Checklist for Requirement 1: Business planning, development, and continuity

See the checklist below to ensure that your firm is prepared to meet the Business planning, development, and continuity requirement of the Legal Services Excellence Standard.


  • Can you provide evidence of a ‘mission, vision, values’ document?

  • Can you provide evidence of a process document showing how the ‘mission, vision, values’ were arrived at?

  • Can you provide evidence that the ‘mission, vision, values’ are publicly available?

  • Can you provide evidence that staff are aware of the ‘mission, vision, values’?


  • Can you provide evidence (if appropriate to your firm’s structure) of a partnership agreement?

  • Can you provide evidence (if appropriate to your firm’s structure) of a limited liability partnership or reasons for not establishing this structure?

  • Can you provide evidence (if appropriate to your firm’s structure) of awareness of the provisions of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (LSRA) relating to limited liability partnerships?


  • Can you provide evidence of documented roles and responsibilities of all working within the firm?

  • Can you provide evidence that all staff are working under a contract?

  • Can you provide evidence of staff awareness of the roles and responsibilities of other staff members?

  • Can you provide evidence of a profile document that contains bank details, accountant’s details, and other relevant details that would be necessary for a person to access in the event of the unexpected death of the principals of the firm?


  • Can you provide evidence of a financial plan in place for the next 12 months?

  • Can you provide evidence of a strategic financial plan for the next three years?


  • Can you provide evidence of a business development plan in place for the next 12 months?

  • Can you provide evidence of a website with up-to-date contact details?


  • Can you provide evidence of the following (or rationale for non-cover):

    • Employer’s liability insurance,

    • Commercial property insurance,

    • Top-up PII (Professional Indemnity Insurance) cover,

    • Business interruption insurance,

    • Cyber-security insurance,

    • Life insurance,

    • Income protection insurance/keyman insurance,

    • Serious illness cover.

  • Can you provide evidence of professional indemnity insurance?

  • Can you provide evidence of a Letter of Engagement showing the firm has limited its liability pursuant to section 26A of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994 (section 48 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015) to the level of its professional indemnity insurance cover?


  • Can you provide evidence of a folder containing all documentation and leases relating to its premises, plant, or equipment?

  • Can you provide evidence of records of purchases and estimates for the date of replacement?

  • Can you provide evidence of third-party data processor agreements, where required?


  • Can you provide evidence of a documented performance-management plan?

  • Can you provide evidence that a disaster-recovery policy has been implemented and is tested periodically?


  • Can you provide evidence that data is backed up, stored off-site, and available if the firm premises are damaged or destroyed?

  • Can you provide evidence that the partnership agreement deals with situations where a partner in the firm is unable to continue to act due to ill health or death?

  • Can you provide evidence that, in the case of a sole practitioner, an alternate has been identified who will manage the running or closure of the firm in the event the sole practitioner is unable to do so?


  • Can you provide evidence that an orderly succession plan in place, in the event of retirement, mental incapacity, or death?

  • Where the firm is a partnership, can you provide evidence that each partner has a will that is consistent with the firm’s partnership agreement?

  • Where the firm is a sole practitioner or a firm principal who has no equity partners, can you provide evidence that:

    • The sole practitioner/principal has a will that appoints a practice trustee,

    • The sole practitioner/principal has agreed in writing with another holder of a practising certificate that they will agree to be nominated to carry on the firm’s practice for the purposes of section 31(2) of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994.