We're pleased to announce the latest release of Access Legal Case Management, Version 2.17.1

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

Release 2.17.1 is a maintenance release focused on tightening up Civil Legal Aid certificate and billing calculations, alongside a set of reliability fixes across client creation, time recording, dictation, and document retention. It also delivers AGFS Fee Scheme 17 changes ahead of the 28 July 2026 go-live, so CCCD claims are paid correctly under the new fee rules without needing manual correction.

Several issues affecting Civil Legal Aid certificate and case summary figures have been resolved, addressing incorrect fixed fees shown on hourly rate matters, certificate totals that didn't match the case summary, and certificate totals that excluded the panel member uplift. Together these give firms a reliable, trustworthy view of spend against their certificate limits.

Other fixes in this release cover creating company client records, time recording when multiple fee earners access the same matter at once, completing dictations that aren't linked to a case, a dictation upload error on DPS Mobile, and the manual override of document destruction dates in CDAM.

Fee earner KPI widgets now show accurate monthly billing targets. This release also includes AGFS Fee Scheme 17 changes: an increase to the additional preparation fixed fee, extended eligibility for guilty plea and discontinuance claims, and a reduced trial-days threshold for wasted preparation time - all effective from 28 July 2026.

Summary:

Some users found that submitting a time entry could occasionally create two identical records instead of one, particularly when clicking submit quickly or during a slow network response. This had the potential to cause confusion during time tracking and inflate billing totals if left unnoticed. The issue was resolved so that every time entry submission now results in exactly one record, giving firms confidence that their time recording and billing figures are accurate.

Fix:

The submission process was strengthened on both the screen and behind the scenes. The submit action is now locked immediately when clicked, preventing accidental repeat submissions, and a safeguard was added that checks for and blocks any duplicate entry before it's saved. Together, these changes ensure only one time record is created per submission, even under fast clicks or network delays.

Summary: When adding a new company client and filling in both the company name and postcode in the registered address section, saving the record failed with an error. This blocked users from creating a fully completed company record in one go, forcing them to save partial details and go back to add the postcode afterwards.

Fix: Company client records now save successfully regardless of which combination of company and address details are completed, removing the need for a workaround.

Summary: When more than one fee earner had the same matter open at the same time, running a letter and then trying to save the associated time record could silently fail - meaning time genuinely worked wasn't captured. There was no workaround available.

Fix: Time recording now works reliably even when a matter is open for multiple fee earners simultaneously, ensuring billable time is always captured.

Summary: Dictation jobs created without being linked to a specific case couldn't be marked as complete. This left them stuck in the pool, at risk of being picked up by the wrong typist, with the only workaround being to manually rename the dictation as a warning to others.

Fix: Dictations without a linked case can now be marked complete in the normal way, removing the need for typists to manually flag them.

Summary: For Civil Legal Aid 16.4 matters, which are billed at an hourly rate only, ALCM was incorrectly showing a fixed fee and an inaccurate running total on the certificate tab. This made it difficult for firms to track actual spend against their certificate limit and created a mismatch with the figures shown in OneOffice.

Fix: Certificate totals for 16.4 hourly rate matters are now calculated using the correct hourly rate figures only, giving firms an accurate view of certificate spend that matches other reporting.

Summary: For civil legal aid care matters, the figures shown on the Certificate tab didn't match the Case Summary tab, and neither matched the figures firms expected to see. This made it hard for firms to know how much of their certificate allowance had genuinely been used, which is critical information when deciding whether to apply for an increase.

Fix: Certificate and Case Summary calculations have been aligned so both screens now consistently show accurate recorded time and remaining certificate allowance.

Summary: When submitting a dictation from DPS Mobile with a private time entry and the DPS task option enabled, users received an error and the dictation failed to upload, blocking mobile dictation for that scenario.

Fix: The submission has been corrected so dictations upload successfully from mobile devices regardless of the additional details entered.

Summary: For Rule 16.4 matters where a fee earner is a panel member entitled to a 15% uplift, the Time tab correctly showed the uplifted amount, but the Certificate running total was calculated using the base rate instead - understating true spend against the certificate.

Fix: The Certificate running total now includes the panel member uplift, so it matches the Time tab and gives firms an accurate figure to track against their certificate limit.

Summary: For hourly-rate Certificated Other Public matters, ALCM showed a low percentage of certificate used and a low running total, while the correct figures (confirmed via OneOffice) showed the certificate limit had actually been exceeded. This risked firms unknowingly carrying out chargeable work beyond their certificate limit without realising they needed to apply for an increase - a significant financial risk given how many cases were affected.

Fix: Certificate figures for hourly rate Other Public matters are now calculated using only the correct hourly rate components, giving firms a trustworthy view of certificate spend.

Summary: On Civil Family Private matters with a larger number of time records, some figures on the Case Summary screen didn't match the correct values shown in OneOffice, making the summary an unreliable source of truth for these matters.

Fix: Family Private matters have been corrected so figures reliably match, regardless of record volume or the mix of panel member and non-panel member time.

Summary: When staff used the manual override feature in ALCM to set a new document destruction date (as part of data retention/CDAM), the change appeared to save but wasn't actually applied to the matter's destruction date. This risked documents being retained or destroyed on the wrong date.

Fix: The matter's destruction date now updates correctly whenever a manual override is applied, ensuring retention dates stay accurate and reliable.

Fee earners' Billed Time KPI widget now shows the correct current-month billing target, matching the figures used in FD reports. Targets update automatically as they change in the source system and always reflect the current calendar month, giving fee earners a reliable way to track their performance against firm expectations.

From 28 July 2026, the fixed fee for additional preparation on AGFS claims submitted via CCCD increases from £62 to £81, for claims where the representation order is dated on or after that date. Firms are paid the updated fee automatically without needing to correct submissions manually. Claims with an earlier representation order date continue to use the previous £62 rate, and claims already submitted and paid are not affected retrospectively.

The additional preparation fee can now also be claimed on guilty plea cases, and on discontinuances where the prosecution had served its evidence, for representation orders dated on or after 28 July 2026. On qualifying discontinuances, the fee is payable in addition to the guilty plea fee. Discontinuances where evidence was not served continue to be claimed as before, remaining eligible for 50% of the basic guilty plea fee only.

The number of trial days a matter needs to qualify for wasted preparation time to be included in the Fixed Fee Total has been reduced from 5 to 2, for claims with a representation order dated on or after 28 July 2026. This means more matters with recorded wasted preparation time will now have that time correctly reflected in the Fixed Fee Total, without needing manual adjustment.