{"id":49652,"date":"2014-11-03T16:59:34","date_gmt":"2014-11-03T16:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=bfe04b37863b04fd803728b8d9c417ac"},"modified":"2014-11-03T16:59:34","modified_gmt":"2014-11-03T16:59:34","slug":"news-story-crime-news-tips-to-speed-up-advocates-applications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=49652","title":{"rendered":"News story: Crime news: tips to speed up advocates\u2019 applications"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>We\u2019ve been working with advocates and clerks on how to reduce bill rejects so that you can be paid more quickly for the work you do.<\/p>\n<p>More than 10,500 Advocates Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) claims are received every month with around 90% paid within 14 days.<\/p>\n<p>If you look at the tips below for successful billing, we can work together to reduce the remaining claims which are being rejected. In September 2014 this stood at 11.1%.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"top-tips\">Top tips<\/h3>\n<p>Instructed advocate \u2013 we have produced a guidance document to help you understand the checks we make before validating your claim. This is available on GOV.UK \u2013 see link below.<br \/>\nWe can make these checks more quickly if you tell us when the effective plea and case management hearing (PCMH) took place.  We can then use the date to cross-reference against information from the court.  <\/p>\n<p>Representation order \u2013 make sure you provide the original representation order when submitting the bill. It is also essential to provide this if there is a change in legal aid.<br \/>\nYou should note that the Crown Court will only issue representation orders in these circumstances:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>breach of a Crown Court order where there is no time to instruct a litigator e.g. application for legal aid is made on the day of the hearing<\/li>\n<li>execution of a bench warrant and any proceedings incidental to this<\/li>\n<li>contempt in the face of the court <\/li>\n<li>additional counsel \u2013 e.g. QC and junior<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Signature \u2013 your form should have the original signature of the instructed advocate only.<\/p>\n<p>Incomplete form \u2013 make sure the form has been fully completed.<\/p>\n<p>Under-claiming \u2013 your bill needs to be submitted with the correct case type and offence class.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"incorrect-rejects\">Incorrect rejects?<\/h3>\n<p>E-mail our priority reject mailbox if you think we have made a mistake rejecting your bill \u2013 see below.<\/p>\n<p>This inbox is only available where no assessment has been made.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"further-information\">Further information<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/instructed-advocate-guidance-and-agfs-help-with-older-cases\">Instructed advocate guidance<\/a> \u2013 to download guidance documentation<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"mailto:AGFSpriorityrejects@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk\">Email<\/a> to query a bill reject<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advocates and clerks help us develop guidance to prevent delays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}