The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) online portal is still offline following the cyber-attack in April
The LAA became aware of a breach on 23 April and, on 16 May, realised it was more extensive than originally understood. Consequently, crime legal aid applications cannot be date-stamped.
However, LAA caseworkers will backdate applications once the portal is up and running again—solicitors should indicate in the ’further information’ box the date they would have submitted it but for the outage.
Solicitors can also apply for a temporary average payment for a two-week period, followed by weekly payments, under LAA contingency arrangements.
