Practice Management Guidelines

Practice Management Standards and Guidelines were published first in 1995 and revised in 2006. Review has confirmed that solicitors and major funders of litigation look more and more for quality assurance in a competitive environment. Research indicated that some Chambers have used the publication to initiate a management review and followed much of its advice in great detail, whilst others have used it more selectively. It is for each user to determine the appropriate level of consultation needed to achieve the Standards indicated.

The text is divided into sections covering the main areas of practice management. These are:

Foreword
Section 1: Organisation
Section 2: Strategy and Marketing
Section 3: Client Care
Section 4: Financial Management
Section 5: Personnel Issues
Section 6: Management of Briefs, Instructions, and Communications
Section 7: General Chambers' Administration (including premises and facilities)
Section 8: Pupillage Administration
Section 9: Socially Responsible Working Practices
Acknowledgements

Within each section the recommended Standards appear first, followed by advice to enable implementation. A detailed listing of the contents follows this introduction to allow the user to find readily the broad or precise topics on which assistance is required.

For many sets, Section 1 containing advice on the division of management responsibilities and topics which should be addressed in a constitution highlights basic issues to be resolved before significant progress can be made elsewhere. Development of a chambers strategy, from which marketing policy will flow, leads to the increasingly important subject of Client Care. Underlying these sections is the need to resolve any philosophical debate as to the extent to which independent practitioners will support a 'corporate' approach to the delivery of their services by chambers, in the interests of consolidating and advancing their individual practices. The remaining sections, which include advice on certain management aspects of Information Technology, are no less important.

Chambers may wish to seek the assistance of consultants to analyse general management issues or to address particular areas. A list of recommended consultants is not maintained, but the Bar Council can provide separately a pamphlet on selecting consultants. Whatever the approach to implementing management standards, it should be remembered that good management continues to evolve. What might have seemed unlikely a short while ago can quickly become accepted practice. Against that background, chambers should keep their systems and structures under regular review.

Above all, it is imperative that chambers itself should have a commitment to Quality Assurance. Quality Assurance involves more than just considering that appropriate systems are in place at the time of inspection. It should also be a means by which chambers continuously review the quality of service provided. It is for this reason that, as part of the BARMARK and Quality Mark schemes, there is a passage on Chambers' Commitment to quality which requires chambers to have a proper system for monitoring and continually assessing these matters.