GOLD STANDARD

Some large law firms have been sceptical of the merits of quality marks.

But is their criticism justified? Emma Vere-Jones hears how certification such as Lexcel can improve client service.Maintaining quality is an issue for any business, and solicitors' firms are no exception.

As the legal profession becomes increasingly competitive, more and more firms are looking to external assessors to ensure standards are consistently upheld.

People got serious with quality marks when ISO 9000 and then Investors in People (IIP) took off.

A recent survey of companies by City law firm Fox Williams found that many of those who had not yet started down the road to IIP were wary of the time and cost involved; however, all of the companies which had been accredited reported a major improvement in profitability and staff satisfaction (see [2002] Gazette, 24 January, 3).So, it is against that backdrop that the quality mark designed specifically for solicitors - the Law Society's Lexcel - is on the verge of its 200th certification.But what advantages do such certifications bring to law firms? Some top City firms say they have no need for them, but Lexcel assessors say the practice management standards the award ensures benefits any size of firm.Lexcel's practice management standards were initially devised in 1993.

The Society wanted to reduce complaints and claims against solicitors, thereby improving the profession's reputation.

The aim was to set practice management standards that would cover all the main causes of complaints and claims brought against solicitors.Also at that time the then Legal Aid Board (now the Legal Services Commission) was writing its own quality mark - the Legal Aid Franchise Quality Assurance Standard - which would be a requirement for any practice that conducted publicly funded work.The Society considered that standards ought to be developed across the boards, and therefore the original practice management standards were developed in conjunction with the Legal Aid Board.Lexcel was launched in April 1998.

There have been 247 applications for the certificate, with 198 awarded and 49 still being assessed.

Of the certified practices, 126 are private, with local authorities' legal depart-ments making up the other 72.Private practices range in size from sole practitioners to much larger firms such as Newcastle commercial solicitors Dickinson Dees and Manchester personal injury specialists Donns.

Dickinson Dees is currently the largest Lexcel-certified firm with 57 partners and 167 other fee-earners, while five other top 100 law firms are in the list with City firm Davies Arnold Cooper shortly to undergo the assessment process.

But noticeable in their absence are the top City and international firms.Quality marks such as Lexcel or IIP seem to be met with a certain amount of disinterest by the larger practitioners.

'The good national and international firms really have no need for such certification,' says the managing partner - who preferred to remain anonymous - of one large City firm.

'A top City firm wouldn't be a top City firm if it didn't already have excellent management practices in place.'They have concerns that this type of certification does nothing to ensure the quality of legal advice given.

'You could pick up a file and say, "There are spelling errors in this letter" or, "It reads like the product of an idiot" - but that's a pretty low-grade audit,' says another partner at an international firm.

'To know how well somebody really did on a particular matter, you'd have to be an expert in that area.'And big national and international firms have quality controls in place.

This will usually involve ongoing training, as well as post-transactional reviews.

Indeed, global giant Baker & McKenzie has its own audit team designed to ensure each of its 61 offices worldwide is maintaining certain standards of practice management.But Beachcroft Wansbroughs' senior partner and IIP ambassador Lord Hunt says: 'The standard is equally applicable to law firms of every size or type.

For a small out-of- town firm, IIP will help with managing change and growth.

For a large City firm, it will provide a structure for recruiting - and, crucially, retaining - top talent.'Many of the larger City firms turn to other institutions such as Nottingham Law School for on-going training.

Nottingham runs courses for a number of large City and magic circle firms.

Its chief executive, Professor Peter Jones, says its courses offer a combination of improved legal advice, management and client-care skills.

'I don't see one as necessarily being distinguished from the other,' he says.

'We help people with substantive and procedural issues, and also how the advice they're giving is best managed.

It's a hybrid of the two.'But Lexcel manager Tracey Stanley says the quality mark is of benefit to firms of all size.

'In some ways, international firms have more to worry about because their practice areas are more diverse,' she argues.Ms Stanley says the purpose of Lexcel is not to ensure the quality of legal advice, but to ensure the standard of management and client service.

'Most of the causes of claims and a lot of complaints about solicitors are not about poor legal advice; they're about poor service delivery,' she says.'It's common sense.

You ought to be writing to the client to confirm what you're doing for them.

You ought to be telling them how much a matter is actually costing them.

It's not rocket science.

But that doesn't mean people always do it.'Nor is the quality mark meant to be unachievable.

'Nearly every firm that makes an application will get the award eventually, unless there is a problem with the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors, for example, serious professional misconduct or fraud,' Ms Stanley says.Once an initial assessment is made, a practice is given time to improve specific problem areas, so it can then achieve the award.And despite cynicism on the part of some firms, interest in the Lexcel certification has continually been on the rise - the office received more than 2,500 enquiries last year.This is probably the result in large part of the benefits Lexcel brings in the area of risk management - and the fact that the cost of the certification can often be offset against a reduction in insurance premiums.'If a practice has a Lexcel quality mark, it ought to have fewer claims and therefore ought to get a discount on its professional indemnity insurance premiums,' Ms Stanley says.'Our insurer, Royal & SunAlliance, was offering discounts of up to 15% for Lexcel,' says a partner at a Lexcel-awarded practice.

'In our case, we received the full 15% - a saving of some 22,000.'Another firm claims it has reduced its insurance bill by between 50% and 60% since it first introduced the practice management standards.And Lexcel is expecting another surge of interest later this year when the Society finishes rewriting the Guide to the Professional Conduct of Solicitors.This will include new client-relation and business-operation rules which, if approved, look set to boost Lexcel's membership.'For the first time in the legal profession, there are going to be rules to say that a practice must be demonstrating that it is managing its business effectively,' Ms Stanley says.

'That's never been a requirement before.

Unfortunately, many solicitors live by the rulebook, and they only do things because they have to do them.

I certainly welcome the new rules.'It seems likely that in the meantime Lexcel's numbers will continue to increase.

'There's a snowballing effect.

It's sometimes a matter of keeping up with the Joneses,' says Ms Stanley.But for those firms that have undergone the Lexcel award, the value is in the benefit the award brings, rather than the perception of others.

Lee Galvin, quality auditor at Grimsby firm Wilkin Chapman, says Lexcel certification has enhanced client relationships, ensuring that they are maintained on an ongoing and consistent basis.

He adds that the standard ensures a uniformity throughout the firm.Neil Braithwaite, managing partner of Dickinson Dees, says the firm invested in Lexcel to ensure consistent standards in all practice areas.

It has also helped in fee collection, he adds.And does he think the award would be of benefit to larger firms? 'They are still involved in the same type of work as us,' he says.

'Therefore, what is good for us is good for them.'Emma Vere-Jones is a freelance journalist