preparing and submitting Monthly Contract submissions for both police station work and Magistrates Court work. We also work with CRM 7 claims for all non-standard fees at the Magistrates’ Court. We regularly work remotely on legal software to ensure smooth billing.

Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and Confiscation

Proceeds of crime is the term given to money or assets generated by criminal activity. The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) gives authorities the power to confiscate and recover these assets, so that crime doesn’t pay. The aim is to disrupt the cycle and prevent further offences by removing the profits that fund further crime. 

Unlike other areas of criminal law, the POCA requires the accused to provide the legitimacy of assets and funds that they possess. POCA investigations can take several months to resolve. 

Why You Should Choose Our Firm

IG Legal have established themselves as the leaders in terms of Crime Billing and we are able to intergrate with Firms accounts processes to ensure a smooth billing process and improved cash flow.  We ensure all billing is completed for the Monthly submission and regularly report back on ensuring a good and effective billing system is in place.

We bill Crown Court work for over 40 different firms which means we are well placed to deal with every potential situation that might emerge. Additionally, we have a full understanding of the process to get electronic PPE paid by the LAA.

We offer a bespoke and personal service to all of our clients which can include Remote Billing, the preparation of contract billing work and the submission of the monthly contract. We take the hassle out of your hands to ensure that your billing is as effective and efficient as it can be to avoid delays in the payment process and to guarantee you receive the full amount possible.​

Looking For A Law Cost Draftsman To Aid You With Your Criminal Billing?

We pride ourselves on being the leading Cost Draftsman for Criminal Billing across the UK. We handle cases across all areas of criminal billing, including Crown Court billing, Magistrates Court billing and POCA & Confiscations. Enquire now to see how we can help your firm.