https://www.slab.org.uk/guidance/fees-for-necessary-notes/
The following paragraphs prescribe a fee for necessary notes:
The fee for a necessary note is prescribed specifically in recognition that in certain cases it will be necessary for you to draft a note on line of evidence for the instructing solicitor.
The Faculty of Advocates issued a communication to the criminal bar in 2010, clarifying the circumstances where a necessary note will ordinarily be payable. It reads:
“A “Necessary Note” is a ‘note on the line of evidence or similar document to advance the preparation or presentation of the case’. All counsel should be well aware what constitutes a note on the line of evidence from their experience of the foundation course and devilling. For your benefit, the Faculty defines a Note on the Line of evidence as follows:-
“The purpose of such a note is to provide practitioners with clear written advice upon what is required by way of witnesses and productions for any hearing where evidence is to be led. It will indicate what further lines of enquiry are needed to present the case fully.”
A note on line is not a document that will require to be lodged in court hence the reason why it has its own prescribed fee and is not provided for in the list of ‘written work’ prescribed in paragraph 1A of Parts 1 and 3 of schedule 2.
Where a claim is made for a necessary note you may either provide us with a copy of the note, or a supporting narrative and where we are satisfied that a fee is reasonable we must pay this fee, subject to the general terms of the notes on the operation.
Where we are not satisfied that a note was necessary we must disallow the fee and invite you to provide further information in support of the claim.
For example, a note from counsel is generally not required in support of an application seeking the prior approval of counsel or an expert and any necessary note provided for that purpose will be disallowed unless we are satisfied that the note was specifically requested by criminal applications.
Paragraph 3(h) of the notes on the operation states:
“correspondence, telephone calls, and meetings between counsel acting for the same assisted person are not allowable as separate items and shall be subsumed within the fees set out for the conduct of a hearing.”
We must disallow any fee claimed in respect of correspondence sent by counsel.
Paragraph 15B(b) of the notes on the operation states:
“a fee is only payable for a second necessary note in a case on cause shown and where counsel establishes there were exceptional circumstances in the case, and in any case fees for no more than two necessary notes are payable.”
Where you claim for more than one necessary note in a case be satisfied, on cause shown, that there were exceptional circumstances in the case before allowing payment of a second note.
Once two notes have been paid we cannot under any circumstances allow any further charges and any such claims must be disallowed.
We must take into account any previous necessary notes that may have been paid in that case.
Paragraph 15B(c) of the notes on the operation states:
“where written work, for which there is a prescribed fee, or a necessary note is drafted and revised, the fee payable for the written work or necessary note is, if there is more than one counsel, shared equally between counsel who made the revisals.”
Where more than one counsel claim for the drafting of the same necessary note you must share the prescribed fee equally.
Where you only become aware that this is an issue after the full fee has been paid to an earlier counsel we must disallow the new claim and we will inform you that the full fee has already been paid.
It is a matter for the respective counsel to resolve any issues of payment.
Paragraph 17(e) of the notes on the operation states:
“subject to paragraph (ee), the prescribed fees for a trial or any hearing shall include all work undertaken in the case that day.”
Where a necessary note features on the same day as a trial or any other hearing we must disallow the note as you are only entitled to the hearing fee.
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