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There are over 2,000 legal practices in
England and Wales, together with legal departments attached to
commercial organisations and local and other authorities. Of all
these, only 113 have attained the LEXCEL quality standard.
FitzPatricks attained the Standard at the first time of asking and
was the 31st of all legal organisations in the country to
do so, the 21st of all solicitors' practices and the
first in West Sussex. FitzPatricks have recently had their first
LEXCEL review – it was successful.
A LEXCEL PRACTICE…
…is
one which, after an independent assessment, has satisfied the
Assessor approved by the Law Society and appointed by Sussex
Enterprise that it has committed itself to
- Putting clients first;
- Communicating regularly with its
clients;
- A satisfactory and documented case
management procedure;
- A satisfactory and documented
practice management system;
- The highest professional
standards;
- Carrying out instructions in a
timely manner;
- Agreeing action plans with clients
for the work to be carried out;
- Agreeing costs in advance and
discussing with clients any variations before undertaking
additional work;
- Agreeing to send invoices at the
regular frequency requested by the clients rather than at long
and infrequent intervals;
- Enabling the client to budget
effectively for the cost of legal services;
- A documented complaints handling
procedure which, whenever needed, indicates ways of improving
services;
- Training all personnel to the
levels needed to enable them to carry out their work quickly and
efficiently;
- A Business Plan which will ensure
the firm's continuing growth and ability to deliver its services
in the short and medium terms in readiness for the long term;
- Not undertaking work which it
lacks the experience and competence to do;
- Continuous improvement.
AN INVESTORS IN PEOPLE ORGANISATION…
…is
one which, after an independent assessment, has satisfied the
Assessor appointed by the Government approved authority (in Sussex, Sussex
Enterprise) that it has committed itself to
- Placing the customer first;
- Investing in its Personnel to
ensure best employment practice and excellence in customer care;
- Promoting a career path for its
personnel;
- Practising team building;
- Respecting family values in its
staff;
- Promoting certainty in the roles
undertaken by each individual and providing the proper elements
of support, supervision and resources to enable each to function
successfully;
- Excellence in internal as well as
external communications;
- Correct project management
procedures for activities such as marketing and Information
Technology and training in the use of technology to achieve the
maximum results;
- Monitoring progress in all
projects;
- Continuous improvement;
FitzPatricks is one
of the few legal firms in Sussex to have attained the Investors in
People Standard. This was achieved first time and the firm has
recently been reassessed – successfully. The Assessor, who
recently re-assessed the firm both for LEXCEL and for Investors in
People, described FitzPatricks as 'Exemplary'.
NOTE
FitzPatricks was also
one of the very first firms in the country to achieve the LAFQAS
(Legal Aid Franchisees' Quality Assurance) Standard. Unfortunately,
the firm could not reach agreement with the then Legal Aid Board
(now the Community Legal Service) for the supply of publicly funded
services, as the Board would not answer simple questions about the
Franchise Contract.
They said that these were political matters which they did not have
to answer.
The Lord Chancellor's
Department has let it be known that the reason for franchises not
being taken up by enough solicitors is that few firms meet the
standards of the Community Legal Service.
This statement is
misleading.
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