Lexcel accreditation: what the standard asks and how it works

Run by

The Law Society

Current version

Lexcel England and Wales v6.1

Cycle

Three years, with a visit every year

Time to first award

Around six months

What is Lexcel?

Lexcel is the Law Society's quality mark for client care, compliance and practice management. Your firm puts in place the policies and procedures the Lexcel standard asks for, an independent assessor checks they work in practice, and the Law Society decides whether to award accreditation.

It's voluntary and open to any practice, from sole practitioners to in-house and local authority legal teams. A firm with a legal aid contract must hold Lexcel or the Legal Aid Agency's Specialist Quality Mark.

Which version of Lexcel is current?

Lexcel England and Wales v6.1, in one version for law firms and one for in-house legal departments. The standard for legal practices is dated March 2018. Lexcel International v5.1 covers offices outside England and Wales.

A firm whose head office is in England and Wales must be authorised by the SRA to apply.

What does the Lexcel standard cover?

The standard has seven sections. Most requirements are things a practice must have; a few are things it should have, such as Cyber Essentials and a corporate social responsibility policy.

1. 01

   Structure and strategy

   A documented management structure, a strategic plan with objectives for at least the next 12 months, and a business continuity plan tested every year.

2. 02

   Financial management

   A named person responsible for finances, an annual budget and accounts, quarterly checks against budget and cash flow, and procedures for billing and for moving money.

3. 03

   Information management

   Policies on data protection, information security, email, internet use, social media and your website, and a register of every Lexcel policy, plan and procedure with its owner.

4. 04

   People management

   Role profiles, recruitment, induction, training plans, performance reviews and leavers, plus policies on health and safety, equality and diversity, whistleblowing and flexible working.

5. 05

   Risk management

   A risk register and compliance plan, a named supervisor for each area of work, key dates, conflicts, supervision, file reviews, an anti-money laundering policy and a yearly review of risk data.

6. 06

   Client care

   What clients are told in writing at the start, costs information, a complaints procedure, checks on client satisfaction and how you accept or decline instructions.

7. 07

   File and case management

   The strategy for each matter on the file, undertakings, finding files and documents, keeping matters moving, instructing barristers and experts, and closing files.

What paperwork does Lexcel expect?

Written policies, plans and procedures, each with a named owner and reviewed at least once a year. Most firms keep them in an office manual, though the standard doesn't insist on a single document. An assessor only counts a procedure as met if they can see it working.

Three records need keeping up all year:

1. 01A risk register: the risks the firm faces, who owns each one and what you do to reduce it. Lexcel sets no format.
2. 02File reviews: regular and independent, with set selection criteria and frequency, recorded on the file and centrally, and any corrective action done within 28 days.
3. 03A yearly analysis of risk data, including complaints, file review results, matters reported to the COLP or COFA, and breaches, whether or not they went to the SRA.

The breach record in our COLP guide covers the last of these.

How does Lexcel accreditation work?

You apply to the Law Society, and one of the three assessment bodies it licenses carries out the assessment. The Law Society says the process takes around six months.

1. 01Read the scheme rules, the standard and the guidance for your type of practice.
2. 02Complete the self-assessment checklist and fix the gaps it shows.
3. 03Choose an assessment body: Centre for Assessment, Inspiring Business Performance or Recognising Excellence.
4. 04Send the application form to the Law Society at least six weeks before the assessment date.
5. 05Pay the registration fee when the Law Society invoices you.
6. 06Have the assessment. The assessor visits, checks your policies and procedures, and samples files against a case management checklist.
7. 07Close any non-compliances. The Law Society then decides.

Your procedures must have been in place for at least three months before the first assessment, so the assessor has evidence to look at.

One missing piece of evidence counts as a non-compliance. You close a minor one with documents within 21 days. A major one takes between 21 days and three months and may need a return visit. If a first assessment finds little evidence at all, it's marked premature and you can't be reassessed for six months.

How long does Lexcel accreditation last?

It runs on a three-year cycle: an annual maintenance visit at the end of years one and two, and a full reassessment at the end of year three. Each takes place in the month of your original award or the month either side.

Maintenance visits check sections 5, 6 and 7 in full, plus parts of sections 1 to 4, and take about half as long as the first assessment. The full reassessment checks everything again.

How much does Lexcel cost?

There are two fees: an annual registration fee to the Law Society, set by your number of fee earners, and an assessment fee paid to your assessment body. The Law Society publishes the first:

1 fee earner

£78 (£93.60 with VAT)

2 to 15 fee earners

£225 (£270.00 with VAT)

16 to 40 fee earners

£320 (£384.00 with VAT)

41 to 85 fee earners

£499 (£598.80 with VAT)

86 or more fee earners

£747 (£896.40 with VAT)

Fee earners include non-admitted fee earners, trainees doing fee-earning work, part-timers and supervisors who also earn fees. Each assessment body sets its own day rate, and the number of days depends on your fee earners and support staff, practice areas and any other standards you hold, such as ISO 9001. Ask each body for a quote.

Is Lexcel right for your firm?

It suits firms that want written procedures they will use, and it's needed for legal aid work unless you hold the Specialist Quality Mark. The cost is mostly in the upkeep: every policy reviewed each year, file reviews running and the yearly risk analysis done.

If you hold the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme or Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme, you already meet some of the core practice management standards Lexcel shares with them.

How does Lexcel relate to the SRA's rules?

The SRA doesn't require Lexcel, and the standard says accreditation doesn't guarantee you comply with the law. That stays the firm's responsibility. The two overlap. The SRA expects effective governance, systems and controls (paragraph 2.1 of the SRA Code of Conduct for Firms) and records that show you comply (paragraph 2.2), and Lexcel asks for written versions of many of them.

Its client care section covers costs information and complaints, which the SRA's codes also cover, and its anti-money laundering policy includes the firm-wide risk assessment and MLRO the regulations require, which our AML checks guide covers. The senior person the Law Society deals with can be a manager, a practice manager, or the COLP or COFA.

Where can AI help with Lexcel?

With the upkeep. AI can draft a policy from your own notes and precedents, track review dates on the register, pull file review findings into the yearly analysis and draft client care letters. The judgements stay with people: file review conclusions, risk ratings and what counts as a breach.

Any AI tool also goes on the software register section 3.2 asks for, with the same data protection checks as any other system. Our AI policy template covers both.