What a duty solicitor rota is
A duty scheme covers one or more police stations and magistrates' courts. On a rota scheme, the LAA divides the time into duty slots and gives them to member firms. When someone in custody asks for the duty solicitor during your firm's slot, the Defence Solicitor Call Centre (DSCC) passes the case to you. Under the 2025 Standard Crime Contract, the obligation to cover the slot is the firm's, not the individual solicitor's (Specification 6.1 and 6.3).
Some police station schemes run as panels instead: members are added to a panel list and the DSCC allocates work in sequence (Specification 6.52 and 6.57 to 6.58).
Who publishes rotas and when
The LAA publishes rotas on its duty solicitor rotas page, with the rotas themselves held on Google Drive. The Specification says rotas normally cover three to six months and are normally issued one month before they start (6.53). The dates the LAA has published for 2025 to 2027 are:
- 1 October 2025 to 4 January 2026: published 1 September 2025.
- 5 January 2026 to 31 March 2026: published 5 December 2025.
- 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2026: published 2 March 2026.
- 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027: published 2 September 2026.
For the October 2026 rotas, the CRM12 deadline was 23:59 on Monday 13 July 2026, the scheme members' lists were published on 17 July 2026, and comments on them were due by 24 July 2026. As of 16 October 2026, the LAA hasn't yet published the CRM12 deadline for the rotas starting in April 2027. I won't guess it: check the gov.uk page.
All rotas are subject to change during the rota period. The LAA can amend the second half of a six-month rota on one month's notice, for example to correct allocation errors (6.54).
Police station slots and court slots
Your duty solicitors must serve on both the police station and the magistrates' court schemes your firm belongs to (6.18). Court duty is covered by attendance or a call-in arrangement, depending on the scheme (6.49). Agents can't be used for court duty work (Duty Solicitor Guidance 5.7, referring to Specification 5.40).
How slots are allocated
- You need at least one duty solicitor registered on a scheme before the LAA will allocate you slots there (6.4).
- On a rota scheme, slots are allocated in proportion to the number of duty solicitors who submitted properly completed CRM12 forms for your firm by the deadline (6.51).
- Each duty solicitor can be a member of schemes from a single office of a single firm (6.7). If two firms put in a CRM12 for the same solicitor, the LAA decides which firm is likely to engage them at the start of the rota (Duty Solicitor Guidance 6.1).
- To count, each duty solicitor must be Engaged: meeting the case-count requirements in 6.21 and working at least 50 hours of criminal defence work a month for you from that office, measured over a rolling three months (6.22 to 6.23).
Swapping, cover and absences
- Swaps: the LAA's Duty Solicitor Guidance (5.6) says it's content for firms to swap individual slots among themselves if they can't cover specific times, but only with other firms eligible for that scheme.
- Can't cover: if you can't cover a slot, tell the LAA so it can be reallocated (6.3).
- Back-up: if the duty solicitor on the rota can't accept a case, the DSCC uses back-up, including from neighbouring schemes (6.8, 6.10 and 6.56).
- Absence: slots can be kept during maternity or paternity leave for up to 12 months, or sick leave for up to six months (6.24).
- Leaving the firm: a duty solicitor who moves firm mid-rota can't take their slots with them; the original firm may keep them to the end of that rota period (6.31; Duty Solicitor Guidance 6.3). The firm must email its contract manager and the LAA duty team straight away. It can't wait for the next CRM12 deadline (LAA rota page).
Where to check your rota
Use the LAA's gov.uk page and the Google Drive link on it. There's no other official source, and this site doesn't show who is on duty. Our duty scheme pages list the police stations and member firms in each scheme from LAA data, which helps when you need cover.
Rotas and the DSCC
The rota decides whose slot it is; the DSCC decides who gets the call. Keep your contact details up to date on the DSCC's system: the LAA rota page reminds firms of this under paragraph 9.17 of the Specification. For how DSCC registration works for reps, see the DSCC registration guide, and for the difference in roles, duty solicitor vs rep. Background: duty solicitor guide.
Need cover for a slot?
If your firm needs an accredited rep to help cover duty work where the contract allows it, search the directory by scheme or county.
Sources (primary): LAA, Duty solicitors: rotas, information and guidance (gov.uk, updated 2 September 2026). LAA, Standard Crime Contract 2025: Specification section 6 and paragraph 9.24, and the Duty Solicitor Guidance (version 3, effective 1 October 2025).
General information for practitioners in England and Wales, checked against the sources above on 16 October 2026. Not legal or financial advice. Contract terms and rates change: always check the current LAA documents.