Peer Review

On this page:

What is peer review?
How does it work?
About the criteria
What is the output of Peer Review?
How is peer review independent?
For more information

What is Peer Review?

Peer review is a quality assessment tool. It directly measures the quality of advice and legal work carried out by legal aid providers.

The independent peer review we use is developed and managed by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. This organisation is independent of the LSC.

How does it work?

Peer reviewers are experienced legal aid practitioners. They assess a stratified random sample of a provider’s case files using a standard criteria and ratings system. They determine the quality of advice and legal work provided to clients in a particular category of law.

Following this assessment the reviewer makes an overall judgement about the provider’s quality of advice and legal work.

About the criteria

The criteria highlight the quality of the:

information gained from the client and other sources
advice given based on that information
steps taken following that advice.

See Documents for the crime and civil peer review criteria.

What is the output of Peer Review?

Following the review of a sample of files, the peer reviewer writes a detailed Peer Review Report. The report consists of their findings along with both positive areas and areas for improvement, and the overall quality rating.

The overall quality of advice provided is assessed using a 1–5 rating.

The ratings are as follows:
Excellence (1)
Competence Plus (2)
Threshold Competence (3)
Below Competence (4)
Failure in Performance (5)

In the top right hand corner of the screen you will find a link to two tables of peer review scores.

The table named “Overall confirmed ratings” relates to all face-to-face peer reviews since April 2005. It shows the number of firms that have achieved each score in each category of law.
The table named “Peer Review Results for CLA” contains the same statistical data for telephone advice Peer Reviews.

How is peer review independent?

The peer review framework and methodology was developed and is managed by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

Peer reviewers are recruited and trained by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and work independently from us.

Peer reviewers decide what rating to award based on the quality of advice and legal work.

The LSC will not influence or alter the rating awarded.

For more information

Full details of the process are under Documents in the paper Independent Peer Review of Legal Advice and Legal Work.

Please email any questions/queries to the peer review team.

Visit the Improving your quality page to read and download our improving quality guides.

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Last updated: 12 July 2007