Guidance

Civil legal advice contract 2013

CLA contract documents for providers of remote legal advice in family, housing, debt, education and discrimination.

Applies to England and Wales

Documents

Contract amendments notice: 25 April 2018

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Summary of amendments to the Standard Civil Contracts (25 April 2018)

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Civil legal advice 2013 contract specification (July 2015 amendment)

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Details

This contract covers remote advice in the categories of:

  • family
  • housing and debt
  • education
  • discrimination law
  • face-to-face services in education and discrimination law only

Providers may only carry out licensed work in the education and discrimination categories.

The civil legal advice contract 2013 consists of the:

  • standard terms
  • specification
  • contract for signature
  • further documents

Standard terms

Standard terms govern the commercial relationship between Legal Aid Agency (LAA) and the provider.

Specification

This sets out the rules for providing and being paid for CLA contract work. It’s divided into provisions of general application (sections 1 to 8) and category specific rules and payment schemes for the categories of law (sections 9 to 12). Separate provisions apply to controlled work (sections 5 and 6) and licensed work (sections 7 and 8). The licensed work section is only relevant for contracts in education and discrimination categories.

Implementation plan

The implementation annex (or plan) sets out the detail of the service that you must have in place. The contents of each implementation annex varies between providers. It’s informed by the implementation plan submitted as part of the tender process for the award of the CLA contracts for signature.

Contract for signature

The contract for signature is the document which gives effect to the CLA contract as a whole. Use the sample contract for signature for illustration as contents vary between providers.

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

The LAA sets out contractually enforceable measures (KPIs) by which we monitor performance. The document explains the consequences of breaching KPIs.

Other contract annexes

Cases and hourly rates Sets out the types of work the provider is authorised to carry out under their 2013 CLA contract, including the categories of law covered. Also gives hourly rate paid for controlled work in accordance with the provider’s tender bid.
Payments, disbursements and reviewing your claims for payment Explains how the provider will invoice and be paid for controlled work under the 2013 CLA contract.
Information technology (IT) Outlines requirements for IT resources the provider must cover, including data security requirements and business continuity.
Complaints Contains obligations to provide complaints policy and procedures for clients to use.
Additional cases Explains the procedures under which the LAA may direct additional cases to the provider.

Further documents

You can also use the following:

Published 1 June 2014
Last updated 25 April 2018 + show all updates
  1. Standard terms updated, contract amendment notice and summary of amendments published.

  2. Amendment notification published for 2013, 2014, & 2015 Standard Civil Contracts, plus CLA specification. Also updated Standard Civil Contracts specification: general rules 1-6.

  3. Updated to include 'Table of Amendments for Civil Legal Advice Contracts' and 'Contract Notice Amendments to the 2013 Civil Legal Aid Contract '.

  4. First published.