Lexcel Made Easier With LAWFUSION

For firms aiming to achieve and maintain their Lexcel accreditation,
a powerful suite of software is a must!

There are many reasons why a law firm may decide to implement Lexcel, the Law Society’s quality accreditation. Having Lexcel helps with risk management, reducing complaints and mistakes, improving client satisfaction, achieving consistency of service, and ensuring SRA rules are followed. It also improves competitive advantage and increases recognition. In addition, of course any law firm wishing to hold a legal aid contract must have Lexcel or the Legal Aid Agency’s Specialist Quality Mark.

Whilst no suite of software can achieve Lexcel (or the LAA Specialist Quality Mark) for you, LAWFUSION offers a wide range of rich functionality that helps firms work in such a way that the rigorous independent assessment required each year, to ensure that the required levels of best practice that Lexcel (and SQM) require, can be consistently met.

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Key Features

Client Care

Under Lexcel the ‘Client Care’ category covers communication with clients at matter take on, including terms of business and cost estimates.

With LAWFUSION your client care letter can be incorporated into your workflows, with acknowledgement of its signed response logged and stored appropriately. Some firms choose to set up a separate ‘Lexcel’ case where they can retain, and password protect if required, all their client care standard documents.

In terms of ‘cost estimates’ there is functionality for producing, sending and recording quotes to clients (especially popular with conveyancing firms). When the quotation becomes live it can be converted on the system from a quote to a case, and the user can then start following the workflow’s ‘steps to progress the case recording all activity as it moves forward.

There is also a comprehensive costs management module for litigation, which is also popular for Court of protection , Legal Aid, Private Family and Fixed Fee work.

With LAWFUSION firms get a fully integrated Complaints Management Module too. Your LAWFUSION Workflows can be configured to ensure your staff follow the firm’s required processes, and case analysis reports can identify if things have or have not been done.

Financial Management

Robust ‘financial management’ procedures to aid tracking performance against targets must be demonstrated if a law firm is to achieve Lexcel accreditation.

Working very closely with many great law firms over many years, the SRA-compliant LAWFUSION Legal Accounts software is built on efficiency-enhancing functionality and is highly configurable, and secure. It has robust user privileges across all areas so that user access can be controlled efficiently. It is designed to consistently provide reliable information to the leaders within law firms, enabling them to make confident, business-led decisions through management reporting, and key performance indicator (KPI) monitoring. Popular with fee earners and cashiers alike, LAWFUSION accounts is a proper ‘book-keepers’ system bringing a wide range of relevant warnings, checks and risk management functionality to law firm users – For example:

LAWFUSION allows controls and mechanisms to make invoice and statement generation slick and efficient.
The software will prevent over-drawing relevant accounts.
Unpaid supplier bills can trigger alerts to bring them to the attention of your cashiers’. And much more!

Information Management

When it comes to ‘Information Management’ Lexcel assessors are looking for firms to have policies in place that manage information exchange and assets ensuring compliance with data protection legislation. They also want to see a central register for all the firm’s plans, policies and procedures and a named person responsible for their management and updating.

Law firms can use LAWFUSION to document their processes and all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) through the case management system. It can be a repository for storing all documentation relating to the written policies and procedures required for a law firm, with a named champion for each. LAWFUSION’s Priority Action List (PAL) enables easy monitoring, and it brings modules such as Anti-Money Laundering, Debt Control and Expense Management all in one integrated system for more granular control. Within the LAWFUSION suite there is also a GDPR Manager module to help firms ensure they are adhering to the latest data protection legislation.

Select Legal Systems Limited is an ISO 27001 information security certified company. The LAWFUSION datacentre is also ISO 27001 certified, which means all aspects of the business are dedicated to best practice for information management.

Risk Management

In terms of Lexcel, under the ‘Risk Management’ banner firms are required to have policies governing the risks of delivering advice, accepting and managing new work, supervision, outsourcing, conflict management, adhering to key dates and operational risks. Also firms must have procedures in place for regular and independent file reviews and anti-money laundering.

In LAWFUSION all of this can be addressed by reflecting all the firm’s relevant procedures as steps in workflows. For example, having configured steps in the appropriate places of the system to help with conflict checks, ID checks can be configured quickly and easily for all the Practice’s areas of work.

Equally easy to set up are the necessary risk management questions that need to be asked at various points in the case management process.

Of course, LAWFUSION also offers a very comprehensive Anti Money Laundering module guiding users through the anti money laundering process. Users can log documents (e.g. passports) and checks, generate and record correspondence and set flags, warnings and reminders to ensure they are compliant with current AML regulations. LAWFUSION also integrates with external ID checking services such as Call ML and Experian.

File and Case Management

Your Lexcel assessors will want to see procedures that ensure your matters are effectively managed, progressed and closed. They also want to see procedures for using third-parties.

LAWFUSION Case Management leaves no stone unturned. Offering a broad range of feature-rich, time-saving functionality, all designed to enhance efficiency and make your firm, and its processes, completely robust. LAWFUSION’s Case Management in the Fee Earner Desktop area of the system is exceptionally comprehensive. With LAWFUSION firms get a vast range of modules including:

Many proven Workflow charts as well as a user-friendly ‘create-your-own‘ workflow tool
Practice Diary
Time Recording
Document Management,
SMS Text Messaging
Case Tracker Portal
Mobile App
Court Document Bundler
Priority Action List (PAL)
Reminders
Case Navigator
Reporting

As well as some specialist tools such as:

A range of robust Legal Aid modules
MOJ PI Portal Integration
and Litigation Costs Management
to name just a few.

The best way to explore the depths of LAWFUSION Case Management (or any other area of the system) and review it in terms of what it offers for Lexcel compliance is to arrange a demonstration.

Team LAWFUSION can be reached on 01482 567601.

People Management

Lexcel requires role profiles and inductions for personnel, learning and development plans, performance management, procedures to manage recruitment, selection and progression and management of people leaving the practice.

Whilst LAWFUSION is not a HR system, its authors Select Legal Systems Limited are owned by The Access Group. The Access Group offers HR solutions to fulfil every need, for any size business. For more information, please call Team LAWFUSION on 01482 567601.

Structure & Strategy

For the Lexcel accreditation firms must define their long-term strategic objectives including have a disaster recovery plan in place to avoid business interruption.

LAWFUSION is a secure repository for this kind of information.

CASE STUDIES

Video Case Study

Bridge McFarland

“Lexcel standards are a breeze with LAWFUSION and its flexible workflow functionality has enabled us to become leaders in our local markets.”
Stephen Oldridge, Partner, Bridge McFarland

More info>

Video Case Study

EMG Solicitors

This 7-minute video features an interview with Emma Gaudern, Managing Director of EMG Solicitors Limited. Based in the North-East of England, the firm specialises in Court of Protection and Deputyships. They chose LAWFUSION as a start-up firm in 2014 because they wanted to be a paperless law firm. The firm has achieved great success and substantial growth.

More info>