GOV.UK
Guidance
CCMS: bringing civil legal aid processing online
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is introducing online ways of working for civil and family certificated legal aid work.
Introduction to the Client and Cost Management System (CCMS)
CCMS is an online system for civil and family legal aid providers and others assigned to work on their cases, eg advocates, clerks and costs lawyers.
CCMS covers the whole process for certificated civil and family legal aid work, from submitting legal aid applications to paying bills.
Next steps for CCMS
Since April 2014, we’ve been rolling out CCMS on a voluntary basis. This was completed in October 2014 and, since then, we’ve been encouraging civil and family legal aid providers to start using the system. The legal aid contract liaison manager for each civil legal aid organisation received a contract notice in the post in the week starting 26 January 2015.
This contract notice confirmed that the use of CCMS would be mandatory from 1 October 2015.
On 12 June 2015 the LAA announced that they were revising the timetable for CCMS with 1 February 2016 being the new date for mandatory use of CCMS. This followed discussions with representative bodies and feedback from those using the system who asked for:
- more time to prepare for the system
- improvements to be in embedded before mandatory use
A copy of the formal contract waiver document was issued to all providers 2 July 2015 and is available to view here.
A further contract waiver was issued to all providers 18 December 2015 and is available to view here. This contract waiver confirms that CCMS must be used from 1 February 2016 for Special Children Act Cases and from 1 April 2016 for all other new Licensed Work cases.
Guidance for updating your browser
Update your browser to gain access to the upgraded version of CCMS.
You can download and install the latest version of the web browser to enable you to get the best experience of using the latest upgrade of CCMS.
- Chrome (available for Windows, Apple, Android and Linux)
- Firefox (available for Windows, Apple, Android and Linux)
- Internet explorer (available for Windows)
- Safari (available for Apple)
Still having problems?
If you’ve recently updated your browser but are still having problems viewing our site, a few things might have happened. First, your update may have failed. Try starting the process again and you should soon be able to tell whether this is what happened. Second, if you decided to install a different browser instead of updating your current one - for example, downloading Chrome when you current use internet explorer - you might still be using the old browser by accident. Try setting your new browser as ‘default’ so you don’t keep accidentally using the old one.
More information
The site reflects the needs of individuals who are already using the system or will in the future.
The following tabs at the top of the home page help individuals easily navigate the site.
| Getting started | Quick guides | Training resources | Enhancing CCMS | Contact us |
| How to start using CCMS, including getting yourself set up on the system | A full list of all our quick guides by user group and category | I Using the system, including frequently asked questions and hints and tips | Information/guidance on recent enhancements plus information on our ongoing enhancements programme | An improved listing of who to contacts |
Published 22 September 2014
Last updated 27 June 2016 + show all updates
Last updated 27 June 2016 + show all updates
- Guidance on how to update your browser published.
- Further waiver of mandatory electronic working added and next steps for CCMS text changed
- Information added about Contract Notice for CCMS working.
- First published.