The LSES Process

The Legal Services Excellence Standard (LSES) was designed by solicitors for solicitors and accredited independently by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI).

It is a Law Society business support initiative that enables you to run your practice more efficiently, engage better with employees, sustain, and grow your practice, and future-proof for long-term sustainability and growth. LSES certification shows your clients that your service is performed to the highest standards of excellence.


  • In advance of applying, the firm will conduct a self-assessment to determine if they are ready to apply for audit or need to implement actions to meet the requirements of the standard. 

  • A range of resources will be provided, including guidance notes, resources guide, precedents, and a Diploma in Legal Practice Management. There is a self-assessment checklist available to assist in assessing your level of preparedness. 

  • Completing an application indicates a commitment to participate in the certification application process within six months of applying. The application will be identified using the firm number.

  • The firm will pay a fee to the Law Society and complete the online application via the LSES portal (including self-assessment and document upload).

  • The firm will receive confirmation of their registration, and this will initiate the audit process.

Pricing 

The Legal Service Excellence Standard pricing is as follows.

1-3 Practising Certificate (PC) holders

  • Initial application: €2,600

  • Renewal after three years: €1,500

  • Re-submitting for a re-audit: €1,500

4-7 PC holders

  • Initial application: €3,500 

  • Renewal after three years: €1,750 

  • Re-submitting for a re-audit: €1,750 

8-20 PC holders

  • Initial application: €5,000 

  • Renewal after three years: €2,000 

  • Re-submitting for a re-audit: €2,000 

All prices subject to 23 % VAT. 


LSES certification is through an NSAI independent audit. The independent auditing process is a combination of a review of documentation (uploaded to the LSES portal) to ensure compliance with the four requirements of the standard, plus individual on-site visit for meetings with a cross-section of staff to ensure operational implementation compliance. 

 Marking 

  • A maximum of 250 marks is available for each of the four requirements, giving a maximum potential score of 1,000. 

  • A minimum score of 60% in each requirement section is required to achieve certification. 

  • Requirement 1: Business planning, development, and continuity. 

  • Requirement 2: Infrastructure (i.e. firm data, data security and practice management). 

  • Requirement 3: Operational systems – client care. 

  • Requirement 4: Human resources, competence, and knowledge management.

Audit Process

  • The NSAI audit will be in two parts – document upload and an on-site visit.

  • Once registration is complete, firms will submit documents via the portal according to the marking sheet. The uploaded documentation will be reviewed by an NSAI auditor.

  • An on-site visit from an NSAI auditor will be arranged to conduct staff interviews – the purpose of the visit is to test the quality of understanding and conformity to policies and procedures. The number of days audit will depend on the size of the firm (usually one day). 

  • The on-site visit must be completed within six months of the documentation upload audit. 

  • The NSAI will send an audit assessment report to the Law Society.

  • The Law Society will share this report with the firm. 

  • Audit assessment reports will be retained by the Law Society for the lifetime of certification (that is, three years).

Cancellation policy for Audit 

  • By agreement with the auditors, if given sufficient notice of at least greater than 30 calendar days, the auditors may reschedule the audit to another time agreeable to both parties. 

  • If the notification is received less than 30 calendar days but more than seven calendar days prior to any scheduled activity, the postponement/cancellation fee shall be 50% of the cost of the scheduled activity. 

  • If the notification is received less than seven calendar days prior to any activity, the postponement/cancellation fee shall be 75% of the cost of the scheduled activity. 

  • Cancellations will only be accepted if submitted in writing. 

  • All cancellation costs will be passed onto the applicant.

  • Any refunds will be subject to an administration charge. 

If you need assistance or have any questions on the process, please contact a member of the team at solicitorservices@lawsociety.ie. 


Certification 

  • The Legal Services Excellence Standard Certification will be awarded where a minimum mark of 60% is achieved across all four requirements.

  • All certification decisions will be made by a Certification Awarding Committee convened by the Law Society.

  • All certification decisions are notified in writing by the Law Society to the firm, and a certificate is made available online to successful firms. 

  • This certificate will be valid for three years. 

  • A list of firms awarded with LSES certification will be published on the LSES portal. 

  • Where certification is not awarded, the firm will be advised of areas requiring improvement.

  • In some cases, an unsuccessful firm (on appeal) may be permitted by the Certification Awarding Committee to resubmit for further clarification documents that did not achieve the necessary minimum mark criteria. 

  • An unsuccessful firm will be permitted to reapply for a further audit of the requirement(s), but will be subject to a further fee, as outlined above.

  • The decision to grant, extend, withdraw, or suspend certification to/from a firm is made Certification Awarding Committee convened by the Law Society. 

Re-certification 

  • After the initial three-year certification, a firm can renew their certification via a document audit conducted by the NSAI. 

  • Subsequent certifications will be awarded via a document audit and on-site office visit.

  • Firms will be notified six months before their certification is due for renewal. 

Certification ownership

If a Legal Services Excellence Standard certified firm ceases to practice law, it will cease to be a Legal Services Excellence Standard certified firm. 

Logo 

A successful firm will be issued with an LSES logo and other branded items, which can be used on stationery and promotional material. The logo must be used in accordance with branding guidelines issued to a certified firm. 


Download and print the Checklist for Requirements here.


Applications must be completed in one sitting, as there is currently no ‘save’ option operational.

File saving

  • It would assist the auditors if you clearly label each file that you upload to correspond to the requirement, as set out in the self assement checklists. For example, to evidence your Mission Vision Values Statement (item 1.1), you would save the file as ‘1.1 Mission Vision Values Statement Example Firm Name LLP’

  • As the form must be completed in a single sitting, it is strongly recommended that you label and organize each file in advance.

  • File uploads cannot be greater than 10MB per file. File types .doc, .docx, .txt, .pdf, .rtf, .odt, .tex, .jpg, .png, .jpeg, .bmp are all accepted.

  • As the form must be completed in a single sitting, it is strongly recommended that you label and organize each file in advance.

  • File uploads cannot be greater than 10MB per file. File types .doc, .docx, .txt, .pdf, .rtf, .odt, .tex, .jpg, .png, .jpeg, .bmp are all accepted.

Example: to save a file for upload, use the following format to identify the document for the auditor:

  1. Select category (for example, ‘Business planning development continuity’),

  2. Use filename as below:

  • Mission Vision Values Statement (firm name),

  • Legal Structure Reasons for not registering as a LLP (firm name).

  1. Complete application uploading documents as per the marking sheet/checklist.


  • Once you have completed your audit application and document upload, the auditors will contact you to schedule an appointment within the next 60 days.

  • Please note that there is a cancellation policy.

  • The auditors will attend your office on the date agreed.

  • Please supply the auditors with your office Eircode address.

  • Please reserve an office for them for the entire day (allow for two auditors).

  • Some staff will be required to meet the auditors, so it is important that staff are aware and knowledgeable about all of the contents of the four requirements regarding the firm’s policies and procedures.


If you need assistance or have any questions on the process, please contact a member of the team at solicitorservices@lawsociety.ie.