Positive feedback from 2022 Lexcel Assessment

The team at Miles & Partners Solicitors in London is delighted to have received this glowing report after its annual assessment under the Lexcel Practice Management Standard accreditation, a legal practice quality mark from The Law Society for client care, compliance and practice management.

After the assessor had completed their assessment, they commented:

‘Miles and Partners LLP continues to give real attention to the demands of the Practice Management Standards. The determination to keep the organisation simple, easy to manage and yet to offer qualified legal services with comprehensive procedures and policies supporting the needs of the clients remains evident.’

As a firm we are determined to give the highest level of professional service to all of our clients, locally, regionally and internationally. This is reflected by the acknowledgement of the Lexcel assessor that ‘the firm’s commitment to meeting the requirements is of a high standard.’

The report highlighted 27 areas of good practice where the minimum Lexcel requirements were succeeded, including:

• a ‘full and very well-constructed’ Quality Manual, providing a ‘comprehensive outline’ of policies and procedures.
• a ‘robust’ case file allocation and maintenance ‘ensuring client expectations can be met’.
• a ‘comprehensive’ Business Continuity Plan with a section on contingency plans for pandemics.
• a Strategic Plan 2020-2023 that is ‘worthy of mention’ and covers all the relevant issues facing the firm for the future.
• good financial management of the firm with documentary evidence.
• ‘detailed and compliant’ GDPR and Data Protection policies and procedures.
• documented reviews of plans, procedures and policies. The assessor was particularly ‘impressed’ by the firm’s Vulnerable Client Policy and child protection policies.

There was particular focus on people management and praise for the ‘very orderly’ HR practices were noted as ‘especially worthy of comment’:

• staff agreed they felt ‘supported throughout their remote working with co-ordinated supervision and regular communication’.
• the team morale is ‘evidently good’.
• regularly conducted Performance Development reviews ‘provide a platform for individuals to receive personal feedback, including debating their future’.
• clear policies and procedures are in place for flexible working and remote working.
• there are opportunities for getting staff involved with the marketing of the firm via the ‘interesting’ procedure for ‘Twitter Champions’.

Compliance partner Phil Walsh commented: ‘We are delighted with the results of the Lexcel assessment. The comments from the assessor are a testament to the continuing hard work and dedication of the team to provide exceptional service to our clients.’

The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.