Outstanding Solicitor's Bills & Damages on Deposit held by LSC
A Freedom of Information request to Ministry of Justice by L. D. Anderson
Ministry of Justice did not have the information requested.
L. D. Anderson
8 March 2008
Dear Sir or Madam,
It has come to my attention there is a need to know about the
extent of funded LSC Clients in the civil category in which a
Certificate of Public Funding is discharged; money is then deemed
'recovered' or 'preserved' by the litigation in favour of the LSC
client; and that a statutory charge is then imposed by the Legal
Services Commission; however no solicitor bill is submitted at the
time of collection of the damages from the overall settlement.
What is the average duration in weeks of LSC administration after
discharge of Certificates of public funding in civil funding and
the collection of the recovered money deemed subject to the
Statutory Charge? and what is the average duration (in weeks) then
in the submission of solicitor's final bill in all civil cases
limited to certificates 2,500 pounds excluding VAT?
Where there has been recovered money for legally aided clients
after discharge of Certificate of public funding--and where this
has been deposited as damages on account (statutory charge): What
percentage of total deposits are 'pending receipt of solicitor's
final bill'? [To qualify this more: money is put into the LSC
deposit account with undertaking from Solicitor, but no final bill
is submitted at the time of collection.]
For each year from 2001 to 2007 how many discharged Certificates
(Civil) are still awaiting solicitor's bills? What is the
percentage of bills still outstanding out of the whole for the
years above?
What is average and median amount of time between recovery of
money/collection by Solicitor on behalf of LSC and the submission
of solicitor's bill? Also, please report the average amount of
interest paid to individual clients where money was held on deposit
and paid out when the solicitor's final bill was submitted for in
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,2005, 2006 and 2007?
What percentage of these discharged Certificates with statutory
charge imposed and money recovered are awaiting solicitor's bill to
be assessed by the LSC under Commission's assessment limits? [Under
2,500 pounds excl. VAT.] And what percentage of these discharged
Certificates with statutory charge imposed and money recovered are
awaiting solicitor's bill to be assessed by the Courts (i.e. over
the LSC assessment limits of 2,500 pounds)?
What percentage out of all civil Certificates of client's damages
on accounts remain un-reconciled with a solicitor's bill being
submitted for greater than one year, two years, three years, four
years, five years and greater?
What notification if any does the LSC provide to former clients
about outstanding bills by their former solicitors and the amount
remaining of their money held on account as damages? I understand
that this information should be statistically available to the LSC
through computer based systems. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,
L. D. Anderson
Montgomery, Carole-Ann
Ministry of Justice
10 April 2008
Dear L.D. Anderson
Please find attached a response to your request for information.
Yours Sincerely
Carole-Ann Montgomery
<<54452 response.doc>>
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