The argument about Crown Court files and franchising is as old as the scheme. The different taxation and payment structure lead a number of practitioners to spread the rumour that they fell outside the scope of the franchise audit. Not so, never so.
Over the years this has manifested itself in examples such as failure to include Crown files in file review and their fee earners in supervisory activities. That aside its fair to say that Crown files have largely slipped under the audit radar. Why so? There encompass fewer SQM requirements and being larger tend to frighten off the time conscious assessor.
Under current proposals they can now constitute 25% of a peer review sample. Time to have a review of file management practice we think.
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