quality mark dutch law firms
TRANSCRIPT
Working on quality:
‘Rightfully Satisfied’
Foundation Viadicte
Oirschot, februari 2012
February 2012 1
Foreword
Quality in the legal practice has always been an important point of special interest for me, and it still is.
In the time that I was a member of the Raad voor Rechtsbijstand ‘s-Hertogenbosch 1 (‘s-Hertogenbosch
Legal Aid Board) I remember a fierce discussion among a number of members of the Board. We, the
lawyers, were advocating an increase of the fee for subsidised legal aid, to which the other members
replied that a request like that should be accompanied by an offer to provide verifiable quality.
Following that discussion, at a quality congress in London in 1999, the idea originated to start a co-
operation of lawyer's offices within a quality foundation. This became the Foundation Viadicte. Thus
the first lawyer’s offices joined forces to improve quality under the motto: Together and Guided.
Together because, based on a series of study meetings, we wanted to obtain insight into all aspects
that are part of thinking about quality within the lawyer’s offices and subsequently we wanted to
prioritise these aspects. Guided because we were going to call in experts, both on a regular basis and
‘ad hoc’.
In short, a group process in which we were guided by experts who would support the representatives
of the offices in their occasionally difficult mission within their own ranks. The liaison officers had to be
produced and trained. Thus, in the summer of 2002 the quality group started its activities. The efforts
entailed that the professional group itself took the initiative and the responsibility to define and make
lawyer's quality recognisable. All this would not have been possible, however, without a substantial
contribution from the Ministry of Justice and the ‘s-Hertogenbosch Legal Aid Board.
Guido Schakenraad
Chairman Foundation Viadicte,
February 2012
1based on the Wet Rechtsbijstand (Law on Legal Aid) there are five Raden voor Rechtsbijstand (Boards for Legal Aid) that
regulate the subsidised legal aid (to people of no or limited means) and manage (open end) budgets with fixed fees.
February 2012 2
Table of contents
FOREWORD ..................................................................................................................................................... 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................................... 2
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................... 3
1. FOUNDATION VIADICTE ............................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 WHAT’S IN A NAME… ........................................................................................................................................ 4
1.2 OBJECTIVE OF THE FOUNDATION ......................................................................................................................... 4
1.3 QUALITY CIRCLE OF LAWYER’S OFFICES................................................................................................................. 4
1.4 PLENARY MEETINGS .......................................................................................................................................... 5
2. QUALITY ....................................................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 INCREASING DEMAND FOR QUALITY ..................................................................................................................... 6
2.2 WHAT IS ‘A GOOD LAWYER’? .............................................................................................................................. 6
2.3 WHY WORK ON QUALITY? .................................................................................................................................. 6
2.4 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MOTIVATION................................................................................................................ 7
2.5 TOWARDS A DEFINITION OF QUALITY ................................................................................................................... 8
3. QUALITY MODEL .......................................................................................................................................... 9
3.1 KNOWLEDGE AND COMPETENCE .......................................................................................................................... 9
3.2 PEER REVIEW ................................................................................................................................................. 11
3.3 INTEGRITY ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
3.4 OFFICE MANAGEMENT ..................................................................................................................................... 13
3.5 OUTPUT AND OUTCOME .................................................................................................................................. 17
3.6 INTERNAL QUALITY ......................................................................................................................................... 17
3.7 JOB SATISFACTION .......................................................................................................................................... 18
3.7 COMPLAINT HANDLING .................................................................................................................................... 18
3.9 COMPLAINERS VERSUS APOSTLES ..................................................................................................................... 19
3.10 MANAGEMENT OF EXPECTATIONS AND CLIENT SATISFACTION .............................................................................. 21
4. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE QUALITY MARK ............................................................................................. 22
4.1 ’RIGHTFULLY SATISFIED’ IN NINE STEPS .............................................................................................................. 22
4.2 CLIENT SATISFACTION SURVEYS ........................................................................................................................ 23
4.3 QUALITY MARK AUDIT ..................................................................................................................................... 23
4.4 ALSO A FINANCIAL BENCHMARK ....................................................................................................................... 24
4.5. PEER REVIEW ................................................................................................................................................ 24
4.6 VALID FOR FOUR YEARS ................................................................................................................................... 24
5. PRESENTATION OF THE QUALITY MARK RIGHTFULLY SATISFIED ............................................................ 26
5.1 BROCHURE FOR THE PUBLIC .............................................................................................................................. 26
5.2 WEB PAGE ..................................................................................................................................................... 27
5.3 WEBSITE WWW.ADVOCATENKEUZE.NL .............................................................................................................. 27
6. APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................................. 29
6.1 APPENDIX I THE DUTCH BAR IN FIGURES ............................................................................................................ 29
6.2 APPENDIX II ELABORATION OF THE DEFINITION OF QUALITY ................................................................................. 30
6.3 APPENDIX III QUALITY INSTRUMENTS ............................................................................................................... 32
February 2012 3
Introduction
Quality is looked upon as a formidable weapon in the battle for the client’s2 favour. That is why
providing quality is a must and why it is high on everyone's agenda. But as with Excalibur – King
Arthur’s legendary sword – wielding the quality sword does not suffice in quite a number of
organisations. Only one or two people appear to be able to draw the magic sword from the massive
rock and to wield it as an instrument ready for battle, meaning: becoming aware of opportunities and
risks.
In this brochure the efforts of the offices that were the first to join are highlighted. These pioneers
managed to raise the quality of the legal service to a high level in a short time and to deal with new
problems from a lasting continuity.
2 Dienstenmarketing (Service marketing), page 132, De Vries/Kasper/Van Helsdingen
February 2012 4
1. Foundation Viadicte
1.1 What’s in a name…
The objective of the foundation is encIosed in the name Viadicte. The important part that I(C)T plays in
the quality care by Viadicte, is expressed by the letters ‘ict’. ‘Via’ is the Latin word for ‘road’ and stands
for the permanent process of maintenance and improvement that is included in the care for quality.
‘Dicte’ is the mountain on which the Greek supreme god Zeus grew up. So the name ‘Viadicte’ stands
for the process that leads to top quality (or mount Olympus) in legal aid service, in which I(C)T plays an
important part.
1.2 Objective of the foundation
Viadicte’s statutory objective is: promoting verifiable quality by the lawyers in the legal service as well
as the certification of that quality, in the broadest sense of the word. For that purpose both standards
and instruments are managed, including IT, among which rights (of ownership) of the protocols that
have to be developed, expert standards with corresponding IT and software.
1.3 Quality circle of lawyer’s offices
Since the establishment of Foundation Viadicte the foundation has been working on developing
quality instruments for lawyer’s offices by lawyer’s offices.
In September 2000 an analysis of the administrative organisation within a lawyer’s office was made.
This analysis was also the basis for the development of quality standards. From the various Viadicte-
meetings and on the basis of already existing material of the NOvA3 (the Netherlands Bar Association)
a new framework was developed that was provided with verifiable standardisation. Thus the first
check of the company organisation was realised and this basic audit consisted of the so-called
‘Toetsing Basisnormen‘ (Testing of Basic Standards) and ‘Nulmeting klanttevredenheid’ (Zero
measurement client satisfaction. At that moment the attention was only focused on the
standardisation for the office management that was being developed in the period March 2001 to
September 2001. In the period September 2001 to May 2002 approximately 15 offices were being
guided in the implementation of the first quality exploration.
In the period May 2002 – April 2003 the quality requirements took further shape into the Quality Mark
Lawyer’s Office Rightfully Satisfied. The quality mark was successfully introduced during the quality
symposium in April 2003 which was organised by the ’s-Hertogenbosch Board for Legal Aid.
The National Minimum standards 1998, the SERVQUAL-model, the ISO-model and the INK-model
provided sufficient information to formulate a quality policy that was tailored for the legal profession.
This quality policy contains standards and criteria that were extensively discussed during several
meetings by the various parties involved, among which the board of the Foundation Viadicte,
3 Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten (the Netherlands Bar Association)
February 2012 5
PricewaterhouseCoopers and the participating lawyer’s offices. The Rightfully Satisfied quality mark
audit has been carried out within a select group of offices scrutinising all aspects of office
management. The audit was taken on a voluntary basis. The quality mark audit makes use of external
auditors (contrary to the national audit by the NOvA4 since 2002 ). They test on the basis of an
integrally concretised test programme.
1.4 Plenary meetings
Small and medium-sized lawyer’s offices often do not have the time and means to work intensively on
the implementation of a quality policy. To offer these offices sufficient guidance the plenary meeting
appeared to be an important tool. Representatives of the participating lawyer’s offices can share their
knowledge and experience with each other during these meetings. Because they are of comparable
size and render comparable services, these offices often have the same sort of problems. Moreover,
the employees often have the same need for information about, for instance, staff matters, IT,
knowledge management. During these meetings they are informed about various subjects by experts
“from the field”. So the guidance is very direct. People are optimally informed about how a lawyer’s
office works and how the quality of the legal service can be improved.
The plenary meetings are organised on the basis of a so-called quality schedule. Every period of the
schedule focuses on a particular subject. In that way each time the participating lawyer’s offices can
always send other responsible employees to attend the meetings.
The schedule below provides a survey of the subjects that have been dealt with and the experts who
were asked to provide especially practical – immediately applicable – information.
This way of co-operation has appeared very effective to focus on quality and to create a broad basis.
The meetings and the mutual consultation offers them the opportunity to deal with the profession in a
different way. The meetings have certainly contributed to the implementation of an integral quality
policy by the participating lawyer’s offices, something every individual office probably could not have
realised on its own.
4 Only compulsory for subsidised legal aid and audit on basic requirements with a great deal of interpretation / room for tests for
the auditor
February 2012 6
2. Quality
2.1 Increasing demand for quality
Due to the growing number of laws and regulations and to the complexity of society (employer-
employee, consumer-producer, government-civilian, private relationships, multinationals, mergers,
stock market regulations and so on) the demand for legal service is increasing considerably. But that
does not mean that lawyers can count on work keeping ‘coming in’. Competition is also increasing,
both between lawyer’s offices themselves and between lawyer’s offices and other providers of legal
services, among which legal advice consultancies, ‘virtual lawyers’, legal aid insurance companies and
so on.5. So there is a good reason to ponder the question what it entails to be a lawyer as a provider of
legal service.
2.2 What is ‘a good lawyer’?
Why do clients turn to a particular legal aid provider for advice and why
do they disregard another? In what respect do competing lawyer’s
offices differ? What do clients base their choice for a particular lawyer
on? Does the client have the same picture in mind as the lawyer does?6
Clients hardly see any difference, if at all, in the way that lawyers
advertise their services. The web sites of lawyer’s offices illustrate this
so-called homogeneity. They all present more or less the same
information: the lawyers that work there, the legal areas and the
accessibility of the office. By implicitly providing clarity about the
quality of the service, lawyer’s offices could provide insight to the client into what a good lawyer has
to comply with and in that way they can help the client to make a well-considered choice for his legal
aid provider.
2.3 Why work on quality?
Providing quality is a must. It receives attention on a European7 and national8 level.
Mistakes and inadequacy are at odds with the legal profession. The lawyer will have to attain the same
high service level for each client, every question and every piece of advice in order to achieve a
satisfactory result for the lawyer and for his client. But the concept of ‘quality’ contains more than
that. It means more than keeping knowledge up-to-date and taking care of secretarial support. The
5 Michel Knapen, Ons antwoord op dreigende concurrentie is specialisatie (Our answer to threatening competition is
specialisation), Adv.bl. 2004, .p. 690 and following 6 Cover ‘Beeld en Tegenbeeld van de advocatuur’ (Image and mirror image of the Legal Profession), Jubilee number Adv.bl.
1977, Mr. P. Boeles 7 see for instance Monti-report and Kaderrichtlijn Dienstverlening (Executive Guideline Service) of the EC
8 during the debate in April 2004 about the WRR-report “De toekomst van de nationale rechtsstaat” (The future of the national
constitutional state) a resolution was adopted from, among others, Klaas De Vries (TW 2003-2004, 29297 nr. 7), in which, in an in-depth analysis, the role and position of the lawyer in the constitutional state and system of laws is inquired for, in view of the considerable changes that have taken place in the past few years with reference to the legal profession. The Minister of Justice has subsequently appointed a committee that, among other things, will review the quality of the legal service.
February 2012 7
client will not easily judge the lawyer on his knowledge, because he considers that to be self-evident.
His judgement on the efforts is formed in quite a different way. Fellow-lawyers, judges, will also have
an idea about how the lawyer functions and will not base that on success or mistakes alone, because
they do not know anything about that.
And what does the individual lawyer aim at? Does he want to be a reasonably competent lawyer or
does the lawyer want to be among the best in his area? Is he satisfied with low to medium grades or
does he strive for the highest grades? That, too, provides a difference in quality.
2.4 Internal and external motivation
Working on quality has an internal and an external dimension. The internal motivation of a lawyer’s
office to work on quality is diverse:
1. The most important internal motivator is, although it may seem obvious, very convincingly: job
satisfaction. It is great to work in a well-organised working environment to which you dedicate the
greater part of your daily activities.
2. The offices will have to adapt themselves to the developments of their time if they wish to be able
to stand out as an individual lawyer’s office.
3. The office, read: the team, benefits from a common objective under a common flag.
Considerations that can contribute to the external motivation of a lawyer’s office to work on quality:
1. It is a public task. The social position which the lawyer takes up in the legal practice and in the social
order in general compels him to that.
2. Remain boss in your own shop, instead of externally imposed rules.
3. It is in the interest of the appreciation and also the competitive position of the legal profession in
general. After all, there are several providers in the legal practice.
4. Every individual office will wish to produce a good legal product and will also pride itself on good
service (job satisfaction and also a good (mental) health play an important part).
5. As far as financial aspects are concerned, we can mention an improvement of the price/quality ratio
for the consumer and the continuity of the entrepreneurship caused by an increased efficiency for the
February 2012 8
service provider. The possibility of insuring professional liability in the longer term can also be
considered.
2.5 Towards a definition of quality
The basis of the quality mark and working on quality is having a clear and unambiguous delineation of
the concept. Everybody has his own idea of the concept of quality which has resulted in quality being
described in many ways. Sometimes people think that it is not necessary at all to describe quality, for
“Good wine needs no bush”. However, this only applies to connoisseurs! So let us have transparent
criteria for service!
It is not only important that clients know how the lawyer interprets quality, but it is also important for
the employees and fellow-lawyers to have a clear definition of the concept of quality. To set up a
policy aimed at improvement of quality the lawyer will have to name the various elements. Quality
within the legal service contains both service with respect to professional content and the process of
production:
“Complying with justified expectations of the client in an adequate price-quality ratio by an incorruptible
and independent lawyer who meets the criteria of sufficient professional competence, to be tested
against and by the colleagues and to be attuned to the partners in the chain and who works in an office
which has been provided with instruments for measuring output and outcome and which applies auditing
in accordance with unambiguous and well worked-out standards.”
February 2012 9
3. Quality model
Working on quality means that attention is paid to the pillars of the legal service: Knowledge,
Integrity, Office management. Knowledge and competence together form the core, embedded in
Regulations and Rules of conduct. Around that, three elements of the process of production can be
indicated. All this is supported by four instruments of output and outcome and by adequate
disciplinary jurisprudence and complaint handling regulation. Those last two are indispensable for
maintaining an offer on the market for legal service in which competition below the intended level
quality is fundamentally wrong.
Figure 1: Integral quality of the legal profession
3.1 Knowledge and competence
The present complex system of laws and regulations means that managing knowledge requires special
attention. Quality with respect to professional content begins with a good education of those people
who are responsible for this. Education at universities, continued in the Professional Education for
February 2012 10
trainees in the BaMa-structure, is common property. For some time now this can also be said about
the Continuing Education9. Research into Legal Aid-contracts in Wales 2001 showed that the efficiency
and quality increased considerably at specialist concentration10. That pairing is usually excellent with
the specialist associations: their own demands with respect to professional content and, usually, their
own education and testing (examination). Subsequently they provide their own continuing education
and they have been registered as a specialist featuring a licence.
The client does not expect anything but quality with respect to professional content. This form of
quality is difficult to test by him. At the same time a problem is definitely lurking. If only we look at it
statistically it is improbable that the quality with respect to content from the more than 13,000 Dutch
lawyers is at least on the level of “reasonably competent”. Some provide better quality, some
definitely provide worse quality. Especially the uninformed private person or entrepreneur could
become a client of a lawyer that provides bad quality. In practice it may occur that a lawyer who has
worked for years in the area of Criminal Law and Persons and Family Law is allowed to take on a
Labour Law case just like that, without having had demonstrable continuing education for that. This is
the other side of the coin of the national system of Continuing Education. In any case, by making
quality transparent, the risk for the client can be reduced. The quality mark makes demands on the
way in which an office keeps the available knowledge up-to-date and increases it. The national
demands that have been made on continuing education are no more than minimum demands within
the quality mark. The quality mark requires that lawyer’s offices indicate preferred areas of practice.
Every lawyer determines what the preferred areas of practice are in which he will work exclusively. In
these areas the study credits are attained. These concentrated credits, in conformity with the CCBE-
guideline11, will eventually increase the quality with respect to professional content of the service. The
promotion of specialisation and preferred areas of practice under the lawyer’s own responsibility
make sure that the client is ensured of a legal service provider who knows what he is talking about.
As a basis for the final ‘quality’, knowledge and competence cause the least problems. Apart from the
professionalism that is intrinsic to the profession, the preliminary education, the continuing education,
the recognised specialisations and the right of complaint and the disciplinary rules assure an
acceptable level of quality with respect to professional content. Catchwords for the organisation of
the environment in which the professional content is generated are: specialisation, knowledge
9 Although the introduction of the compulsory continuing education on 1 January 1996 was a drastic intervention, relatively few
problems arose, neither of a practical nature, nor in the field of acceptance, also because of the flexible introduction as appeared during the evaluation in 1999. Hopefully that will be confirmed at the evaluation of the Central Check on the regulations that first started in 2002. 10
Richard Moorehead from the Cardiff Law School who observed that the quality of the office staff shows a demonstrable
relation with the quality of the services. 11
Council of Bar and Law Societies of Europe www.ccbe.org
February 2012 11
management, library management, consultative structures, use of professional standards, handling
profiles and intercollegial consultation.
Intercollegial Consultation (ICC) is a structured conversation between professionals about the
individual practice of the profession. Its focus is on ethics, professional dilemmas and attitude. Every
year Foundation Viadicte organises ICC-sessions in co-operation with the OSR. In the framework of the
quality mark, this structured exchange between colleagues is organised on the basis of a case. The
sessions are aimed at obtaining insight into personal functioning and the possibilities for
improvement. So the focus is not on the case or client but on the lawyer.
3.2 Peer Review
Peer Review is an external evaluation of dossiers. Every two years, about twenty dossiers are
submitted to a reviewer. This specially trained lawyer (peer reviewer) assesses the dossiers on the
basis of a number of predetermined and identifiable criteria. The emphasis is on improving quality, not
‘playing the policeman’. The detailed feedback (at dossier, lawyer and practice level) is also very useful
for HRM purposes.
Figure 2: Quality model of the legal profession, section Knowledge
3.3 Integrity
The confidentiality obligation and the corresponding right of non-disclosure, independence and
partiality are the ‘crown jewels’ of the legal profession. The monopoly which exists in many process
areas for lawyers, compels a good system of self-regulation and so also of regulation of quality. This
means that strict demands have to be made, on each lawyer, his office as well as on the professional
organisation. Conflicting interests must be prevented, check on confidentiality, independence towards
February 2012 12
the client and financial integrity (no excessive billing, managing third parties’ funds correctly) have to
be guaranteed.
Apart from the Professional Education and the Continuing Education various other quality instruments
have been developed by NOvA (the Netherlands Bar Association), such as the Regulation on
Professional Liability 1990, the Regulation (multidisciplinary) Partnership(s) 1993 and the Regulation
on Bookkeeping 1998. They all come under the heading integrity and (consequently) independence.
The five hundred and sixty-one(!) pages of Vademecum Legal Profession, Legislation, Rules and
Regulations 2005 is a result of over 50 years of development in the professional group, a substantial
part of which concerns quality, not only in the 12 Regulations12 but also in the Guidelines,
Recommendations.
The Code of Conduct for Lawyers 1992 can also be called a result of quality policy, even though the
word quality was not the most important word at the time.
Lawyers have to treat information about their clients confidentially. Besides that, they must be
independent, use an adequate bookkeeping and handle the money they may receive on behalf of their
client carefully. In short: a lawyer must be incorruptible. The client’s interests have to be watched with
care. This also means, for instance, that the office must communicate sufficiently with the client and
must take the utmost care that it keeps the client informed as much as possible about the progress of
the case. Being bound by Regulations and Rules of Conduct does not mean by definition that integrity
is guaranteed. So it is extremely important that offices incorporate the integrity requirements
correctly in the company process. Rule of conduct 7, for instance, determines that lawyers must not
look after the interests of two or more parties if their interests conflict. The lawyer's office will have to
make demonstrable agreements to comply with the rule of conduct. A work instruction could be
drawn up on how to trace conflicting interests, unambiguous registration of the details of the client
and of the other party in a file management system and a periodic mutual discussion of new cases that
have been accepted. So paying attention to the integrity requirements entails that the lawyer’s office
has made concrete and demonstrable agreements and has incorporated these clearly in the company
process. Only then the integrity is verifiably guaranteed.
12
Five of which are checked centrally through the CCV, the annual declaration
February 2012 13
Figure 3: quality legal profession, section Integrity
3.4 Office management
The quality mark also makes demands on the quality of the operational management of an office. For
instance, are there clear agreements about how the office can be reached by phone? Are there clear
procedures and does the client also know those procedures? Do the employees keep their
appointments? And what about the efficiency and the quality of the management?
Improving the organisation of the environment in which service by lawyers is offered means that
attention is paid to the primary, secondary and administrative office processes.
1. Primary: all activities which contribute directly to the constitution of the service. Three phases
can be recognised: the assignment phase, the implementation phase and the completion
phase.
2. Secondary: all activities which are carried out to maintain certain production factors. For
instance, staff management, financial management and the management of IT systems.
3. Administrative: all activities which direct those primary and secondary processes. Activities
which can be counted as administrative tasks within the office process are: formation of
strategy, planning, structuring and process control. Having a policy plan and watching
objectives are very helpful, also for the person who does not use these terms expressly, but
who looks back or forward with the office in mind.
February 2012 14
Figure 4: Quality model of the legal profession, section Office management
The quality mark makes demands on all three office processes. Often quality is placed in a narrow
framework and the only thing which is discussed is professional content. Most profit with respect to
quality, however, can be gained within the pillar of Office management. After all: “if you cannot
communicate, it does not matter what you know”. This means that the client does not exclusively
judge quality on the basis of the lawyer’s efforts with respect to professional content. A client can still
be very dissatisfied about the quality of the service. For instance: letters and documents are not sent
to the client in time, telephone calls are not answered properly, declarations are excessive and
unclear, the client is not informed in writing or orally and so on. So many elements can be mentioned
within the service process that can affect quality as experienced by the client, that quality must be
approached integrally.
Administrative process
That is why the quality mark makes so many demands on the Office management of a lawyer’s office.
On an administrative level, for instance, it is required that an office has formulated a clear mission and
a practice plan. To illustrate this standard, a quotation from Alice in Wonderland:
Alice is strolling along a pass and gets to a fork in the road and wonders which direction she will
go. Then she sees a cat sitting in a tree and asks: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to
go from here? To which the cat answers: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get
to.” After some thinking Alice says: “I don't much care where- - ”, to which the cat wisely reacts:
“Then it doesn't matter which way you go.”
February 2012 15
The employees, however, must be properly informed and must become involved. There is always a risk
that, due to too little or insufficiently clear communication, the employees have a completely different
idea about quality, office management, strategy and work agreements. To illustrate this the following
example:
Humphrey Bogart in the movie Casablanca: “I came to Casablanca for the waters. Claude Rains as
captain Renault: “What waters? We’re in the desert. Bogart: “I was misinformed”.
The quality mark therefore makes demands on laying down and internally communicating the quality
agreements, the work instructions and internal guidelines. This realises a standardised procedure and
quality of service of a consistently high level.
Secondary processes
Besides the administrative processes and, of course, the primary processes, the lawyer’s office has to
pay attention to the secondary processes. The lawyer’s office, for instance, will have to pursue a
thorough staff policy. The service of a lawyer’s office is characterised by providing work force and
working hours, the product being transfer of knowledge. Efficient staff is the core of the service
process. Quality begins with well-educated lawyers with communicative and organisational skills, and
supporting staff who are immune to stress and eager to learn. Therefore, the quality mark pays
attention to recruitment and selection of new staff. After the staff has been hired, their functioning is
important for the quality of the services rendered. Functioning is dependent on the guidance, the
induction of the staff, the individual capacities and performances. Therefore the quality mark aims at
induction/guidance and functioning/assessment. To realise an improvement in the functioning the
quality mark has also included standards with reference to the continuing education, not only of the
lawyers but also of the supporting staff.
A second part of the secondary process within the quality mark is the financial management. The
quality mark makes demands on the lawyer’s office in the area of managing of finances. This means
that offices must pay attention to activities from registration of hours to credit management and that
the offices must take care of internal financial information for the management of the office. The final
part of the secondary processes to which the offices have to pay attention pursuant to the quality
mark is IT. Information technology plays a very large and important role in the company processes.
Not only as a supporting factor but also as a production factor. The realisation of the service and the
communication with the client is so heavily dependent on computers that attention has to be paid to
IT management. This means that the offices must ensure a good IT security. They must take care of a
February 2012 16
good backup of data and management of the IT-environment by means of a so-called ‘service level
agreement’.
Quality must not be covered
Office management is an expensive and important part of the quality mark. Attention for the
corresponding standards in this field is the responsibility of all employees. After the lawyer’s office has
implemented the quality mark standards it is important that the office also communicates what the
client may expect from the office. So the quality policy must be communicated and it has to be
checked whether the quality policy has the desired effect, in other words: output and outcome.
February 2012 17
3.5 Output and outcome
The quality efforts are aimed, among other things, at complying with the rightful expectations of the
client. To determine whether the efforts have had the intended effect, the office will have to
undertake activities to measure the output and the outcome of the service. From the well-known
PDCA-cycle by Deming, the office has to check (Check) whether the efforts have had the desired
effect. Should this not be the case, the office will have to take steps to realise this (Act).
Figure 5: quality model of the legal profession, section Output
3.6 Internal quality13
Legal service is and will remain the work of people14. Dissatisfaction and complaints are inextricably
bound up with that. Environmental factors affect people, causing mistakes to be made and differences
in interpretation to occur. Every supporting employee or fellow-lawyer also has an ambassador
function only because of the fact that lawyers too - just like other people - frequently talk about their
work with fellow-lawyers or when they are attending social activities. Often the quality of the service
and the circumstances at work are discussed, of course within the limits of confidentiality. These
stories have a great impact. Employee dissatisfaction leads to a decreased job satisfaction which has
an immediate effect on the quality of service. In the end this can result in dissatisfaction and
complaints expressed by the clients.
13
The content of the texts 3.5 to 3.9 have been written by Viadicte and have been put at the disposal of the NOvA. The NOvA
has had the texts rewritten for the brochure Relation management. 14
S. Boomsma and A. van Borrendam, Kwaliteit van dienstverlening (Quality of service) , p. 169
February 2012 18
3.7 Job satisfaction
So, apart from the satisfied client – an external motivation for working on quality – there is the
internal motivation to work on quality: job satisfaction. It is simply great to work in a well-organised
work environment where everybody contributes to a common objective under a common flag.
Motivation and satisfaction of the supporting staff and fellow-lawyers contribute to their involvement
in the office. Performance interviews are eminently suitable for expressing feelings of discomfort
about work (circumstances) and subsequently for looking for a solution. Not until the inadequacies
and internal tensions have been mapped, the lawyer’s office is capable of taking care internally of a
comfortable work environment, which will benefit the quality of the service. So job satisfaction in the
office is just as important as client satisfaction.
3.7 Complaint handling
Complaints do not come out of the blue. A great deal of dissatisfaction is caused by not keeping
appointments and by poor communication. From the dissatisfied clients 11% complains and
subsequently extensively displays their dissatisfaction with the organisation concerned. That means
that every complaint received represents a multiple of clients! Expressed in a somewhat exaggerated
manner: only the 12th dissatisfied client complains.
Satisfied clients tell an average of five other people in their circle of family and acquaintances that they
are satisfied with a company. But a bad experience is told to an average of 23 other people. It is easy
to guess the consequences.
The standard dictates that every lawyer deals with his client’s complaints about the service himself
immediately and adequately. After all, escalation of the problem is undesirable for both parties.
Professional handling of complaints – ‘we will solve it together’ – has a lot of advantages15: the client is
retained, it saves time, frustration and negative energy are prevented, it provides useful information
to improve the procedure or the organisation of the office, it prevents claims for compensation and
negative publicity is avoided. Complaints deserve to be analysed, so that it becomes clear which
measures have to be taken to improve the service16. Not until then a complaint turns into a useful
instrument for all parties involved!
The quality mark makes demands on the way in which offices handle complaints. The offices have to
be associated with the Complaints and Disputes Regulation for the Legal Profession. One of the
obligations resulting from the Guideline Complaints and Disputes is that every office has to appoint an
internal complaints official17.
15
Mrs E. Nijhuis LL M, article: ‘Tja, als u me niet vertrouwt’ , ('Well, if you don’t trust me’) Lawyers magazine. 2003, p. 660 and
following 16
Foundation Viadicte has developed an interactive complaints module in co-operation with the NOvA 17
As from 1 July 2005 nationwide 18% of the lawyers participate in the (non-compulsory) Complaints & Disputes Regulation.
February 2012 19
3.9 Complainers versus apostles
It is a known fact that clients pick a lawyer’s office on recommendation. This recommendation will
have been inspired by positive client experiences from the past. After all, the moment that the client’s
rightful expectations correspond to the factual experiences, the client will be satisfied and express
himself positively. This correspondence of expectations and perception can result in acquisition, the
client becomes an ‘apostle’ of the office. Graphically expressed:
If lawyer’s offices could direct these expectations, they can prevent clients from having too high
expectations. After all, due to too high expectations, the client will finally be dissatisfied with the
perceived service. This will lead to negative advertising by word of mouth.
Clients who express their dissatisfaction will be depicted as complainers all too often. However, they
are only few. It appears that only 2% of the complainers complains more than twice.
So managing client expectations directly influences client satisfaction. This can be achieved by
working on integral quality and also by making the service – offered at a fitting price – clear and
transparent.
The quality mark contains a list of requirement a lawyer has to meet. The scope of this quality
measurement concerns the service level the client can minimally expect from you. Sometimes there is
February 2012 20
a considerable discrepancy between the client’s expectations on the one hand and the assessment of
those expectations by lawyers on the other hand.
Research by bureau Intomart from 2003 presents some surprising results with respect to that last
point. In the enquiry approximately 950 clients gave their opinion on the importance of various service
aspects: calling back in time, clear bills, swift written correspondence and so on. Apart from that,
approximately 30 lawyers of those clients were approached with the parallel question what they
thought their clients would consider important. The interests were estimated correctly only on a few
points. In the majority of the cases there is a considerable difference.
The table below represents these assessments as follows:
Source: Intomart 2003
The survey was conducted among predominantly private clients. What you see here is the importance
of the ‘communicative quality’ of the lawyer: the private client is not only interested in the business
aspects of his case, he also demands a listening and sympathetic ear from his lawyer. In general, for
companies other criteria apply for relation management.
February 2012 21
3.10 Management of expectations and client satisfaction
As was said before, dissatisfaction and complaints can originate due to a discrepancy between
expected quality and perceived quality of service. This difference can originate in four internal
situations18:
1. if the management of the lawyer’s office does not found its policy with respect to the service
on the right client expectations;
2. if the management of the lawyer’s office founds the policy with respect to the service on the
right expectations, but does not succeed in translating them into concrete standards and
guidelines which have to enable the employees to provide quality;
In other words: not saying what you are doing
3. if the service is not rendered in conformity with these standards and guidelines;
4. if, in communication with the client, more is promised than can be realised.
That is: not doing what you are saying
In other words, management of expectations leads, for instance, to using a confirmation of
assignment (or an agreement of assignment) and after that a good Plan of approach which will have
been communicated, preferably internally and to the client.
By working on quality in accordance with a quality mark model and by testing the client’s expectations
and experiences, the lawyer’s office realises optimisation of the adjustment to supply and demand.
Conducting client satisfaction surveys offers the client the opportunity to give valuable feedback,
which is certainly appreciated by the client. Because quality is experienced subjectively, it is of
importance to ask the clients their opinion about the service. In this way only the clients’ expectations
can be surveyed and directed.
18 De Vries/Kasper/Van Helsdingen, Dienstenmarketing (Service marketing), p. 152
February 2012 22
4. Implementation of the quality mark
The ambition for optimal quality and a service that is transparent for the clients by means of the
implementation of the Quality Mark Rightfully Satisfied is realised on the basis of a number of steps.
During the execution of the activities within these steps the lawyer’s office is guided by quality
employees of Foundation Viadicte.
4.1 ’Rightfully Satisfied’ in nine steps
Step Description
1. Explanation quality requirements During at least two office visits the quality
requirements will be discussed with the quality
committee. The requirements with respect to the
desired quality objective will be explained.
2. Inventory of state of affairs To be able to make a good planning, the present
quality system has to be analysed. To enable this
an inventory has to be made on the basis of a
checklist of all manuals in use, appointments,
memos and so on.
3. Self-test quality mark To be able to draw up a concrete plan of
approach, a self-test will have to be carried out.
On the basis of the surveyed documents a self-
test is carried out to determine how the present
quality system is constructed and what must
happen before the quality mark audit can be
carried out.
4. Drawing up of an implementation plan After the inventory and the self-test, a concrete
implementation plan is drawn up. During a work
meeting with the quality committee and Viadicte
the plan is discussed and laid down, after which
the concrete execution can be started.
5. Assignment of tasks and responsibilities The tasks and responsibilities are divided. The
person responsible for the office deals with his
particular part of the quality system. The
progress is checked together with Viadicte during
periodical work meetings.
February 2012 23
6. Final check
After the quality agreements have been laid
down a final check will be carried out by Viadicte.
If this check is all right, the audit team will come
and carry out the quality mark audit.
7. Digital survey quality standards After the quality agreements with respect to the
quality mark have been laid down and checked,
the agreements have to be digitally recorded in
the audit software. The elaboration of the
agreements has been drawn up in such a clear
way that all employees can retrieve the
agreements and inspect them.
8. Quality audit
The audit team of a renowned accountancy
organisation such as PricewaterhouseCoopers
will carry out the quality mark audit.
9. Presentation of the quality mark
After Foundation Viadicte has received a positive
judgement the Foundation will proceed to
presenting the quality mark. The new quality
mark office will then be put on the list on the
special quality mark web site which lists all
quality mark offices.
4.2 Client satisfaction surveys
To measure quality there are internal and external quality measurements. On the basis of the
measurements it can be assessed whether an office does what it promises and what the quality mark
expects from the office in the fields of knowledge, integrity and office management. Likewise, the
offices must conduct an extensive anonymous client satisfaction survey in co-operation with an
independent expert once every three or four years. Apart from this extensive client satisfaction
survey, the office has to conduct satisfaction surveys on a file level. This can be done by means of a
concise questionnaire that is sent to every client after the file has been closed with the request to
assess the lawyer, the staff and the service rendered by the office.
4.3 Quality mark audit
Besides this method which tests the subjective quality experience, the office must have a periodic
quality assessment by having a check (audit) of the business organisation conducted by a renowned
accountancy organisation. Foundation Viadicte makes use of an accountancy organisation to conduct
the audit, because these professionals are very experienced in auditing company processes. Apart
February 2012 24
from that, these professional auditors have been certified by the Raad voor Accreditatie (Board of
Accreditation). This means that a quality mark may be connected to the assessment of these
respectable auditors. To enable the audit team to remain on the same wavelength as the professional
group, the audit team is enlarged with an experience expert from the legal profession. An audit is
conducted during a number of daily periods on the basis of an extensive concretised test programme.
During this audit the auditors talk to various responsible people: lawyers, partners, supporting staff
and IT staff. On the basis of the interviews and written documentation it is assessed whether the
office sufficiently complies with the quality mark requirements and whether the office observes the
instructions and guidelines it has drawn up itself. Apart from the interviews and documentation, a
number of files are checked at random on, for instance: standardised lay-out, completeness with
respect to content, confirmation of the assignment and so on. The archives are also checked, the
physical and non-physical security of the IT and the office building are checked and the accessibility is
checked by means of visits and telephone calls by a mystery guest.
4.4 Also a financial benchmark
Apart from the benchmark in the field of client satisfaction which has been mentioned before,
Foundation Viadicte has also developed a financial method of comparison. This office-comparing
report enables lawyer’s offices to compare performance indicators. This provides valuable internal
management information. Indicators that are compared are for instance: expenses for education,
library, staff expenses and so on. But also sick leave, number of cases handled a year, number of hours
spent on assigned subsidised cases and so on. This provides valuable information on how the lawyer’s
office functions in the financial field.
4.5. Peer Review
Peer Review is an external evaluation of dossiers. Every two years, about twenty dossiers are
submitted to a reviewer. This specially trained lawyer (peer reviewer) assesses the dossiers on the
basis of a number of predetermined and identifiable criteria. The emphasis is on improving quality, not
‘playing the policeman’. The detailed feedback (at dossier, lawyer and practice level) is also very useful
for HRM purposes.
4.6 Valid for four years
Lawyer’s offices that have received the quality mark may carry this quality mark for a period of four
years. After that period the offices are tested again whether they still meet the requirements the
quality mark sets. In the meantime the offices continuously keep measuring and improving their
quality by conducting client satisfaction surveys, by applying a good complaints management and by
intercollegial consultation. They are also continuously informed about all sorts of external
developments by attending the plenary meetings of Foundation Viadicte. The quality of products and
services are increasingly made more transparent for consumers nowadays. The consumer is informed
February 2012 25
more often and better about products and services. Consumer magazines, informative television
programmes, Postbus 51 (PO Box 51), commercials and the like provide transparency, so that
consumers can make a well-considered choice when purchasing a product or a service. This quality-
conscious consumer will also make demands on his legal aid provider. The well-informed, critical and
articulate client will require from the lawyer that he provides insight into the quality of his service and
that the lawyer takes the client’s expectations into account. To be able to comply with that, co-
operation in a quality circle like Foundation Viadicte is a must.
February 2012 26
5. Presentation of the quality mark Rightfully Satisfied
5.1 Brochure for the public
To promote the quality mark ‘Rightfully Satisfied’ to the general public, in the beginning of 2005 a
brochure was developed, entitled: How to recognise a good lawyer’s office! In this brochure Viadicte
addresses the (prospective) client directly and in understandable language. A summary:
Finding a good lawyer’s office is by far not always as easy as it seems. Do you know what you have to
pay attention to in order to be able to make the correct choice? And do you get a clear picture of what
you can expect when you are going to throw in your lot with a lawyer’s office? For many people the
world of the legal profession is not transparent and tainted with prejudices. To change all that, it was
decided to develop a quality mark. That has become the quality mark ‘Rightfully Satisfied’. This quality
mark will make the search for a good lawyer’s office easier for you. Because the quality mark can only
be found on the doors of offices that meet high quality requirements, and they are proud of that.
Quality mark as a guarantee for quality
A lawyer’s office that has earned the quality mark ‘Rightfully Satisfied’, uses the quality mark as an
instrument to continue improving its own organisation. In that way the office shows that it complies
with the high demands a client makes on a lawyer’s office that carries a quality mark. The quality mark
‘Rightfully Satisfied’ guarantees the client a supply of clearly formulated, high-quality service at a
fitting price.
Quality is tested continuously
A quality mark would not be a quality mark if the quality criteria were not tested regularly. For that
purpose the participating offices conduct client satisfaction surveys in which you can assess the office.
But these offices are also scrutinized by an external − often renowned − independent management
advice agency. In accordance with a tried and tested method, this office assesses whether the
lawyer’s office actually does what it promises in the fields of knowledge, integrity and office
management.
Complying with the client’s wishes
Quality also means complying with the client's wishes towards individuality, uniqueness and certainty.
To be ensured that client satisfaction is no loose concept, a great deal of attention is paid to a good
complaints procedure. In short, if the co-operation is not optimal, the internal complaints officer will
definitely take the client's complaint seriously. And should you not be able to solve the problem
February 2012 27
together, you can always turn to the Klachten- en Geschillencommissie Advocatuur (Committee for
Complaints and Disputes for the Legal Profession). That, too, will be respected.
Three pillars: knowledge, integrity and office management
‘Rightfully Satisfied’, the quality mark that has been developed for small and medium-sized lawyer’s
offices is based on three pillars: knowledge, integrity and office management. Knowledge, because
the client is right to expect that the office takes care of his interests, is at home in the legal practice.
But also that the lawyer is informed − and will remain informed − about the (im)possibilities which
the law offers. Every year the lawyers have to take a number of courses which is checked by the
Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten (the Netherlands Bar Association). Apart from that, Foundation
Viadicte incites offices to specialise in specific legal areas and to emphasise that. You could think, for
instance, of specialisation in the areas of labour law, (bodily) injury, credit management or divorce. A
lawyer who can limit himself to, for instance, three professional legal areas will definitely be able to
work for the client with more success than an all-round lawyer.
Because lawyers hear extremely confidential information, integrity is considered of paramount
importance. Apart form that, they must be independent to be able to represent the client to the best
of their abilities. And last but not least, they must use an adequate bookkeeping and handle the
money they may receive on behalf of a client very carefully.
It may be clear that efficient office management is indispensable for all this. The client may count on
clear agreements about how the office can be reached by telephone and other means of
communication, he will get a clear explanation of the procedures and insight into the results. The
client may expect from a quality mark office that they work in a professional and pleasant way, so that
the lawyer’s office can be of the best service to the client. So great care is taken of good working
conditions.
(…)
5.2 Web page
The quality mark ‘Rightfully Satisfied’ can now also be found on the internet by now. On the web site
www.metrechttevreden.nl you will find information for the public and for lawyer’s offices that want to
know more about the backgrounds of the quality mark, and the conditions for being allowed to carry
the quality mark.
5.3 Website www.advocatenkeuze.nl
There are already several initiatives where potential clients can select a law firm based on geographical
data and jurisdiction. Viadicte wants to take things to a new level with this website by making it
February 2012 28
possible to get an independent and objective comparison between law firms (and lawyers) based on
substantive and qualitative differences.
The selection of a law firm shall be based on a number of carefully selected substantive criteria. This
makes it possible to find a law firm that best suits the needs of the litigant. Foundation Viadicte also
made sure that the interest of the litigant is always the most important factor during the selection of
the criteria.
A high ranking is only possible if the criteria are completed transparently. For an objective comparison,
the fulfillment of a number of so-called critical criteria are always objectively verified with the law
firms. Also this website offers the possibility to compare different law firms on the basis of substantive
criteria, also information on selecting and dealing with a lawyer is provided.
February 2012 29
6. Appendices
6.1 Appendix I The Dutch Bar in figures
Lawyers per firm 1 2 - 5 6 - 20 21 - 60 > 61 Total
Total # firm 2136 1560 513 74 27 4310
Total # Lawyers 2136 4285 4378 2146 3330 16275
Source: NOvA 2011
Client survey of the Netherlands
But where is the private client? Which office serves him in what sort of cases? And to what kind of
lawyer’s office does the SME (Small to Medium-sized Enterprises) or the government turn? In this
survey, the division of hours in terms of percentage spent by lawyers in the Netherlands.
% Clients vs. Firms 1 2 - 5 6 - 20 21 - 60 > 61 Total
Private 31 25 23 15 6 18
Private with legal aid 18 36 25 5 1 9
Company 12 8 11 26 54 34
SME < 100 28 24 31 37 21 29
Foundation not for profit
8 5 7 8 7 5
Government 2 2 3 9 11 5
Source: NOvA 2011
February 2012 30
6.2 Appendix II Elaboration of the definition of quality
“Complying with justified expectations of the client in an adequate price-quality ratio by an
incorruptible and independent lawyer who meets the criteria of sufficient professional competence, to
be tested against and by the colleagues and to be attuned to the partners in the chain and who works
in an office which has been provided with instruments for measuring output and outcome and which
applies auditing in accordance with unambiguous and well worked-out standards”.
1. complying with justified expectations of the client
Justified means no minimum standards but contemporary and setting the standards high.
Expectations means being directed towards management of expectations. The lawyer must be aware
of what the client expects when he grants the assignment and he must have informed the client
demonstrably and optimally about, for instance: the duration of the case, the chances, the alternative
possibilities, the costs and so on.
2. an adequate price-quality ratio
Price means information about all possible financial variations. It also means the highest possible
efficiency with reference to office processes.
Quality, meaning that it is of special importance that the standard is set sufficiently high. Quality does
not only contain the concept of product but also the concept of service and thus the organisation of
the office.
3. an incorruptible and independent lawyer
This needs little explanation. Lawyer' s Law, Regulations and Rules of conduct, the supervision by the
Dean and consecutively the Disciplinary Judge, are all obvious. However, each office can stand out by
enhancing the integrity and to communicate this with the client. For instance: do you, or do you not,
take on cases against (ex) clients, do you point out the possibility of mediation to the client?
4. complying with criteria of sufficient competence with respect to professional content
Competence with respect to professional content comprises both professional knowledge and
professional competence. It also contains assessment ability and being able to judge whether a
different way of settling disputes is possible.
5. to be tested against and by colleagues
Testing includes both collegial testing and collegial consultation, so testing in the sense of
“supervision”, but also “exchange of knowledge”. Collegial testing will consist of systems with
February 2012 31
respect to professional content from peer review to exams by a specialisation association. Collegial
consultation concerns attitude, professional dilemmas and ethics. Testing has to be structured and,
preferably, guided by an experienced colleague or else by an external professional.
6. attuned to the partners in the chain
Attuning means external testing, reflecting. Courts, Boards for Legal Aid, Legal Advice Centres
(previously), Probation and after-care service, and so on, do so likewise. This also applies to sufficient
transparency of price and quality for consumers and chain partners.
Subjective
7. office provided with instruments for measuring output and outcome
In the first place one could think of studying the registered quantitative details that are available for
each office and/or that are available nationally, and of a client satisfaction survey/ client evaluation as
well as participation in the Complaints and Disputes Regulation for the Legal Profession.
Objective
8. auditing in accordance with unambiguous and well worked-out standards
Auditing means: an external expert who assesses whether an office really does what it says it does, or
wants to do. As far as company processes is concerned, this expert does not necessarily have to be a
lawyer. If the elementary professional rules are observed, for instance through CCV, there is no need
for a lawyer's background.
To prevent arbitrariness when auditing, unambiguous standards are of the utmost importance and
especially well worked-out and corresponding criteria. Strictly disciplinary supervision is required here.
Foundation Viadicte, February 2012
February 2012 32
6.3 Appendix III Quality instruments
Foundation Viadicte develops quality instruments to assist offices in offering their clients transparent,
high-quality services. As a service-institute Foundation Viadicte offers guidance at the implementation
of quality in the organisation. The quality instruments developed by Foundation Viadicte are intended
to assist this process. So far, Foundation Viadicte has developed the following instruments:
Instrument
Client satisfaction survey An extensive client satisfaction survey among
250 clients. This survey is conducted with the
highest possible care. Clients are incited to fill in
a client satisfaction survey – completely
anonymously. Viadicte analyses the results and
draws up a report. The survey is always
conducted within a so-called benchmark. That
means that other, comparable, lawyer’s offices
also conduct a survey so that the offices can
compare their scores with the average of all
participating lawyer’s offices and thus obtain a
unique analysis.
Client satisfaction survey, concise An extensive survey like the client satisfaction
surveys only has to be conducted once every
three years. In the meantime the offices
measure client satisfaction by means of concise
evaluations, comparable to the evaluations that
must be filled in after courses and congresses.
Foundation Viadicte offers example forms to
conduct such concise surveys.
Software complaints Foundation Viadicte has developed a very
useful instrument for complaint handling that
can be obtained from the Nederlandse Orde Van
Advocaten (the Netherlands Bar Association)
(free of charge). This supporting instrument is
intended to facilitate complaint handling in
conformity with the regulations of the
Complaints and disputes committee.
February 2012 33
Financial Office-comparing Report / Financial
benchmark
With the use of software application, lawyer’s
offices can anonymously compare their
financial housekeeping with that of other
offices. Thus they can obtain insight into the
financial position of their own office in
comparison with comparable offices in the
fields of, for instance, staff expenses, library
expenses, turnovers, sickness leave and so on.
Online Quality Manual Viadicte
In order to obtain an integral quality policy
Foundation Viadicte has drawn up an extensive
standard framework. Working on quality in a
structured way presents the opportunity to
have a critical look at agreements and
unwritten laws and to make a good analysis of
the method of working. Can’t we carry out our
activities, the way in which we record
our details, collect information and manage our
practice in a cleverer, quicker and more
effective way? Where and how can we improve
ourselves? The Online Quality Manual is
constructed of conveniently marked chapters.
The coding tells you quickly which subject is
dealt with. In this way the various users within
the manual can deal with his or her chapter
respectively. Each chapter begins with a short
list of the subjects to be treated. Next, the
standards that correspond with the subject are
mentioned. Each chapter provides a clear
description of what has to be complied with
and in what way. Each chapter ends with a step-
by-step plan and a description of what you
should have achieved after you have finished
the chapter.
Quality mark Audit Law practices that have a permanent quality
policy receive a Met Recht Tevreden (‘justifiably
satisfied’) seal of approval from Viadicte. The
February 2012 34
seal of approval signifies that your practice
complies with the requirements with regard to
know-how, integrity and office operations.
Moreover, the seal-of-approval programme
promotes efficiency and streamlining within
your organisation.
Foundation Viadicte, February 2012