Practitioners seem to fall into two camps – those who are still waiting for their contract to be confirmed by the LSC, and those who have sent it back – often without having time to read it.
If you are in the first group, you are in good company with many other practitioners. Due to various issues such as recruitment, signing leases etc, a number of organisations have only been able to send back all verification documentation in the last few days. It seems the LSC has not been able to process the backlog and so people are waiting nervously. The LSC has issued a FAQ which will hopefully reassure you.
If you have had to send the contract back in a hurry, I have written an article for Legal Voice which summarises key points.
Legal Aid Handbook 
Hi
I may be missing something but the FAQ does not cover what happens if providers have not heard from the LSC? – we are one who has not. We have provided all of the necessary verification documents/info and sent urgent messages through the portal but still not heard anything. Our account manager has escalated this via central commissioning – there is nothing more they can do – but nothing as yet – is there anything else from the LSC about this other than what is on the FAQ?
Regards
Michelle Plant – Practice Manager
17 Peckover Street, Little Germany
Bradford BD1 5BD DX: 11769
Tel: 01274 305 380 Fax: 01274 720 715
http://www.williscroft.co.uk
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My apologies Michelle – I linked to the wrong FAQs. The link should now take you to the right document which will hopefully answer your query.