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Ahead of the pack
Corrs Chambers & Westgarth
- Phone:
- +61 2 9210 6500
- Fax:
- +61 2 9210 6611
- Email:
- Contact this firm
- URL:
- http://www.corrs.com.au
- Phone:
- +61 2 9228 9200
- Fax:
- +61 2 9228 9299
- Email:
- Contact this firm
- URL:
- http://www.tresscox.com.au
From all accounts, gaining certification with Law 9000 sets law firms apart from their competitors. However, Kellie Harpley writes that firms have been slow off the mark to gain the ‘five ticks’
Like ISO on steroids” is how Michelle Burnheim, Corrs Chambers Westgarth ’s national quality manger, compares SAI Global’s legal industry-specific quality standard program to its generic cousin.
The firm, which gained Law 9000 certification in June last year, was already certified to ISO 9001, so the “upgrade” was a natural progression rather than a significant change, Burnheim says. “ISO 9001 was very general, and where [it gave] a good foundation for management of a documented approach, Law 9000 is specific to the legal industry. There are elements that you need to maintain for the industry that ISO doesn’t accommodate.”
That being the case, it seems unusual that a year since its launch, the number of firms that have been certified with the legal standard stands at 18. Considerably less than the possible 100 that Tony Di Palma told Lawyers Weekly last January could be certified within 12 months.
However, Di Palma, program development manager for SAI Global, is confident that number will increase steadily.
He says another 10 firms are in the application phase and should be certified within a couple of months. But even then the number of certifications will not reflect the amount of interest that has been shown in Law 9000. “A lot of firms are recognising that there is a lot of work to go through,” Di Palma says.
“Their first intentions were pure and good, but they have come to the realisation that it is better to do it properly than race through.” Thus, they are spending more time on getting the certification right rather than getting it fast.
The certification process requires much revision and analysis of the firm’s procedures, from practice management to the delivery of legal services. “Those firms which are more proactive will be considering whether or not the processes they have are in fact the best processes, and will re-engineer them as they go, rather than just document what they do,” he says.
Craig Osborne, managing partner of Russell McLelland Brown Lawyers, agrees that the required commitment of time, resources and energy has slowed the certification process for some. He would have expected a total of 40 firms to be certified by now, but says a lot “fall into the trap” of starting the process, before they realise the amount of work it requires on top of their usual workload.
“You have to give a lot of resources to it, and they think ‘there’s too much work to do, let’s just do the work first’,” he says.
Osborne doesn’t believe firms are capable of attaining certification until they accept that it is “as important, if not more important, than producing the work”. Naturally, a certain amount of time must be allocated to management and development and a certain amount to processing work, he says.
“The bigger the amount of time you give to quality management, the more you’re able to produce your work more effectively [and efficiently].”
Colleen Weiler, national human resources manager at TressCox Lawyers , says the certification process is taxing, in terms of cost and human capital, “but the benefits outweigh the cost”.
“Internally, we are more focused in terms of organisation by way of clear, well-defined procedures and processes. The system ensures we continuously improve as well as positioning us to manage our demands and challenges,” she says.
At present, Corrs Chambers Westgarth and TressCox are the only large firms on the certification role. But a number of other firms, including large nationals, have expressed their interest, and some have indicated they are waiting for the opportunity to phase in their Law 9000 audit with their existing ISO audit.
“There are another two or three large national firms actively working towards Law 9000,” Di Palma says.
The motivation for seeking certification varies from firm to firm, but is generally associated with a desire to improve the quality of work and service, as well as potential discounts on professional indemnity insurance premiums. Some insurance providers see Law 9000 certification as proof that the firm is proactively managing its risk.
Discounted insurance premiums have been a “tangible benefit” for Corrs. “We are mercenaries, like any other business,” Burnheim says.
“This will give us the opportunity to negotiate professional indemnity insurance reductions. There are some savings to be made there.” Insurance premiums for a mandatory professional indemnity policy can be $500,000 a year, whereas top-up premiums can be anything up to a couple of million. That considered, any discount is of value.”
Burnheim says Corrs was originally certified with ISO because it was a requirement for firms seeking work with some state and federal government clients. However, there are other statutory and regulatory requirements that firms need to adhere to, and Law 9000 had made a good attempt at rolling those into “one over-riding standard for the industry”. “It has more depth for us now. More value and more benefit.”
The government still recognises ISO as the mandatory standard, but having Law 9000, “which is like ISO on steroids, gives us a little bit of an advantage” over the firm’s competitors.
Burnheim also has first-hand experience of the different motivation behind certification between law firms. She is also assisting a small firm in Sydney’s Hills District to implement Law 9000.
“They are using it as a business management model, a way to make them formalise the way they manage their business.”
Peter Ellender, chief executive officer of Queensland firm Carter Newell, says the firm benefited from the assessment and recognition of the matter management processes it had in place, as well as reinforcement of its customer service issues, which are critical to meet client requirements.
Formally certified with ISO 9001, he says that standard “certainly didn’t cover anything specifically on matter management”.
“From our firm’s point of view, it was always driven by getting matters resolved more quickly, more aggressively,” he says. “This has formalised some of that and put in processes that drive matters to resolution.”
Those processes incorporate “very clear” matter plans that outline the strategies being taken on each of the files. Ellender says this approach has led to the firm consistently achieving satisfactory results for its clients ahead of schedule.
The audits
One of the biggest benefits to Corrs has been access to an external perspective on its procedures and policies. Another advantage Law 9000 holds over ISO 9001 is that its auditors have a legal background. According to Burnheim, this means firms are much more likely to listen to their advice.
“It gives us an independent perspective, independent and unbiased. There is no vested interest, so it is helpful,” she says. The value-add comes through looking at the recurring issues faced by the firm and implementing solutions to combat them.
For Carter Newell the audit is the ideal way to ensure the systems that have been implemented are being properly utilised and doing what they were designed to do. Ellender cites the “continuation of the pressure” of keeping those processes in place as the standard’s major benefit.
“Matter management has been a key area for us in the last audits, because [the current system] is relatively new to the organisation,” Ellender says.
“They also hone in on risk management for us, but I don’t think it would be the same for all the firms they are auditing.”
Osborne is brimming with enthusiasm for the auditing process. “The audits have been excellent. No matter how well you’re doing, the auditors are very clever and they find things that you can improve upon. They have ideas you wouldn’t have thought of yourself,” he says.
“You can have all sorts of innovations and think ‘aren’t I clever’. But then someone external comes in and says, ‘you’re going well, you’ve passed all your audits, but can I suggest you do this?’ They come back next time and ask if you have done it.”
The firm’s Wollongong office will be audited in February, and has implemented four of five suggestions made during the last auditing process. “This is a great example of continuous improvement,” Osborne says, adding that value comes from not just internal innovation, but from having external input.
Handy marketing
TressCox’s Weiler says potential clients tend to rate highly a firm’s involvement with quality systems. It was seen as a demonstration of “the firm’s commitment to continuous improvement and client management”.
“The accreditation keeps us competitive in the market and indicates our commitment to quality.”
Ellender agrees. “We market Law 9000 very strongly.” While it was difficult to say whether particular work had been won on the basis of the standard, he was able to confirm that when business development discussions are held “it is very favourably received”.
On its own, it would not make the “absolute difference”, but as part of the overall package, it definitely had an impact.
Osborne likens SAI Global’s ‘five ticks’ logo to a club badge. “Our clients like the five ticks, particularly the businesses who also have the five ticks. We’ve got an immediate comradeship because we both wear the same badge,” he says.
“We don’t mind marketing that in print and radio also.”
In terms of marketing strategies, it is an economical one, according to Ellender. “It’s not costly, it’s just part of running the business.”
20-Jan-2006
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