Civil bill assessments

The Ministry of Justice has announced interim arrangements – which offer a choice between the courts or the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) for civil bill assessments over £2,500 – will continue until at least November 2022. Law Society head of justice Richard Miller welcomed the news. Earlier this year, a Society survey found “widespread concerns that mandatory LAA assessments of larger bills could adversely affect the impartiality and transparency” and that the “vast majority” of practitioners were “opposed” to the transfer of higher value claims assessments to the LAA.