A criminal defence firm has developed a specialist qualification for client care – telling the Gazette that client care for someone buying a house is very different to looking after someone whose liberty or reputation is at stake.
Client care is the third accreditation to be unveiled by Manchester and London firm Olliers, which previously developed accreditations for pre-charge and Crown court work.
Managing director Matthew Claughton said: ‘We wanted to bring in accreditation to reflect the fact that when a client instructs us, this is not conveyancing advice. We're talking about their liberty, their professional reputation – nothing should be left to chance. When they’ve got the might of the state bearing on them, they need to know they’re in the best possible hands, not just with the service we deliver but the manner in which we deliver it.’
The firm’s lawyers and support staff were given the opportunity to sit the accreditation. They had to complete 12 hours of training before sitting a two-part exam. Topics included effective communication, how to manage client expectations, client care proactivity and compliance with LEXCEL, the Law Society’s legal practice quality mark for client care, compliance and practice management.
Claughton said the firm's accreditation eliminated the risk of a client 'being treated like a transaction'. A bad example of client care, he explained, would be to represent someone in the police station or court without properly explaining what will happen next.
Claughton was proud of the testimonials that the firm has received. In one, as well as thanking individual solicitors, the client thanked staff in the accounts department who were ‘consistently communicative, organised and understanding throughout the process'.
With three accreditations already developed, Olliers is now working on an AI accreditation to ensure staff are 'at the cutting edge of AI literacy across all aspects of legal practice’, the firm said.
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