Capital contribution order from Marston after trial ended - Huge Bill!

[john12111]

Yesterday I received a Capital contribution order letters from Marston.

This is after me and my husband (who is in prison right now & until apr 25) were convicted in crown court over six months ago. He was initially arrested in May 2020 and then was on bail until Sept 2023. The trial was at the end of Sept 2023 where he was taken to custody directly from court.

The letter is regarding the legal aid costs. Me and My husband both had separate solicitors who in my opinion hardly did much work. The breakdown of the cost given on the letter is as following

For my case - Total over £81,000 (approx)
Barrister £21k & solicitor £60k

For my husband's case - Total - over £40000 (approx)
Barrister £20k & solicitor £20k

From solicitors, we were always told that the legal aid is free because our income is low. We were never made aware that there would be this huge bill due to us owning the property that we live in. I just had a call with my husband's solicitor and she still was confused why we received this invoice so clearly she had no knowledge about this and hence never explained it to us.

How is it possible that the bill for the solicitor who did more work is less compared to the one hardly did any work for us? Is there anything I can do about this on the basis of them not making us aware of this cost. I might have taken a different approach if I had been made aware that this would end up costing more than a private solicitor.

Is there anything that can be done about? I am so stressed out right now that I am unable to think properly and do the normal work as my mind cannot think anything else other than this.

[echat11]

Hi John12111

Welcome to LB

In a 'nutshell' what was the case about?

Your solicitor should have carried out an assessment as to whether you were entitled to Legal Aid.

You need to complain to your solicitor / firm in writing, follow the complaints procedure on their website.

Once you get a response, if you aren't happy, complain to the Legal Ombudsman Service.

https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/

[john12111]

Hi John12111

Welcome to LB

Firstly, in a 'nutshell' what was the case about?

Your solicitor should have carried out an assessment as to whether you were entitled to Legal Aid.

You need to complain to your solicitor / firm in writing, follow the complaints procedure on their website.

Once you get a response, if you aren't happy, complain to the Legal Ombudsman Service.

https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/

The case was about POCA

They did carry out an assessment and due to our low income we were eligible for the legal aid.

They never once mentioned that there will be a huge invoice after the case is finished.

[atticus]

Then you should complain: first to the solicitors, and if need be after that to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

POCA, for those who may not know, is the Proceeds of Crime Act.

[echat11]

The case was about POCA

They did carry out an assessment and due to our low income we were eligible for the legal aid.

They never once mentioned that there will be a huge invoice after the case is finished.

Yes, they carried out an assessment, but the eligibility criteria is clear and they seemed to have missed 'your property'.

[john12111]

Yes, they carried out an assessment, but the eligibility criteria is clear and they seemed to have missed 'your property'.

I see, so if they had done the assessment properly then they should have told us at that time the consequences of going with legal aid? Is the complaint with solicitors and SRA the only option?

[echat11]

I see, so if they had done the assessment properly then they should have told us at that time the consequences of going with legal aid? Is the complaint with solicitors and SRA the only option?

The 'consequences' has occurred because, as you stated in your initial post, they didn't take into account your 'property' (the solicitors seemed unaware of the property being part of the 'Legal Aid' criteria).

You can also complain to the Legal Ombudsman Service.

[john12111]

I sent an email to the Solicitor requesting the cost breakdown before I make an official complaint to the firm. The solicitor has replied to the email with this.


"When we submit our bill to the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), the fee is calculated in accordance with regulations by reference to the class of offence, the number of pages of prosecution evidence and the type of hearing, in [defendent's] case, a trial. It is a formula used to calculate our costs. The LAA then audit the bill and determine the amount to be paid. The bill is not calculated by the number of hours that I have worked on the case. It is a fixed fee"

How true is this? How is it possible that such a large sum gets awarded by the legal aid? I thought Legal aid was really cheap compared to private solicitors and hence solicitors are less keen to take on Legal aid cases? This seems opposite to me. I am sure it would have turned out fraction of the cost if we went with a private solicitor knowing legal aid is lot more expensive.

According to the invoice, if it was paid hourly at £60-£70 (normal legal aid rates) then it means solicitor would have spent around 1000 hours which equals to roughly 125 working days. Anyone who has some expertise in this field can please help?

[echat11]

If you Google the following together 'legal aid agency criminal charges calculate fees', it throws up quite a bit of info. Including a calculator.

[islandgirl]

Would the nature of the case not perhaps preclude legal aid after guilt established? Just a thought - I have sat on a POCA hearing but not otherwise been involved

[echat11]

Would the nature of the case not perhaps preclude legal aid after guilt established? Just a thought - I have sat on a POCA hearing but not otherwise been involved

Apparently the solicitor went through the Legal Aid protocols and agreed that it applied, now the solicitor says that it doesn't apply.

[islandgirl]

Thank you but I wondered if the prison sentence was linked to not paying POCA money which precluded legal aid being made available if the court decided monies were owed but unpaild (leading to prison sentence). Just a thought...

[echat11]

Thank you but I wondered if the prison sentence was linked to not paying POCA money which precluded legal aid being made available if the court decided monies were owed but unpaild (leading to prison sentence). Just a thought...

The OP is saying that the owned property wasn't taken into consideration in the Legal Aid calculations at the time of the Legal Aid acceptance. But you might be right in what you say.

[john12111]

The POCA Proceeding case is still ongoing and has not been concluded yet. The charge seems to be only for the initial conviction. I looked through email history and found this text from the solicitor in one of the email when my application for legal aid was being considered.

"Once Legal Aid is granted I shall also be instructing a highly skilled and experienced barrister on your behalf and the full costs will be met by the Legal Aid agency.".

I am currently going though following guidelines on gov uk site to see what options are available as my main source of income right now is Universal Credit.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/criminal...-means-testing

[echat11]

If Legal Aid was granted and you were under the impression that, that was the case, then you should complain providing the solicitors were made fully aware of all your personal circumstances.

You have avenues to complain use them.