What this is

LAA Self-Grant works out an Immigration & Asylum legal-aid self-grant — the extension of profit-costs and/or disbursement limits a caseworker can authorise without going back to the LAA — and assembles the self-grant write-up for the file. Enter the matter, set the IAAS level and the costs incurred to date, and it does the limit arithmetic, prompts the reasonableness justification, and builds the document.

Typical workflow

1. ① Case Details — client + matter references, MT1 code (which sets the rate type — Asylum / Immigration / Hourly), IAAS level (2 or 3), and whether you're extending profit costs, disbursements, or both. Or Import a previous grant's JSON to roll forward — the old overall total becomes the new "incurred to date".
2. ② Disbursements — list the disbursements (interpreter, expert, translation, …); the tool works out the new disbursement limit.
3. ③ Profit Costs — costs incurred to date plus the work still to do, totted up at the right rate, to give the new profit-costs limit.
4. ④ Reasonableness — the justification: why the extension is reasonable and proportionate. This is what the file (and any LAA audit) needs to see.
5. ⑤ Preview — the assembled self-grant document. Check it, go back and tweak, then print or save it for the file.
6. 💾 Backup the case before you close — you'll want the JSON to roll forward into the next grant.

The tabs

① Case Details

The inputs that drive everything else — client name, references, MT1 code, IAAS level, and the extend type (profit costs / disbursements / both). The MT1 code decides whether profit costs are calculated at Asylum, Immigration, or hourly rates; the IAAS level decides the Level-3 uplift. Import a previous grant here to start from where it left off.

② Disbursements

The disbursement schedule — interpreter, expert, translation, and so on — and the calculated new disbursement limit. Relevant when you're extending disbursements (or both).

③ Profit Costs

Costs incurred to date plus the work remaining, calculated at the rate the MT1 code implies, to give the new profit-costs limit. Relevant when you're extending profit costs (or both).

④ Reasonableness

The reasonableness statement — the case for why this extension is justified. The tool prompts the points the LAA expects; this text goes onto the self-grant document.

⑤ Preview

The finished self-grant document, assembled from all the tabs above and re-rendered each time you open it. Print it or save it for the file.

💾 Backup

Save the whole case as a JSON envelope and restore it later — both for backup and for rolling a grant forward into the next one. Run Backup before Clear.

⚙️ Config

Caseworker-level preferences that persist across cases.

🎨 Settings

App appearance (light / dark / system, theme family) and the app font. These sync across every GMIAU tool.

Tips & gotchas

• The MT1 code matters. It's what tells the tool whether to use Asylum, Immigration, or hourly rates — get it right before you read the profit-costs figures.
• IAAS Level 3 applies the Level-3 uplift to profit costs; Level 2 doesn't. Set it on Case Details.
• Extend type (profit costs / disbursements / both) controls which of tabs ② and ③ apply — for a disbursement-only extension the Profit Costs tab isn't part of the calculation.
• Reasonableness isn't optional. A self-grant without a recorded justification is the thing an LAA audit picks up — fill in tab ④.
• Roll forward, don't retype. Import the previous grant's JSON on Case Details so the prior overall costs become the new starting point automatically.
• The tool doesn't auto-save your inputs — use Backup before you close the tab.

Questions

Q. The profit-costs figures look wrong.
A. Check the MT1 code on Case Details (it sets the rate type) and the IAAS level (Level 3 adds an uplift).

Q. I only need a disbursement extension.
A. Set the extend type to "Disbursements" on Case Details — the Profit Costs tab then isn't part of the calculation.

Q. How do I carry a grant forward to the next one?
A. Backup the JSON; on the new case, Import it on Case Details — the previous overall total rolls forward as the new "incurred to date".

Q. Will my settings follow me to another machine?
A. Theme + font sync across GMIAU tools via browser storage; Config preferences are saved with the tool. Use Backup for the case data.

More: the GMIAU Caseworker User Guide in your Obsidian vault covers the wider LAA-forms workflow (CW1/2, ECF1, EOM, CW3 self-grants). — Confidentiality: this tool runs entirely in your browser; nothing is uploaded. The client name, references and figures are confidential — keep the produced document on this machine and file it through your normal channels.