Is superior quality service a way of life at your law firm?

I guess that like most lawyers you believe that you are doing a good job at delivering a good quality client service.

But unless you have stated and communicated your quality policy and quality objectives to staff and clients you may be only preaching what you should practice.

In the LAW 9000 standard words about quality service alone are meaningless. They have to be backed up by your commitment to action. 

The question you should ask yourself is: "What evidence do I have to show that I really deliver a superior quality service to my clients?"

The starting point is to state what you and your organisation stand for. The quality policy should reflect the overarching commitment  of your organisation to comply and improve your QMS and to set up and review your quality objectives. The quality policy is a great place to state your mission, vision and values.

Quality policy - practical hints

Your quality policy should include:

• a commitment to comply with requirements

• a commitment to improve the effectiveness of the QMS

• a commitment to set up and review your quality objectives

• the firm’s ‘mission, vision and values statement’

• a commitment to meeting client requirements 

• an image the practice wants to convey to your clients

• staff characteristics and how the practice treats staff

• quality or legal goals

• a description of the work that the practice undertakes.

Your firm should also have a process:

• To review periodically the quality policy to keep it current

• About how the quality policy is communicated to staff and clients.

An example of a procedure about your quality policy

1. Purpose

To define our firm's quality policy.

2. Scope

This section covers the overall intentions and direction of our firm as they relate to quality and as expressed by management.

3. Example of a Quality Policy

State the firm vision, mission and values to guide and drive the organisation towards its goals.
The [name of firm] is committed, at all levels of the company, to total customer satisfaction. To meet this commitment, we provide products and services that fulfil customer expectations, and provide quality at levels greater than that available from any of our competitors at a competitive cost. Our quality management system is based on the International Standard LAW 9000, and we are fully committed to continually improve the effectiveness of our system with constant top management review and oversight. This level of attention is complemented by formal management reviews, internal audits, extensive training, and an aggressive corrective and preventive action program that includes cross-functional teams for root-cause analysis and problem resolution. To ensure the integrity of our system, quantitative quality objectives based on operational metrics are established, monitored, measured, and reviewed by lawyers held accountable for their results. In addition, all of our employees are thoroughly trained in quality management methods and are supplied with the resources required to ensure that such methods are effective. At [firm name], business objectives and quality objectives are synonymous.
Signed:
Dated:

4. Review of Quality Policy

This quality policy is appropriate for our firm and consistent with our overall business policies and shall be reviewed on an on-going basis to ensure its continuing suitability.

5. Communication of Quality Policy

The firm shall ensure this policy is communicated and understood by all levels within the organisation by providing training sessions and by conducting internal quality audits under this quality manual.

In the next post I will discuss the quality objectives and give an example of a procedure that will assist you to establish objectives which are measurable and consistent with your quality policy.