Law Officers’ “excellence” recognised for third year running

Wednesday 08 December 2021

Jersey’s Law Officers’ Department has been awarded the Lexcel accreditation for “excellence in practice management and client care” for the third year running.

Lexcel is the England and Wales Law Society’s legal practice quality mark, and gaining the accreditation involves demonstrating sound management of finances, information, people and risk, as well as careful file and case management and good practice in client care.

The Law Officers' Department's latest success followed an independent assessment carried out by Lexcel assessor Tracy Thompson in October.

Following the assessment, which involved a review of departmental policies and procedures and staff interviews, she highlighted 12 areas of good practice in her assessment report and made four recommendations for achieving best practice. 

Pictured: The Attorney General said the accreditation was "especially pleasing" to have received following the "difficult times of the pandemic".

The majority of the ‘areas of good practice’ identified were in the People Management section.

Echoing the results of the Government’s internal ‘Be Heard’ employee survey, Mrs Thompson concluded that “the department continues to excel in employee engagement”.

Staff interviews reflected a “true team culture within the department with real support for staff at all levels from management down and also peer to peer support”, she said.

Her report also highlighted the department’s flexible working approach adopted during the pandemic, describing it as “hugely popular”.

Turning to recruitment, Mrs Thompson observed that the department’s “excellent reputation” had helped it to attract “a high calibre of staff”.

Attorney General Mark Temple QC said: “I am very grateful to each member of staff for committing to the high levels of service, people care and file management that was evidenced in this assessment.

“Together with the Be Heard survey results of 2020, the 2021 Lexcel assessment demonstrates that the Department is a happy place to work with a strong team culture and a high level of client service. It is especially pleasing to have achieved these results during the difficult times of the pandemic.”