Are you getting your AF1s processed in under 5 weeks? We would be interested to know because that is what the LAA (as we must soon call them) are claiming.
The general speed of payment is a live issue for most firms, we know because it has a “down-the-line” impact upon payment of our CD fees. I say that without particularly wishing to bash the LSC for current performance – thought the situation is far from good. What really struck me is how the Crown Court scheme, in particular, has singularly failed to deliver on one its key pre-implementation promises; improved speed of payment.
It is always sensible to try and avoid being a smartass with hindsight. That said, this is another of those “innovations” where flawed planning and unforeseen (though foreseeable to many) consequences have rendered the proposed benefits redundant. The erosion of the original cost neutrality of the scheme, by successive SCCO cases, is another worrying but continuing trend.
Might it be that we were all better off with ex post facto bills?
Of course we were all better off with ex post facto bills. You at least were in with a chance of actually being paid a commercial rate and more importantly being paid for the work that you really did.