Making a claim for legal fees & disbursements

All claims for work and/or disbursements must be made using Grants Online.

You can make your claim by clicking on the Submit New Claim option from the menu on the left-hand side of the Grants Online screen.

You can search for the correct pro forma invoice by using the Proforma Invoice ID or File ID.

The initial grant letter or extension letter will provide you with the necessary pro forma invoice ID.  You will need to search in Grants Online for the pro forma invoice that has the work items you wish to claim against.

For detailed instructions on how to make a claim you can access our Grants Online User Guide – Grant Claims.

A work item is a discrete item of work for which an amount is payable by Legal Aid NSW and for which approval must be sought in an application for legal aid or an extension request.  Work items include both professional work and disbursements.

The totality of all work items requested in an application for aid or extension request makes up the scope of work for that application or extension.

Once approved, a work item is included in a pro forma invoice. A practitioner may submit a claim for payment for a completed work item contained in a pro forma invoice. It is important to note that claims for payment can only be made for work items that are contained in a pro forma invoice, so it is essential that approval for all work items be sought in an application for aid or extension request.

You can reassign a proforma invoice that has counsel fees to the barrister who is briefed in a matter.  The barrister must be registered to use Grants Online.

You can reassign the proforma invoice by clicking on the Reassign Invoice option from the menu on the left-hand side of the Grants Online screen.

You can search for the correct pro forma invoice by using the Proforma Invoice ID or File ID.

When you search for the barrister a list of their panel memberships will be shown.  You should ignore the panel names as only the name of the barrister is relevant. 

For detailed instructions on how to reassign an invoice you can access our Grants Online User Guide – Reassigning Invoices to Counsel.