South West Law Firm Wins National Award For Excellence
Leading South West law firm Foot Anstey won the Law Society’s National Award for Excellence in Practice Standards at an event hosted by Jeremy Vine.
The judges were impressed with Foot Anstey’s developed commitment to excellence by establishing a Quality Directorate. The judges took particular note that a ‘Client Experience Project’ was implemented to understand and improve the service received by individuals and businesses.
This award is one of seven the Law Society gives to reward outstanding achievements in the legal profession in the key areas of practice standards, innovation in business, quality of life, equality and diversity and social responsibility.
Andrew Holroyd, Law Society President, said: “Judging these awards was a real privilege. These winners have made the promotion of best practice an integral part of their work.
“These awards are part of the Law Society’s commitment to promoting excellence in legal services. Over recent years, the solicitors’ profession has taken significant steps in the area of innovation. We hope that these awards, which celebrate the very best in our great profession, will bring benefits for both staff and clients.”
John Westwell, Partner at Foot Anstey received the prize from BBC broadcaster Jeremy Vine at the Honourable Artillery Company in London and said “This award is a real tribute to the commitment from all our staff in our offices in Exeter, Plymouth and Taunton. Our staff have pulled together to ensure we offer the South West’s premier legal service – this award goes further by placing us at the top of the national league for quality. Our clients come to us because we care about the service we offer them.
“We recently appointed an Excellence Director to oversee the firm’s drive to continually improve our level of service but it’s our clients’ feedback that is crucial if we are to continue to raise our standards. There will never be a time when we cannot improve our service but this recognition underlines a significant achievement for both Foot Anstey and the south west.”
This award comes hard on the heels of the latest national Lex 100 Student Guide to the UK’s premier law firms where Foot Anstey gained recognition in two key categories.
The Lex 100 is based on an annual survey of legal trainees. Trainees were questioned on all areas from job satisfaction and quality of work to stress levels and social life. The is a key resource for law students after graduating when they consider where to train.
Foot Anstey were rated for the ‘best work/life balance’ and ‘the most confident to be kept on after qualifying’ categories.
Trainees chose Foot Anstey over other law firms for being “one of the leading firms in the South West” and offering “wide range of practise areas, including niche areas” .
John Westwell added “Part of Foot Anstey’s success comes from recruiting high calibre trainees and giving them a rewarding and stimulating training contract.
“This year, all our trainees were offered a position with Foot Anstey at the end of their training contract and hopefully they will go on to become future partners.
“These accolades recognise Foot Anstey’s ability to provide high quality comprehensive legal services to individuals and businesses throughout the South West.”
Published 02/11/2007
