This year’s Excellence Awards will recognise high-quality client care

This year, firms that have demonstrated exceptional innovation and consistent excellence in the delivery of client services will be recognised at the Law Society’s Excellence Awards.

The new Legal Complaints Service Award for Excellence in Client Service will highlight the importance of good client care in building and maintaining a strong and loyal client base, and its fundamental role in preventing complaints about legal services.

Demonstrating excellence in client care, from initial contact through to responding to complaints, is one of the most tangible expressions of a solicitor’s professionalism.

Firms with a reputation for providing excellent client care are likely to reap significant benefits, including increased profitability, high levels of client and employee satisfaction and loyalty, free advertising through word-of-mouth recommendation and lower professional indemnity premiums.

Clients are best served by knowing who has a proven track record of providing excellent quality client care. Members of the public turn to solicitors for help at critical and often stressful times, such as when selling or buying a house, obtaining probate after a loved one’s death, setting up a business venture or filing for divorce. During these times, the way firms treat clients will be as important as the quality of the technical services they provide.

In the current economic slowdown firms are feeling the pinch, so effective cost-saving measures have to be considered. Many professional indemnity insurers value the worth of verifiable quality standards, such as the Law Society Lexcel standard, which provides legal practices with a supportive framework focusing on key practice-management areas. Research conducted by the Independent Commissioner in 2005 shows that firms with Lexcel accreditation have 40% lower complaints records than firms without it. Through implementation of Lexcel requirements, firms can better manage risk and enhance client service, which not only helps to significantly reduce exposure to complaints and claims but can also have a beneficial effect on indemnity premiums.

The Law Society is committed to providing real support to help solicitors develop their capacity in the provision of client care. In April it issued a new practice note outlining good practice in client care to help solicitors increase client satisfaction, promote their practices in the competitive legal services market, lower their insurance premiums, demonstrate their professionalism and enhance the reputation of the profession.

At the same time, the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) has developed new online resources for solicitors facing a complaint, as well as revamping Lawyerline, its dedicated helpline service for solicitors. It has also committed to a wider programme of improvements and to working closely with the Law Society to deliver enhanced support for the profession in complaints handling.

All of these initiatives are aimed at supporting solicitors to deliver a more client-focused service. They highlight the joint commitment of the Law Society and the LCS to helping solicitors achieve good practice in client care as well as in complaints handling.

The client service award is one of 11 awards on offer at the Law Society Excellence Awards that will take place on 23 October. The judges will be looking for examples where firms have demonstrated a leading edge and innovative commitment to the provision of excellence in client services to a diverse range of clients. The award is open to practices of all types and sizes.

Miles Lockwood is customer services manager at the Legal Complaints Service