'Quality?', growled the senior and rather sceptical partner, 'we've been doing it for years.' No doubt he had a point.

Few firms could have survived the last few years unless most of their clients were more or less content with services provided.

Quality involves providing accurate advice in an appropriate manner.

There could be no doubting that he and his colleagues did this more often than not for most of their clients.And yet, quite clearly, more is expected.

Those who argue that all that is needed is a return to the profession of 30 years ago, when clients were appreciative and paid their bills without question, ignore years of social change which have seen the growth of consumerism.Poor service will not be met with acquiescence now: complaints may be made and more often than not the client will go elsewhere.

Rule 15 and the written professional standards on costs are the response to greater client expectati ons and not their cause.

The regime of 'quality' is simply a prescription for surviving in a more hostile market for legal services.Many firms remain unsure as to the relevance of BS5750 (now renamed BS EN ISO 9000 or the shorter ISO 9000).

Franchising, the practice management standards and Investors in People are favoured by others.

Beyond these mainstream options certain groupings make their own quality requirements.

Of these the LawNet quality standard appears to be the most onerous.

The issue which many firms need to address is how to chart the quality maze.ISO 9000 is the grandfather for most of the quality options.

Codified in 1979 it provided a ready-made system when law firms began to make advances in this area in the late 1980s.The fact that so many non-legal organisations had embraced the standard was both its main strength and weakness.

Although recognition in the business world had to be regarded favourably, the fact that it had been worded to suit manufacturing and engineering proved less than satisfactory.ISO 9000 provides a prescription for better control over the production of whatever an organisation undertakes.

Viewed this way, taking advice from clients, formulating the service which is felt to be appropriate, and then delivering that service can be dealt with in much the same way as any other commercial process.

There are of course differences, most notably the lack of direct cause and effect in professional service organisations.

If a metal rod is heated in a manufacturing process its expansion can be predicted: if instructions are taken in the defence of a crime there are still many variables which will influence the outcome.

These differences have to be recognised and respected.The Law Society has eased the process for the 50 or so law firms that are certified as complying to the standard by agreeing with the British Standards Institution an adaptation specifically for law firms.

Copies of the 'Quality briefing' where this code is to be found continue to sell in considerable numbers from Law Society publications.

Interestingly, a similar project by a working group of Australian and New Zealand lawyers is nearing completion.Since quality as a business issue is more to do with value for money than excellence of product, ISO 9000 was an obvious starting point for the Legal Aid Board when it concluded that it had to ensure that the fund was used as effectively as possible in the interests of the taxpayer, clients and participating firms.Sadly, ISO 9000 proved to be a starting point only since it failed to address various aspects of practice management that clearly would be important to the board.ISO 9000's main deficiencies are areas such as finance, marketing and personnel.

As a manufacturing based code, it seeks to ensure consistency of acceptable product and so concentrates on steps in production, limiting other elements to those which have a direct bearing on product.

Thus management responsibility is dealt with, but financial controls are not; training is covered, but selection procedures are missing.

ISO 9000 offered only part of the solution to the problem.The practice management standards and franchising adopt many of the elements of the original code, but add further requirements.

Both seek to be a more comprehensive managerial code than ISO 9000.

Since they have been devised specifically for solicitors they are more likely to seem relevant to most partners.

The purposes of the practice management standards are stated as:-- a practical management tool for the benefit of firms and clients ;-- guidelines for how management should be conducted; and-- a useful first step for firms seeking certification to ISO 9000.The Legal Aid Board's task in devising its franchising specification was made the easier by the parallel development of the practice management standards.

There are few differences between the two codes, though in many places the franchising document is more rigid in its requirements.Those areas covered by the practice management standards and franchising which are missing from ISO 9000 are business and marketing planning, financial controls, recruitment procedures, job descriptions and performance appraisals.

Viewed in reverse, the additional requirements of ISO 9000 not found in franchising or the practice management standards are the need for internal audits (as opposed to file reviews), the keeping of quality records and most aspects of document control.The general view is that the firm which has met the practice management standards will find that some 80% of the rules of ISO 9000 will have been dealt with.

Since the standard of auditing seems to be more arduous on applications for legal aid franchises many firms have simply to ensure compliance in any parts of the firm not subject to LAB scrutiny.Investors in People (IIP) approaches the issue of quality in a way that many firms find more appealing.

Unlike the practice management standards and franchising, it has nothing to do with ISO 9000 and many of the Training and Enterprise Councils which sponsor the Investors in People initiative have little positive to say about the whole concept of quality assurance.

The ethos of IIP is that many organisations are quick enough to invest in new plant or machinery, regarding this as essential expenditure by way of investment, but are slow to invest in the skills needed to use the same equipment.

This simple observation has an uncomfortable air of truth for many solicitors' practices where investment in computers has not always been matched by staff training to exploit the full potential of the new systems.The attraction of IIP is that it is more people-focused than systems-focused.

Many partners will accept more readily that the people who make up the firm are the key to quality of performance, and it is quite apparent that many firms throughout England and Wales have embarked on programmes leading to assessment.Notwithstanding the different aims of IIP there are again similarities.

The 'indicators' of IIP require a 'written but flexible' business plan.

Training and most areas of personnel management are dealt with.

Many firms will conclude that systems will be needed so that people know what they are expected to do.

At the recent Law Society conference John Miles from Lightfoots, the first law firm to achieve IIP certification, commented that the partners found that they were able to tick the majority of boxes on the legal aid franchising questionnaire simply as a result of their efforts on IIP.The most refreshing element of IIP is that it expects the results of all the activity required by it to result in better performance by the business or concern in question.

The training required has to be shown to be directly relevant to the needs of the organisation: its effectiveness has to be considered after it has been undertaken.The quality maze might be represented as a choice between a systems approach from ISO 9000 and people in IIP.

Both elements are to be found in franchising and the practice management standards, but not always to the same high level.

The most unfortunate aspect to the quality debate is the view that there must be competition between the various options on offer.

There is a tendency for many firms to choose one of the routes to quality and therefore oppose the others.

This is misguided, particularly if IIP and ISO 9000 are compared.The real response to quality is to harness good systems of file management with a workforce that is motivated and well directed.

This suggests that ISO 9000 and IIP have complementary contributions to make - a point freely admitted by the more far sighted TECs which are able to take a more balanced view of the organisations with which they work.The best general advice for most firms is to put in place systems that satisfy franchising in any litigation departments that rely on legal aid, and the practice management standards in any that do not.

This will create a more advanced platform to view the options of ISO 9000 certification or IIP, or both.For the firm that reaches this level external assessment to ISO 9000 is beneficial if it is felt that the departments are not yet sufficiently systematic and organised.

The certification fees, which are likely to run into several thousands of pounds, will be justifiable in terms of the improved efficiency of working which is likely to result.

The firm that feels that it is not achieving the full potential from its staff would be better advised to work towards IIP.

It is an interesting argument as to which to embark on first and is probably best answered on an individual basis.Firms embarking on ISO 9000 projects in particular often do so for reasons that change as the project progresses.

Most are initially interested in the marketing appeal of the badge that will be obtained.

Despite widespread predictions that business would come to demand certification from solicitors in the same way that has extended to commercial suppliers for many years, there is little evidence of firms gaining or losing work simply because of ISO 9000 status.

The question more frequently asked is: 'What is your approach to quality?' A convincing response can be based on any of the options set out above.

The true benefits of ISO 9000 are therefore more to do with internal efficiencies, the reduction of wasted time and greater consistency of advice.Having negotiated the maze, where do firms go from here? Franchising will not go away, the practice management standards will gain in profile if they do become audited and ISO 9000 will continue to offer real advantages in the management of firms.

The future of IIP depends on government policy towards the TECs which are its sponsors.

Further moves to harmonise a more general approach to quality might be made through the new European Foundation for Quality Management which sets out indicators on people, systems and results.

The maze clearly has several twists and turns in store which solicitors will yet need to negotiate.