The Lord Chancellor has secured court injunctions to prevent the disclosure or publication of data stolen during the cyberattack on the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), as legal aid practitioners continue to face mounting challenges following the breach.

According to a recent update from the Ministry of Justice, the court last month granted an application by the Lord Chancellor to prohibit the “disclosure, publication or communications of information of data” obtained from the LAA’s IT systems. An additional injunction was granted this week. The Ministry stated: “This continues the prohibition on the hackers publishing the information and also prevents third parties who know about the injunction from doing so (as to do so would undermine the injunction and amount to contempt of court).” 

Despite consistent updates, the April cyberattack is still severely affecting legal aid providers. One practitioner told the Gazette that delays in billing or applying for new legal aid orders are creating serious issues for both firms and clients, with “staggering” volumes of free work being carried out in the form of legal advice, advocacy, and administrative support. While Crown Court claim assessments and payments have resumed, securing urgent expert funding remains difficult. Some firms are reportedly resorting to manual timekeeping due to the inability to record time electronically without a valid legal aid order.

The Ministry informed the Gazette that providers can request prior authority even without confirmation of a representation order. For civil cases, providers must contact customer support to obtain a contingency reference number and submit a paper application by email. These payments fall under the LAA’s ‘average payments scheme’, which providers must opt into weekly to receive reimbursement. As for when the LAA’s digital portal will return online, the Ministry said there are no updates beyond what’s currently posted on the LAA’s webpage, which states that online services will remain unavailable “until further notice.” 

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Source: Monidipa Fouzder, The Law Society Gazette