Changes to Legal Aid Online from 1 October 2022

This update is to explain significant changes being made to Legal Aid Online (LAOL) on 1 October 2022.

As part of our upgrade programme we are aiming to create increased consistency to make LAOL easier to use and reduce the likelihood of the wrong options being chosen.

The main changes are:

• an improved version of View Case on mobile devices
• you can now edit your clients’ information
• consistency in layout of the standard information for all legal aid applications
• improved remittance information
• you will be able to re-use previously entered data.

Please take time to read and understand the changes coming to LAOL and watch the accompanying training videos listed below that are on our e-learning and online guidance section.

Our Legal Aid Online: ongoing issues and workarounds section shows anything we are aware of that is not working as it should and workarounds to address the issue(s).

If you want to provide feedback on the changes then please e-mail us and we will respond as soon as we can.

Legal Aid Applicant data

An additional key change will be improvements to how we hold information about  applicants. The changes we are making will help, particularly when you have a repeat client, as you will be able to access and use existing data for a new application.

We are also updating the equalities information to support how we design and deliver our services for you and applicants. To accompany the changes to the equalities questions, our previous update gave guidance to support you in gathering clients’ equalities data.

If you are interested in sharing your experiences of collecting data and discuss our proposals for how we can best support that, please contact our equalities colleagues  at equalities@slab.org.uk.

Training videos for LAOL changes

The following videos are available through our website’s e-learning and online guidance section (viewed on our external Vimeo page).

Creating a new Case

All new Legal Aid applications from 1 October will use the same screens, starting with your client’s details, followed by the high level case details (solicitor acting and case type) and then launching the current applications.

The videos show how to do this for a new client, an existing client and a client where we think the details match that of a previous client

• New Client
• Existing Client
• Match Client

Editing your client’s details

You will have the option from 1 October to edit your client’s details if they inform you of a change. This video will show you how.

• Edit Client

Changes to View Case

We’re changing View Case from 1 October to make it more mobile friendly. Nearly 50% of LAOL users now use a mobile device to access the system. The View Case will now have all relevant options for the next steps in a case and the Further Actions options have replaced the old menu structure.

This short video runs through the key changes

• View Case

Changes to the Remittance page

From 1 October the tab for the remittance page will update when you have read the outstanding remittances. The remittance is now displayed in a new PDF format making it easier for you to save to your own systems and a full history of who has read these is also available

• Remittance

Case Management Integration

The functionality to upload accounts from case management systems will be introduced from 1 October.

To be able to do this you should contact your case management vendor in the first instance, ensuring they have a note of the necessary technical specifications.

These specifications are available on request.

More information

Please e-mail us if you require more information.