24 October 2019
Following an independent assessment the Law Officers’ Department has been awarded Lexcel accreditation for ‘excellence in practice management.'
Lexcel is the England and Wales Law Society’s legal practice quality mark, providing a framework of standards for ‘excellence in practice management’ requiring more than 50 best practice policies to be documented and complied with in the following seven areas:
- Structure and Strategy
- Financial Management
- Information Management
- People Management
- Risk Management
- Client Care
- File and Case Management.
Lexcel assessor, Tracy Thompson from the Centre for Assessment, spent three and half days at the department at the end of September, reviewing departmental policies and procedures, interviewing staff and reviewing open and closed matters to ensure that the documented policies had been put into practice.
Mrs Thompson concluded that “the department is extremely well managed and organised and in particular proved itself to be very strong in the area of people management.” Mrs Thompson identified many Lexcel ‘areas of good practice’ and observed that “the department demonstrated a truly supportive wellbeing environment” and that “staff are proud to be working for the department and are proud of each other’s abilities and dedication, which results in the Law Officers’ Department’s excellent reputation.”
In order to maintain Lexcel accreditation after the first year, the Law Officers’ Department must continue to operate at the standards set by Lexcel and will be required to pass an annual assessment.
Attorney General, Robert MacRae QC said: “We have been working towards achieving this accolade for a number of years and I am grateful to all the department’s staff for their hard work and dedication which has been recognised by this award. Achieving Lexcel accreditation is something that all staff can be very proud of. It shows that the department is operating to the highest standards as determined by an external, independent assessor.”
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