The Legal Aid Agency's (LAA) online portal may finally return in September, four months after it was taken offline following a cyber-attack, the Gazette has learned.

Lawyers have faced prolonged disruption since the portal, essential for submitting applications and processing payments, was disabled in May, nearly a month after the cyber incident was discovered. The Gazette understands that legal aid providers were recently informed that a replacement system is being developed, with a scheduled launch in September. The new portal will be known as Signing into Legal Aid Services (SILAS). To prepare for the transition, providers must submit a spreadsheet by the end of August detailing all individuals within their firms who will require access. While this step poses little challenge for solicitors, one practitioner told the Gazette that the LAA is also requesting third parties, such as costs draftspeople, to supply emails associated with the firm’s domain. “This could prove difficult,” the source explained, “since costs draftspeople often work with multiple firms.”

Last week, Justice Minister Sarah Sackman was warned that the aftermath of the cyber-attack could push some practitioners over the edge. Family solicitor Jenny Beck, director of Beck Fitzgerald, noted that her team is putting in “at least two hours’ extra work per case that they’re unable to claim payment for.” Illustrating the portal's complexity, the LAA’s current list of contingency measures spans more than 50 issues. The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.

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Source: Monidipa Fouzder, The Law Gazette