The firm Harris Cuffaro & Nichols complains that the litigator graduated fee scheme (LGFS) in short breach proceedings for robbery pays less than a plumber gets to fix a leaking tap, at £86 (see [2008] Gazette, 1 May, 13). However, under the new LGFS, short robbery cases that go to trial would achieve a payment in excess of £1,000, even if the trial only lasted one day at court under the new scheme.


The firm states that it received a payment of £86 for breach proceedings in a robbery case. That payment was not intended to cover the whole case, but only the breach proceedings. The firm will be paid a substantial amount for the original case under the ex post facto determination payment scheme run by the national taxing team for most of the work on the case. In addition, its involvement in the original case would have ensured that the firm was totally familiar with the issues of its client's case and, therefore, able to advise the client quickly and efficiently on the subsequent breach hearing.



Under the new LGFS, in operation since January, payments for work on Crown Court cases are now part of the new graduated fee. This includes work undertaken on subsequent breaches of Crown Court orders. Therefore, in normal circumstances, if Harris, Cuffaro & Nichols' robbery case had been a new case since January, the firm would have received a graduated fee payment significantly higher than £86 - in excess of £1,000, to cover both the original case and the subsequent breach proceedings.



In rare cases, a new firm represents a defendant solely for breach proceedings. A fixed fee of £86 plus VAT has been modelled to fund these. This fee was consulted upon before implementation. This fee was paid to Harris, Cuffaro & Nichols, in addition to the ex post facto fee, as the firm had not received an LGFS payment for the case, and therefore we believed it appropriate in the circumstances to also allow the firm the fixed fee.



Derek Hill, director, Criminal Defence Service, Legal Services Commission