For Full release note please click here
Following the May 2025 cyber-attack, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is introducing a new interim billing service. To ensure uninterrupted Legal Aid billing, Access Legal OneOffice now automatically derives the required fee codes to bulk upload exports at the point of generating export files, based on existing Legal Aid case information. These changes affect all case types.
The following guidelines have been issued by the Legal Aid Agency:
Claims relating to the contingency periodMost vendors have confirmed that they can enable claim exports generated during the contingency period to be re-run with the new codes included, which supports our intention to require all April 2025 to September 2025 submissions to be made in Submit a Bulk Claim. However, we recognize that there may be additional work for you to update claim exports from the contingency period and we are continuing to explore options to minimize this. We will confirm how we will ask you to approach these imminently. When to submit your claimYou should make your submission between the 1st and 20th of the month following the submission period. For example, your October submission containing work completed up to and including 31 October should be made between 1 and 20 November. Try to make sure your submission is at the beginning of the month as this allows maximum time to offer support and resolve any questions. How SaBC works (this is Submit a Bulk Claim, the new name for the system)Providers will be able to access the service via SILAS and can upload their bulkload or case management system exported data file directly into SaBC. The service will check the file and calculate the price of each claim within it. If any information is missing or if fundamental errors have been made within the submission, it will be rejected prior to calculating costs. You can find further information on how to use SaBC in the Guide to SaBC which will be released shortly. Changes for providersUnlike in CWA, providers are unable to enter the details of each claim directly into SaBC – instead the submission must be uploaded via a bulkload spreadsheet export or via a file exported from their case management system (updated CSV, XML, and TXT exports). |
Security Update
We have released important security improvements to OneOffice and Financial Director, including enhanced SQL query handling to strengthen database security and an updated System.Text.Json library to address CVE-2024-43485. These updates improve the overall security of your system, and no action is required on
your part.
Sequential Page Numbering for Standard Bundles
OneOffice now offers flexible page numbering options for Standard bundles
Users can now choose between:
Bates numbering (A1, A2, B1, B2...) - the traditional section-based format
Sequential numbering (1, 2, 3...) - continuous numbering across all sections
To use sequential numbering:
Open Bundle Options for a Standard bundle
Ensure "Restart page numbering at sections" is unchecked
Uncheck "Include letters before index numbers"
Generate your bundle
Note: When "Restart page numbering at sections" is enabled, Bates numbering is automatically enforced.
Bugs - OneOffice
We have also fixed a number of bugs within OneOffice, the details of which can be found below:
General | Version |
Binding error when dragging and dropping emails into the diary | 16.2.3.0 |
Infotrack polling still not working after bug 1697517 was closed | 16.2.3.0 |
Outlook addin "file\attach" multiple emails AND One Office Drag and Drop - 2nd time - error "No valid item found" | 16.2.3.0 |
Parsing in the string error showing after pressing save on a workflow item | 16.2.3.0 |
Remove Sensitive Information from Log Output | 16.2.3.0 |
Closed matters, Matter category SHOULD be greyed out but its not | 16.2.3.2 |
CDAM messages in Department/Category screen when showing destroy matters screens says MATTERS even when there is only 1 matter | 16.2.3.2 |
Echit Screen not automatically clearing last fee earner name | 16.2.3.2 |
[EC] command (Echit command) - Error when cancelling Echit screen | 16.2.3.2 |
Pressing "Send Cancellation" on a calendar meeting invite will cause a COM Object error | 16.2.3.2 |
DPS Outlook scroll bar on right and bottom in a matter doesn't show | 16.2.3.2 |
Still able to edit contacts even when 'Add, Edit contacts' is unticked in security profile | 16.2.3.2 |
Error when clicking 'view tasks' from workflow | 16.2.3.2 |
Documents Tab - error when adding client docs with apostrophe in name | 16.2.3.2 |
OneOffice - DPSSQLCONFIG - Deleting Department | 16.2.3.2 |
OneOffice - adding Client Documents with special characters in Note field not saving | 16.2.3.2 |
CDAM - View a closed matter again allows you to EDIT and change the Matter Category | 16.2.3.2 |
Starting the document search failed error after searching for all documents within matter | 16.2.3.2 |
Open File Search not loading an existing Matter from the list, in a specific scenario | 16.2.3.2 |
OneOffice config remove signature permissions error message | 16.2.3.2 |
This update should be downloaded by your trained DPS Supervisor\Developer who can apply it to your system. The update will be made available on our Customer Portal.
Note: If you are a hosted client this will automatically be applied to your system by one of our technicians, if you are a non-hosted client and have an SLA, we will be in touch to arrange an update at a convenient time.
Note: You will need to be running a minimum of SQL Server 2017 for the database update and software to work correctly. This update requires that PCs have the latest Microsoft .net 4.8 or higher and Visual C++ Redistributable Packages for Visual Studio 2013 installed. (https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=40784)