Introduction

For legal costs professionals working in Legal Aid, few systems have as much day-to-day impact as the Client and Cost Management System (CCMS). When CCMS changes, even subtly, the effects are felt immediately by Costs Draftsmen, Costs Lawyers, and billing teams across England and Wales.

The rollout of the new CCMS portal marks one of the most significant operational changes to Legal Aid billing in recent years. While the underlying rules of Legal Aid remuneration remain familiar, the way claims are prepared, reviewed, and submitted is evolving — and that has clear implications for cost drafting practice.

This article looks at what the new CCMS portal means in practice, what costs professionals are already encountering, and how teams can adapt their drafting and billing workflows to avoid delays, rejections, and unnecessary write-offs.

CCMS: same rules, new operational reality

It’s important to be clear from the outset: the new CCMS portal does not rewrite the Legal Aid scheme rules. Controlled work, certificated work, escape fees, and hourly rates remain governed by the same regulations and guidance.

What has changed is the interface, validation process, and submission workflow — and these changes place greater emphasis on:

• Accuracy at the point of submission

• Consistency between time records, narratives and claims

• Clear justification for anything falling outside standard parameters

For costs professionals, this means that issues which might previously have been picked up later — or resolved through correspondence — are increasingly being flagged earlier in the process.

Increased validation and “front-loaded” scrutiny

One of the most noticeable features of the new CCMS portal is the increase in automated validation checks.

Claims are now more likely to be:

• Flagged for inconsistencies between matter details and billing data

• Rejected or queried where narratives are unclear or incomplete

• Delayed if required fields or supporting information are missing

For costs draftsmen, this shifts pressure towards front-loading quality control. Drafting that relies on assumptions, shorthand, or generic explanations is more likely to encounter friction in the system.

The practical takeaway is simple: CCMS is less forgiving of ambiguity.

Narratives matter more than ever

While narratives have always been important in Legal Aid billing, the new CCMS portal places them under even greater scrutiny.

Costs professionals are increasingly reporting that:

• Vague or generic narratives are triggering queries

• Reused precedent wording is being challenged

• Poor alignment between narrative and time entries leads to delays

This is particularly relevant for:

• Escape fee claims

• Amendments to certificates

• Non-standard work or unusual case progression

For costs draftsmen, this reinforces the need for case-specific, coherent narratives that explain why the work was necessary — not just what was done.

Data consistency is no longer optional

Another key theme emerging from the new CCMS portal is the importance of data consistency across systems.

Discrepancies between:

• Case management systems

• Time recording data

• Billing narratives

• CCMS matter details

are now more visible and more likely to result in delays.

This has practical implications for how costs teams work with fee earners. Inaccurate or incomplete time recording is no longer just a drafting inconvenience — it becomes a billing risk.

Many costs professionals are finding that:

• Early engagement with fee earners is essential

• Data needs to be cleaned before drafting begins

• Last-minute fixes are harder to push through CCMS

Fewer “soft fixes”, more resubmissions

Historically, some CCMS issues could be resolved through clarification or informal correction. Under the new portal, there is a sense that the system is less tolerant of post-submission adjustment.

This means:

• More rejected claims rather than queries

• Greater administrative burden on resubmission

• Longer payment timelines

For firms operating on tight Legal Aid margins, these delays matter.

Costs teams are increasingly responding by tightening internal review processes and treating CCMS submission as a final product, not a draft.

What this means for costs drafting workflows

For Costs Draftsmen and Costs Lawyers, the new CCMS portal encourages a subtle but important shift in approach.

Drafting now needs to be:

• More structured

• More precise

• More closely aligned with underlying data

This doesn’t mean drafting becomes rigid or formulaic — professional judgement remains critical — but it does mean that clarity and consistency are paramount.

Many teams are already adapting by:

• Reviewing narratives earlier in the drafting process

• Standardising how explanations are framed (without copy-pasting)

• Building compliance checks into drafting workflows

Technology and CCMS: closing the gap

One of the clearest trends emerging from the CCMS changes is the growing reliance on technology to reduce risk.

Costs professionals are increasingly looking for systems that:

• Reuse structured data accurately

• Reduce rekeying between systems

• Support compliant narratives

• Flag inconsistencies before submission

The goal isn’t to replace drafting expertise, but to support it — particularly where CCMS has become less tolerant of error.

This is especially relevant for firms handling:

• High volumes of Legal Aid claims

• Multiple fee earners across matters

• Complex certificated cases

Practical tips for costs professionals adapting to the new CCMS

Based on early experiences, a few practical steps are proving helpful:

1. Treat CCMS submission as the end point, not the start of review

2. Invest time in narrative quality, especially for non-standard work

3. Align time recording and drafting early, not at the final stage

4. Build internal checklists for common CCMS rejection points

5. Share feedback across the costs team to identify recurring issues

These steps won’t eliminate friction entirely, but they significantly reduce avoidable delays.

Final thoughts

The new CCMS portal doesn’t change the fundamentals of Legal Aid costs — but it does change how unforgiving the system can be when drafting, data, and narratives don’t align.

For legal costs professionals, the message is clear: precision matters more than ever. Drafting remains a skilled discipline, but it now operates within a system that demands clarity, consistency, and structure.

For those willing to adapt workflows and tighten drafting standards, the new CCMS portal is manageable. For those who don’t, it risks becoming a source of frustration, delay, and unnecessary write-offs.

As with many changes in legal costs practice, success lies not in resisting the system — but in understanding it and drafting accordingly.