Lexcel is a legal quality mark created by the Law Society to show practices are competent in client care, regulatory compliance and practice management.
A Lexcel assessment is carried out by an auditor who looks at your processes to see if they effectively align to the Lexcel framework. The assessment covers: client care, risk management, people management, structure and strategy, financial management, information management, file and case management.
Becoming Lexcel accredited brings many benefits. The key ones highlighted by accredited practices are that they were able to manage risk more effectively, attract and retain more clients, increase client satisfaction and reduce complaints, comply with regulatory requirements, increase profitability and access lower insurance premiums (including professional indemnity insurance).
Any Legal practice and in-house legal departments can apply for and see the benefits of Lexcel accreditation, regardless of size or type of work. This includes sole practitioners and local authority legal departments. It is also now a requirement that you will need to hold a relevant quality mark (such as Lexcel) to hold a legal aid contract with the Legal Aid Agency.
Our prices are based on time allocations which are set by The Law Society. These factor in the number of fee earners and support staff within your practice, as well as the number of offices you have. In addition to accreditation fees from Centre for Assessment, which start from as little as £825, you will be required to pay an annual registration fee directly to The Law Society. These range from £78 to £747 depending on the number of fee earners your practice has. you can view the breakdown of the registration fees here https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/firm-accreditations/lexcel
Once the quote issued from CfA has been accepted, you will be allocated an assessor who will contact you to make arrangements for your assessment. Once you have agreed dates for your Lexcel assessment, the next stage is for you to complete the Law Society's application form and to pay the registration fee (at least six weeks prior to your agreed assessment date. After this you will complete your self-assessment and our assessment from your assessor will be conducted. Once the report is verified from the Law Society, you will be awarded Lexcel accreditation. Annual maintenance visit will take place each year to maintain your certificate, with a full re-assessment visit every three years.
Centre for assessment offers several other quality certifications such as ISO 9001 (Quality Management), ISO 22301 (Business Continuity Management), ISO 27001 (Information Security Management) and ISO 30415 (Diversity & Inclusion Management). Many clients choose to have join ISO 9001 and Lexcel assessments, saving time and money. We also provide certification to Cyber Essentials, which is part of the Lexcel framework as a ‘should have’ for compliant law firms.
You can order a range of free materials such as logos, certificates and window stickers directly from the Law Society here https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/firm-accreditations/lexcel
Yes, The Law Society has a central database that is updated monthly where prospect clients can search for lexcel accredited firms. You can view this here https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/search/results?Pro=True&Type=0&IncludeNlsp=True&Accreditation=LEXCEL&Language=
