New standard
Lexcel v5 is the new version of the Law Society's law management standard. The standard has been revised to enhance its relevance to the profession, increase risk management requirements and provide greater support for outcomes-focused regulation (OFR). The Lexcel office has worked with accredited and non-accredited practices, and stakeholders including the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) and professional indemnity insurers to ensure a holistic revision of the standard.
Timelines
31 October 2011 - launch of Lexcel v5
1 January 2012 - optional compliance
1 July 2012 onwards - all assessment must be against Lexcel v5
Supportive materials
The Lexcel office have developed a range of materials and activities to help provide insight into the revisions for accredited practices and those working towards applying. These include:
NEW - Lexcel scheme rules
In addition to these Lexcel requirement-focused materials, the Lexcel office has combined the application and assessment criteria guide with the assessors guide to create Lexcel's scheme rules. This document outlines the requirements outside of the standard for any practice applying for Lexcel. It also gives insight for practices into guidance issued to Lexcel consultants and assessors. Practices must support and comply with the processes set out in the scheme rules.
Lexcel scheme rules (PDF 253 kb)
Lexcel toolkits
The current range of Lexcel toolkits are based on Lexcel v4.1. They support compliance with Lexcel v5 on the whole. There are three toolkits effected by Lexcel v5 - People Management, Information Management and Risk Management. If you have purchased any of these toolkits, please contact us.
Lexcel v5 revisions webinar
This one-hour webinar will:
- provide an outline of the changes from Lexcel v4 and v4.1 to Lexcel v5
- give guidance on how to comply with the new or changed requirements to the standard
- highlight how to provide advice or assess against Lexcel v5
Webinar details