LSS Online Lawyer User Guide

Transcription

1 LSS Online Lawyer User Guide

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction... 3 Log in to LSS Online Portal.3 LSS Online Homepage View and Update Profile Information... 6 Contracts... 9 Invoice(s) and Adjustment(s)...13 Create and Submit Authorization Requests..19 Resources Payments Lawyer Support..21 Duty Counsel 22 Page 2 of 27

3 INTRODUCTION Welcome to LSS Online! We are providing this user guide as a written reference in addition to our user training video links. We know that with a little bit of study and practical use, you will find this system provides you better insight into clients cases and your work with Legal Aid. Log in to the LSS Online Portal To access the LSS Online Portal you must log in through the LSS website: 1. Go to 2. Click the blue login button in the left- hand sidebar. 3. Enter your assigned username and password. 4. Click the Login button. Page 3 of 27

4 LSS Online Homepage You will default to the homepage, which provides a dashboard showing an overview of important information and quick links to specific items within LSS Online. Alerts Alerts in red will occasionally appear above the dashboard to notify you of important events such as scheduled maintenance dates when the system will not be available. Dashboard The dashboard includes many areas of importance to your work with LSS, such as: Notices specific notifications from LSS that require your action or attention, such as: o contracts that will expire or have expired based on your contracts service stop dates and bill by dates, or o questions about an authorization request you submitted; and Stats a section compiling annual billings to LSS. What s New This column contains important information regarding LSS generally or specific to your practice area. Page 4 of 27

5 Notifications You can find your notifications in two places on the homepage. At the top- right of the screen there is an indicator to quickly alert you to a new notification. It shows the number of unread messages you have. There is also a tab for all notifications, including general communications from LSS and those specific to your work with LSS, such as that: a new contract has been issued an invoice has been successfully submitted for processing, an invoice was not successfully submitted for processing, a payment has been issued, or an authorization request has completed or requires more information. Some notifications will include a link that can take you directly to that particular business area, such as Contracts, Invoices, or Authorizations. Page 5 of 27

6 View and Update Profile Information The Profile tab is a self- serve profile where you can keep your personal and practice details up to date. LSS business areas rely on this information for issuing contracts, payments, etc. Important: LSS will use your general address to communicate with you, so it is important to keep this up to date. You can update the information contained in these sections at any time. Use the following icons to complete your desired actions: Page 6 of 27

7 Area of Law In this section, select the areas of law in which you are willing to accept Legal Aid contracts. In addition to selecting the areas of law, you must indicate the type(s) of representation referrals you are willing to accept: Standard Referrals for non- appeal cases and/or Appeal Referrals for Judicial Reviews/Appeal cases Office Locations This section allows you to enter two office locations. One is your primary address for LSS business, and the second is an optional alternate address used for referrals only. Special Interests and Languages This section is for additional languages that you speak and/or law practice specialties. You can also indicate constraints to exclude cases that have legal areas you are not interested in receiving. Page 7 of 27

8 You can also select court locations where you are able to work, as well as indicate your preferred court locations. If LSS has approved you on the Duty Counsel Roster, those court locations will have been specified on your Profile by the Duty Counsel Coordinator (see above). Page 8 of 27

9 Contracts The Contracts tab s drop- down list provides quick access to view all contracts, all authorizations, and all invoices. Select LCM to log in for your contracts under Criminal Case Management and Large Case Management. To access a specific contract, click the hyperlink to the LSS Contract Number. To sort contracts by any of the column categories, click the column header. To search for a contract, use the search fields below the column headers. You can sort or search using multiple columns or search data. Important: The screenshots in this guide show contract details for a Criminal contract and how to complete a Criminal invoice. However, most of the same features apply to all other contracts and invoices in other areas of law. Page 9 of 27

10 Clicking the hyperlink to the LSS Contract Number will take you to the Contract Details page for that contract. The Contract Details page indicates contract details such as the area of law, whether travel has been authorized, your experience adjustment, and the service start, stop and bill by dates. Important: You do not need to use the Court Hearing(s), Results, Travel, or Expert(s) sections shown above. During our redesign of the invoice, these sections were incorporated into the invoice. They will be removed from LSS Online in due course. Page 10 of 27

11 The following sections are the important ones to visit on the Contract Details page: Client Name click here to view details about the client, including contact information, their next court date, etc. Informations (criminal contracts) click here to view details about Informations and offences known at the time of the client s application. See below for more details. Legal Issues (non- criminal contracts) click here to view details about the legal issues known at the time of the client s application. Contract Instructions To Counsel shows retainer instructions specific to this contract. Contract Tariff Items click here to view a list of all the Tariff Items included on your Contract. Invoice(s) and Adjustment(s) click here to view a list of invoices that you have prepared and/or submitted for payment under the contract. Click on Report to print a copy of your invoice. (It can take up to 24 hours from submitting an invoice for printing to be available.) Also listed are Adjustment accounts LSS has processed. See page 13 for more information. Authorization(s) click here to view authorization requests that you have prepared and/or submitted for approval. See page 19 for more information. Informations This section includes Informations and offences referred/known at the time of the client s application. You are required to update any details that are incorrect before billing. To update any details, select the Edit icon, update the fields, and save the changes. When you open your invoice form, the corrected details will be reflected. Important: You will not be able to upgrade an offence to Major. Contact the Intake office for an update to this level of offence. Page 11 of 27

12 Expand the Offence Detail List to view offences associated with the Information. Click Edit to make changes. Page 12 of 27

13 Invoice(s) and Adjustment(s) The invoice form allows you to bill as many fees and disbursements as you need, all on one form. Once you have selected the contract you want to bill for, click the + Invoice link to open an invoice form. Important: The system will time out after 20 minutes of no activity. If you are preparing an invoice or authorization and the system times out, you will lose any data you have entered since the last time you saved. The contract details will automatically populate. The Informations, offences, and court location and level are listed and require your confirmation before proceeding to the other sections of the invoice. Click Confirm and continue. TESTER, Test C /02/15 Page 13 of 27

14 Once you confirm the Informations you are billing for, you will be prompted to enter outcomes and/or sentencing. Below Informations, the form has four additional sections to bill fees and disbursements. Disbursements are broken down into three separate sections. All sections default to a collapsed view. To add an item to any section, select Add. You will select this for each item you are billing for. Page 14 of 27

15 Each section has a drop- down list of the tariff items that are available with your contract. For example, this is what a Criminal Standard Contract has available for billing: Once a tariff item is selected, billing tips specific to that tariff item may appear below the fee item. For some items, specific questions may appear. Enter your response in the box below the question. Indicate which Information the fee relates to by checking the appropriate box to the right of the Information number. The rate of the tariff item will also be displayed. The amount for each line will automatically appear once you indicate the applicable units (half days, hours, etc.) and calculate your fee or expense. If more than one Information was resolved before the same judge on the same half day, claim this item once. Bill the multiple information resolution fee for each additional information. Billable once per Information for additional Informations resolved without trial before the same judge on the same half day. Billable per half day of sentencing when you appear in court and substantive representation on sentence is made, evidence is led or a decision is made. Page 15 of 27

16 Depending on the fees billed, or on whether your bill is final or not, you will be prompted to provide outcomes. Please enter as many outcomes as apply to the issues you dealt with. Once you have completed all sections of the invoice, you will be provided with a summary of your account. You will be required to agree to the certification before the invoice can be submitted. Page 16 of 27

17 Important: You are required to attach a timesheet for all hourly areas of law. Click on the attachment paper clip and browse to locate and attach your timesheet. Once you complete the form, you can: Exit exit the form without saving any data; Save and exit save data on the form and exit; Check for errors check for invoice form validation errors; or Submit submit the invoice to LSS for final level of validation and/or payment processing. You can also print a web version of the form before you submit by clicking Control + P on your keyboard. If the invoice is successfully submitted or not successfully submitted, you will receive a notification. Printing Invoices Print a copy of your invoice by clicking Report (the last column of the Invoices section) and using a keyboard shortcut (Control + P) to print. To access or print a copy of your invoice from our previous e- services system, click the Pre 2015 History link. Important: A report may not be available for printing for up to 24 hours after submitting an invoice. Page 17 of 27

18 Tips for using the new form Units are required for all billings. Units for services are often billed by the half day (e.g., for a full day of sentencing, you would enter 2 x ½ days). Others are billed in a block amount, such as 1 NTR. Units for disbursements will be per km for meterage, per day for parking, etc. Some tariff items will display the maximum units that you are able to bill for that contract. Should you exhaust the allowable units, please submit an authorization request. Review the tariff tips that generate under the item you have selected. There are three levels of errors: o Level 1 form validation, such as alpha data in a numeric field o Level 2 field cannot be blank o Level 3 post submission, final level of validation of tariff billing rules Page 18 of 27

19 Create and Submit Authorization Requests To create an authorization request: 1. On the All Contracts page, click the link to the contract to go to the Contract Details page. 2. Expand the Authorization(s) section. 3. Select the type of authorization you want to submit. Important: The system will time out after 20 minutes of no activity. If you are preparing an invoice or authorization and the system times out, you will lose any data you have entered since the last time you saved. You can make the following types of authorization requests: Tariff Item includes all fees, disbursements, and transcripts, including Extended Services and Criminal Case Management budget requests. Change Bill Date request to change the start date, stop date, and/or bill by date of your contract. Add Charges request to add charges to your contract. Change of Counsel request change of counsel. Link Unlink request to link or unlink criminal co- accused or immigration multiple client contracts. CPR request conversion to private retainer. Each form is specific to the type of request. For tariff items, depending on the item you select, you may be prompted to enter further details. Page 19 of 27

20 Resources The Resources tab contains links to important notices, information, and forms. Resources for Lawyers find materials and publications available to assist in your practice. Reports & Surveys find LSS annual reports and service plans, service and program evaluations, etc. Notices to Counsel & LSS Tariffs find Notices to Counsel and the LSS Tariffs. Forms find PDF forms for Extended Service Opinion Letters, the Criminal Case Management Questionnaire, Timesheet forms, etc. Case Management find policies, guidelines, and procedures for our Case Management (CCM) program. LSS Policies find published policies, such as the Retroactive Authorization Request - Disbursements and Criminal Case Management. Expert Search use to locate an expert in your legal issue, area(s) of law, or region. Important: The information contained in the Expert Search database is intended only to help lawyers locate experts. LSS does not endorse or recommend service providers. Not all experts will have completed work for LSS, but all have agreed to work at Legal Aid rates and are aware that their information has been entered into the database. Page 20 of 27

21 Payments The Payments tab links you to your LSS payments (including payments made from our previous e- services system) and includes a reporting tool to calculate GST paid to you on LSS invoices. Sort the payments list by clicking on Payment Number or Date, or use the search boxes to find a specific payment. To view payment details, click on the hyperlink of the Payment Number. To calculate GST, enter start and end dates as search criteria. Lawyer Support For assistance with LSS Online, invoicing, or LSS Tariffs, please contact the Lawyer Services Department: Phone: or (no charge) lawyer.support@lss.bc.ca Page 21 of 27

22 Duty Counsel Contracts LSS Online records duty counsel contracts, while duty counsel schedules will come from your referring office. We are currently developing an upgrade to LSS Online so that your duty counsel schedule will also be available online. Duty counsel schedules indicate the authorized hours for each date assigned. Have this schedule available to help you when creating an invoice. Duty counsel invoices are created from the duty counsel contract. You have to be in the specific contract that you wish to bill for in order to create and submit an invoice. To view all contracts that have been issued to you, click All Contracts in the drop- down list under the Contracts tab. Filter your contracts by the schedule type of the duty counsel contract you are billing. Only those contracts will appear in the list. The available schedule types for each area of law are: Family duty counsel: Advice only Provincial; Advice only Supreme; Advice only No court. Criminal law: In custody Adults; Out of custody Adults; In Custody Youth; Out of Custody Youth. Immigration: In custody Adults. Circuit counsel. If you have more than one contract for the same schedule type, check the service start and stop dates to locate the correct contract. Page 22 of 27

23 In some cases, there may be more than one contract that covers the same service dates. In this instance, open the contract to confirm the service location. Click on the LSS Contract Number to open the Contract Details page. Check the service date range and the service location. Invoices Once you have found the correct contract, you can submit an invoice for that contract. To submit an invoice, click on the Contract Details page. All invoices submitted for that particular contract will be listed. Click the Invoice link to open a new invoice. All sections of the form are collapsed and will open once you click any of the Add buttons. Page 23 of 27

24 To add fees to your invoice: 1. Click. 2. Select the fee item from the drop- down list. 3. Enter the service date. 4. For the service date, select AM, PM, or both. 5. Enter the hour(s) to be billed for. The amount to be billed will be calculated for you. Important: To avoid invoices being rejected once they ve been submitted, check that the hours billed do not exceed the daily hours authorized. The daily maximums are listed on the schedule provided by the referring office. If you have exceeded the daily authorization, you can request extra fees via an authorization request. You may bill additional service dates or travel fees, where authorized, by clicking. Meterage and travel disbursements and/or general disbursements are billed using the same process as client- based invoices. Page 24 of 27

25 Family Outcomes When billing duty counsel fees, you must record information about the clients you assisted. Outcomes record the level of service and the primary issue for each client. Select one service (the highest level you provided) and one primary issue for each client, even if they had multiple issues. The four types of service for family clients are (in order of highest to lowest service): Court appearance/order, Document review/prep, Agreement review, and Advice only. Important: You can only select one of these types, so choose the highest level of service you gave the client on that date. For example, if you provided a client with advice as well as attended court on their behalf, you would select Court appearance/order because that is the higher level of service. You would only select Advice only if that was the only service you provided the client. To record family outcomes: 1. Enter a service date. 2. Select a service from the options in the drop- down list. If you know the court level of the client s proceeding even if you re not assigned for court select it here. If you don t know, or if there is no court proceeding, select an option that says Advice only - No court. 3. For that level of service, select the client s primary issue. 4. Enter the number of clients the service and primary issue selected apply to. If multiple clients have outcomes fitting the same description, it s important to count them on the same line. 5. Click to add lines as needed. When you re finished, the Total number of clients assisted on this date should be accurate. Add, amend, or remove services as required. Page 25 of 27

26 We ask that you only record one service and primary issue for each client because we only need your quick assessment. It is more important that you record the correct number of clients assisted than all of the issues involved in clients cases. If you saw no clients, choose any service and primary issue and enter 0 for the number of clients. If you are invoicing for more than one date, click Add service date. Criminal Outcomes When billing duty counsel fees, you must record information about the clients assisted. Criminal duty counsel outcomes record: whether clients are adults or youth, whether clients are in custody or out of custody, and what services were provided to clients. Record only one service and one service outcome for each client, even if they have multiple service outcomes. Select Guilty plea in preference to other service outcomes. Select a Bail outcome in preference to Advice only. If there are multiple clients whose outcomes fit the same description, count them on the same line. We ask that you only record one service and service outcome for each client because we only need your quick assessment. It is more important that you record the correct number of clients assisted than all of the issues involved in clients cases. To record criminal outcomes: 1. Enter a service date. 2. Select a service from the drop- down list. 3. For that service, select a service outcome that applies to one or more clients. 4. Insert the number of clients that service and service outcome apply to. 5. Click to add lines as needed. When you re finished, the Total number of clients assisted on this date should be accurate. Add, amend, or remove services as required. If you are invoicing for more than one date, click Add service date. Page 26 of 27

27 Submit Your Invoice Once the invoice is complete, you will see a summary of the fees and disbursements billed. Review this summary to ensure it is correct before certifying and clicking Submit. Page 27 of 27