We're pleased to announce the latest release of Access Legal Case Management Version 2.16.

This update includes various enhancements and bug fixes detailed below. A PDF copy of the release notes can also be found here.

What's New

The Probate Module now includes updated HMRC Inheritance Tax form templates to ensure regulatory compliance with the latest requirements.

Updated Form Templates

• IHT400 updated to HMRC 12/25 version

• IHT401 updated to HMRC 04/25 version

• IHT401a form template added (new HMRC 12/25 version)

• IHT417 updated to HMRC 12/25 version

• IHT418 updated to HMRC 04/25 version

Enhanced Functionality

• IHT400 Box 6 now automatically populates based on the date of death (Yes if on or before 5 April 2025, No if after 5 April 2025)

• All existing field mappings continue to work seamlessly with the updated templates

• Correct HMRC version numbers now display on all forms

Impact

You can continue generating IHT forms as before, with the confidence that they meet current HMRC requirements. All previously mapped data fields will automatically populate in the updated templates without any action required on your part.

ALCM has been updated to support the Legal Aid Agency's (LAA) November fee code requirements for Family Private (Legal Help) and Family Public (Legal Help) case types.

What's New

Automatic Fee Code Mapping

The system now automatically applies the correct LAA fee codes during billing submission. The fee code mapping is handled seamlessly in the background based on LAA guidelines, ensuring accurate and compliant submissions without requiring any changes to your existing workflow.

New Mandatory Field: FEE_CODE

A new mandatory field has been introduced for all Legal Aid case types:

• Field Name: FEE_CODE

• Format: Alphanumeric, maximum 10 characters

• Requirement: Must be completed before billing submission can proceed

• XML Export: The FEE_CODE field will automatically appear in XML exports after the "Outcome" node in the format: FEE_CODE = {CODE}

Impact

No change to your day-to-day workflow. The system handles all fee code mapping and XML formatting automatically according to LAA specifications. You will continue to work with matters and billing as usual, with the correct fee codes applied behind the scenes.

Overview: Fee earners can now apply a discretionary Case Uplift percentage for Civil Legal Aid Certificated cases that exceed the exceptional funding limit due to exceptional complexity.

What's New

• A "Case Uplift (due to complexity) %" field is now available in the Case Information section of the Case Summary tab

• The uplift applies to the entire case when funding exceeds the exceptional limit

• The percentage value directly impacts billing calculations on the CIV Claim 1A form

• Save your changes

How to Use

• Navigate to the Case Summary tab

• Open the Case Information dropdown section

• Enter the Case Uplift percentage when your case exceeds the exceptional funding limit

This functionality brings ALCM into alignment with OneOffice, ensuring consistent case management across both systems for complex civil legal aid matters.

Issue

Fixed fee values now update correctly when setting up a Legal Help class.

Resolution

Previously, when configuring a Legal Help class, the total Fixed Fee column would update correctly, but individual level fixed fee values (e.g., Level 1 Private, Level 2 Children) would incorrectly display £0.00 until you exited and re-entered the class screen.

Impact

Fixed fee values now calculate and display automatically in real-time for all class levels when you save the configuration, eliminating the need to exit and re-enter the screen to see the correct values.

Issue

ALCM now correctly calculates and displays fees for Family Private Legal Aid matters using Rule 16.4 funding.

Resolution

• Panel Member Uplift: Time entries by fee earners who are panel members now correctly receive a 15% uplift (capped at 15% even for multiple panel memberships)

• Visible Uplift Display: The uplift is now clearly shown on the Attendance Time screen's Total field with an indicator when applicable

• Accurate Fee Calculations: Removed incorrect limit checks for Rule 16.4 funding type, ensuring fees are calculated without inappropriate fixed fee constraints

Impact

Fee earners working on Family Private Legal Aid matters with Rule 16.4 funding will now see accurate costs automatically calculated and displayed, with panel member uplifts properly applied and visible during time entry.

Issue

The TIME screen for Certificated Class matters now correctly displays an indicator when the selected Fee Earner is a panel member. This text appears next to the Fee Earner field, providing immediate visibility of panel member status when recording time entries.

Resolution

Previously, the panel member status was not visible on TIME/Attendance screens for Certificated Class matters, requiring users to check elsewhere to confirm a Fee Earner's panel membership.

Issue

TIME screens for Certificated Class matters now clearly display when Panel Member uplifts have been applied to time records.

Resolution

When a case reached or exceeded the Escape Limit, time records for Panel Members automatically received a 15% uplift. However, the VALUE section on the TIME screen only showed the total flat rate without any indication that an uplift had been applied, making it impossible to identify uplifted records.

Impact

The TIME screen now includes text to indicate "15% uplift applied" when a Panel Member uplift has been automatically applied to a time record.

Issue

Billing Guide and Billing Request functions now correctly handle matter references containing special characters (such as '&').

Resolution

• Matter data is now properly retrieved and displayed when the matter reference contains special characters

• Billing Guide and Billing Request functions no longer show "No transactions found" errors for matters with special characters in their references

• WIP (Work in Progress) data is correctly displayed for all matters, regardless of special characters in the reference

Impact

• Users can now successfully generate billing guides and create billing requests for matters with ampersands (&) and other special characters in their references

• Automated data population now works consistently with manual entry.

Issue

The Claim 1A Total Cost section now correctly excludes zero-rated letters, emails, and calls from both the count and value calculations. Previously, items with £0.00 value were included in the count, causing the number of items to exceed the actual charged items.

Resolution

Items are now excluded from the Total Cost section if they have zero value or are marked as uncharged, ensuring the form displays only items submitted for LAA reimbursement.

Example:

• Previous: 12 letters displayed (10 charged + 2 at £0.00) = £36.90

• Now: 10 letters displayed (only charged items) = £36.90

Issue

Users occasionally experienced errors when attempting to remove dictations from the system, with some dictations failing to delete.

Resolution

Fixed a system error that was causing dictation removal to fail intermittently. Dictations can now be deleted reliably without errors.

Issue

When a client's name was changed, the Time Recording screen continued to display the old client name for existing matters.

Resolution

Client name updates now correctly propagate to all associated matters, ensuring the Time Recording screen displays the current client name. The system updates the client name only when it has actually changed (not during initial client creation).

Resolved an issue where copying a matter from the Client screen (via Client menu > highlight matter > Add > Copy) was not functioning. The matter grid now correctly populates after closing the matter creation popup, allowing users to successfully copy matters.

We have resolved calculation discrepancies in escape fees between ALCM and OneOffice for FamilyPrivate and FamilyPublic matter types. The systems now calculate escape fees consistently across various scenarios, ensuring accurate fee calculations for family law matters.

Issue

Uplift percentages were incorrectly being applied only to the most recently added items instead of to the entire case.

Resolution

The uplift calculation has been fixed to correctly apply the specified uplift percentage across all case items, ensuring accurate billing amounts when using the "Bill To" field in the Select Time screen. This fix includes improvements to Rule164 processing and panel uplift support.

Impact

Users will now see uplifts distributed proportionally across all selected time entries and items when billing, matching the expected behavior for case-wide uplift calculations.

When viewing the Summary screen for a Matrimonial Ancillary Public case under Legal Help, Level 1 and Total figures were not displaying correctly in the popup. This has been resolved by simplifying the function that refreshes figures on the Legal Help screen. Additionally, the confirmation dialog that previously appeared when switching between FPC01 and FPC03 case stage levels has been removed to align with OneOffice behavior.