Accreditations & Awards

Law Society Accreditations and Memberships

Certified expertise

Many legal practitioners earn special recognition for their expertise in particular areas of law by achieving membership in one or more of the Law Society's accreditation schemes.

About accreditation schemes

An accreditation scheme is a group of legal practitioners whose expertise in a particular area of law has been tested, assessed and accredited by the Law Society or the Solicitors Regulation Authority. These schemes promote standards of excellence in the delivery of legal services.

Accreditation schemes are also intended to help consumers identify solicitors and solicitors’ employees who are competent and experienced in key areas of legal practice.

Only practitioners who meet exacting requirements are permitted to join The Law Society or SRA accreditation schemes.
 
When you see a professional accreditation scheme logo, you will know that the practitioner’s skills and knowledge have been rigorously and independently tested.

What are Law Society accreditation schemes?

Membership of Law Society accreditation schemes is voluntary. The expertise of scheme members in a given area of law has been verified, and their accomplishment is recognised by the Law Society.

More than 16 per cent of solicitors belong to at least one accreditation scheme; in some cases, highly skilled non-solicitors achieve membership of a scheme. In total, more than 18,000 legal professionals are members of Law Society accreditation schemes.
 
You may check each scheme's page for more information about what to expect from an accredited solicitor, eligibility requirements and application documentation.

Why do we have accreditation schemes?

The Law Society operates accreditation schemes in order to:

promote high standards in legal service provision ensure that consumers are easily able to identify legal practitioners with proven competency in given areas of law help consumers to make informed choices offer solicitors and firms use of a recognisable brand provide information for courts, statutory bodies and other professionals ensure that scheme members maintain relevant standards of competency and expertise, by means of periodic reselection, re-accreditation and re-authorisation

Accredited solicitors

A guaranteed way of identifying a specialist legal adviser is to search for members of one of the range of Law Society and SRA accreditation schemes using Find a solicitor. All accreditation scheme members have demonstrated their special competence in a particular area of law – such as family law, planning law or legal aspects of insolvency and bankruptcy – to the satisfaction of the Law Society and SRA.

The Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority operate more than a dozen accreditation schemes, all of which are designed to put you in contact with the specialist help you require.
All accreditation scheme members have successfully completed a range of stringent tests, examinations, interviews and role-play assessments; their fitness and suitability to be scheme members has been investigated and confirmed.

At Lovell Chohan Solicitors we have the following Law Society accreditations:

Children Panel Accreditation Scheme

The Children Panel Accreditation Scheme aims to connect you with practitioners experienced in representing children and other parties under the Children Act 1989.

Scheme members, who must be solicitors or legal executives who provide advice and representation for children, in all family matters for adults, when their children are ‘at risk’, or have been taken into care for local authorities, in care proceedings under the Children Act 1989 Scheme members can also help you with proceedings such as:         

• family breakdowns
• residence
• contact
• emergency protection
• adoption
• parental responsibility
• human rights

Family Law Accreditation Scheme

Family law deals with complex, gruelling issues. Family Law Accreditation Scheme members can advise on and assist with

• divorce
• separation
• division of family assets
• co-habitation
• maintenance
• family disputes

Family Law Accreditation Scheme – Advanced

Advanced members of the Family Law Accreditation Scheme – solicitors or legal executives can provide advice and assistance to clients in particularly complex family law cases.Family Law Accreditation Scheme members themselves should consider using advanced members of the scheme to handle cases that may be beyond their expertise.

Criminal Litigation Accreditation Scheme

Stage 1 membership of the Criminal Litigation Accreditation Scheme (CLAS) enables solicitors to apply to the Criminal Defence Service for inclusion in duty solicitor schemes.
All firms that perform publicly funded criminal defence work have at least one ‘duty solicitor’.

Duty solicitors are called to police stations to advise and assist people who would otherwise have no legal representation.They also provide advocacy services at magistrates’ courts, assisting people who do not have their own legal representatives.

 

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Conveyancing Quality Scheme

The Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme is the recognised quality mark for legal experts in buying or selling property, trusted by some of the UK's biggest lenders.

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In collaborative family law you and the other party appoint specially trained lawyers, here at Lovell Chohan, and sign an agreement to try to reach a solution without going to court

 Law Society Lexcel Accreditation

Lexcel is the Law Society's practice management standard. It is a scheme for any type of practice to certify that certain standards have been met following independent assessment. The Lexcel practice management standard is only awarded to solicitors who meet the highest management and customer care standards. Lexcel accredited practices undergo rigorous independent assessment every year to ensure they meet required standards of excellence in areas such as client care, case management and risk management.  

Other Accreditations and Memberships

Resolution - First For Family Law + Accredited Specialist

Resolution, which was formerly known as the Solicitors Family Law Association (SFLA), is an organisation of 5700 lawyers who believe in a constructive, non-confrontational approach to family law matters. Resolution also campaigns for improvements to the family justice system.
 
Resolution supports the development of family lawyers through its national and regional training programs, through publications and good practice guides and through its accreditation scheme. Resolution also trains and accredits mediators and is the only body providing training and support for collaborative lawyers in England and Wales.

The cornerstone of membership of Resolution is adherence to the Code of Practice, which sets out the principles of a non-confrontational approach to family law matters. The principles of the code are widely recognised and have been adopted by the Law Society as recommended good practice for all family lawyers.
The code requires lawyers to deal with each other in a civilised way and to encourage their clients to put their differences aside and reach fair agreements.

The Association of Lawyers for Children

 

The Association of Lawyers for Children (ALC) is not an organisation representing children’s lawyers or arguing for the interests of lawyers, but an organisation of lawyers representing children.

It exists to promote access to justice for children and young people within the legal system in England and Wales. Within that framework, its aim is to develop and improve the practice of lawyers in meeting the needs of children who become involved in legal processes by promoting standards of best practice and interdisciplinary training.

The ALC is a national association of lawyers working primarily in the area of public child care law. It has over 1200 members, mainly solicitors and family law barristers who represent children, parents and other adult parties, or local authorities. Associate members include legal practitioners, students and academics, Children's Guardians, social workers and other professionals such as medical experts.

The ALC is automatically a stakeholder in respect of all government consultations pertaining to law and practice in the field of children law.

The ALC exists to promote access to justice for children and young people within the legal system in England and Wales in the following ways:

• lobbying in favour of establishing properly funded legal mechanisms to enable all children and young people to have access to justice;
• providing high quality legal training, focusing on the needs of lawyers and non-lawyers concerned with cases relating to the welfare, health and development of children;
• providing a forum for the exchange of information and views involving the development of the law in relation to children and young people;
• a reference point for members of the profession, Governmental organisations and pressure groups interested in children law and practice

Employment Lawyers Association (ELA)

The Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) is an apolitical organisation representing the views and interests of over 5,000 specialist, qualified employment lawyers in the UK. Since its inception in 1992, ELA has become the voice of authority in employment law.
The members are drawn from all branches of the legal profession and include barristers and solicitors who act for employers and employees, trade unions, the voluntary sector, industry and the judiciary.
ELA’s fundamental aims are:to promote the best practice of employment law; and to support the work and represent the interests of UK employment lawyers

Investors in People

Our staff is our biggest asset. Getting and giving the very best to and from them is important and Investors in People helps us to promote and develop them in a structured form so they in turn can do their best in looking after you and providing an efficient service to you.

Positive about Disabled People

 

The disability symbol is made up of two ticks and the words 'positive about disabled people'. The symbol is awarded by Jobcentre Plus (a UK Government agency) to employers in England, Scotland and Wales who have made commitments to employ, keep and develop the abilities of disabled staff. You will see the symbol displayed on our job adverts, application forms and other marketing material.

We use this symbol to demonstrate that we are positive about employing disabled people and want to encourage disabled people to find out more about working with us.  Employers who use the disability symbol make five commitments regarding recruitment, training, retention, consultation and disability awareness. 

 Criminal Defence Service

 

By ensuring that people accused of crimes have access to legal advice and representation, the CDS also helps the police and courts operate fairly and efficiently.
The CDS is run by the LSC in partnership with criminal defence lawyers and representatives.
Criminal legal aid offers:

Lawyers For Your Business

 

To help firms access business-related legal advice, Lawyers For Your Business offers a free half-hour initial consultation with a solicitor in your area who is a member of the scheme. Advice can be sought on a range of legal issues including finance, taxes, employment law, contracts, company structure and health & safety.

The initial Lawyers For Your Business consultation is free. It is important that you clarify estimated costs at the outset before you decide to proceed. You should ask for a forecast of how costs will change in various eventualities, for example, if a matter goes to court.

Often businesses do not consult with a solicitor for fear of large legal bills, by which time any remedy still available is likely to be expensive. Early consultation is advisable if there is legislation to be complied with or important legal documents, such as contracts, to be signed

Legal Sector Alliance

The Legal Sector Alliance is an inclusive movement of law firms and organisations committed to working collaboratively to take action on climate change by reducing their carbon footprint and adopting environmentally sustainable practices

We believe that acting on climate change is in our collective interest and that a greater impact can be achieved through collaborative action and the sharing of knowledge and experience than could otherwise be achieved by the efforts of individual firms.

To act as a framework for individual and collective action, there are a set of principles, which cover members’ own operations, as well as their wider influence on employees, suppliers, clients and policy makers.