Partner Article

Lincolnshire law firm rated ‘excellent’ in Lexcel audit

Following a successful audit of practices and procedures, JMP Solicitors has secured its Lexcel accreditation, achieving a rating of ‘excellent.’

The Grantham-based law firm was found to be fully Lexcel compliant in the major assessment which occurred last year and takes place every three years, alongside this year’s standard annual audit. The results showed that JMP met all Lexcel accreditation requirements, notably exceeding the basic Lexcel standard required.

Lexcel is a nationally recognised legal practice quality mark awarded by the Law Society, which is granted to firms that can demonstrate good practice in structure and strategy, finances, information management, people management, risk management, client care and case management.

The assessor’s comments found the firm - ‘maintained a client focused and service-orientated approach and all employees demonstrated a commitment to providing a high level of service.’

As part of the report produced following assessment, JMP Solicitors has been recognised as having a ‘wealth of experience’ in matters relating to family law, conveyancing, civil litigation and medical and professional negligence claims, as well as a speciality in Japanese Knotweed claims.

The firm has been commended for its ‘culture of compliance’, in ensuring that all Lexcel-compliant policies, plans and procedures are implemented and adhered to in the company’s operations.

The assessor also noted that the company ‘demonstrated that an excellent risk management framework is in place as part of the firm’s overall risk management policy’ and that all staff members who were interviewed showed ‘a continued commitment to providing an excellent level of client care and the practice has effectively embedded a “customer-centric culture” across all departments.’

The report also factored in how the firm has been addressing the current COVID-19 pandemic, and JMP received positive feedback on its risk management of the situation, conducted by the senior team.

JMP Solicitors was assessed against the latest 6.1 version of the Lexcel Standard and will now carry the accreditation until the next annual audit.

Ian Howard, director at JMP Solicitors, said: “We are delighted to have received an excellent scoring in our most recent Lexcel audit, which is testament to our hardworking and tenacious team. We will now proudly hold this accreditation until the next audit, which is an amazing achievement to add to those we already have next to our name.

“Whilst the pandemic was an unprecedented situation that many businesses had little to no preparation for, it is reassuring to know that we have done our very best to handle the situation in the interests of our clients and our team, and this has been recognised by industry standards.

“We have all been working tirelessly to continue delivering services whilst putting our clients at the forefront of our practice, as we have done for the past two decades. Thank you to the team who have demonstrated commitment and flexibility, so that we can continue to provide a personal, high standard of service for our clients.”

As well as its Lexcel accreditation, JMP Solicitors has also been accredited by the Investors in People and has been recognised as a ‘Leading Firm’ by Legal 500.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Georgina .