OUR ASSESSORS/CONSULTANTS
We have teams of assessors covering London & South East, South West, Wales, Midlands, and the North & Scotland working with clients locally, nationally and internationally.
Fiona du Feu
Lexcel Assessor and Consultant, non-practising solicitor, Compliance Consultant
Based
London and the North
Experience
Fiona du Feu qualified as a solicitor in 1988 and spent over 20 years in private practice. She now runs her own risk and compliance consultancy for lawyers, with clients from sole practitioners to large multi-site firms, and is a Lexcel Assessor, Trainer, author and Consultant.
Specialisms
Lexcel, CQS, providing the "how to" of risk management.
Chris Gough
Lexcel assessor/consultant
Based
London, South East & Eastern Counties
Experience
20 years + in law firms & consultancy - fee-earning experience as a volume residential conveyancer in private practice, implementation consultant for legal IT solutions & business services division of a 'top ten' accountancy practice.
Specialisms
IT system implementation (legal accounting & case management systems), business process re-engineering.
Emily Mayes
Lexcel and SQM assessor and consultant
Based
South East and London
Experience
Specialist Areas
Relevant Qualifications
Eric Xuereb
Eric qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales in 1979 and pursued a career in both private practice and local government service as a fee earner and then as a senior legal services manager and head of service until his retirement from practice in 2007.
Since then, Eric has worked as a LEXCEL Assessor and Consultant, and as an ISO 9001 Lead Auditor. He also worked as a Lead Auditor for BARMARK (the Bar Council’s quality assurance standard) until the scheme’s discontinuance in 2013.
Eric now focuses solely on Lexcel. He is based in London and works mainly in London and the South East. Since 2012, he has also conducted annual overseas Lexcel assessments, mainly in West Africa and the Middle East.
As a former practitioner, and as an experienced Lexcel assessor and consultant, Eric brings to bear, in both his consultancy and assessment work, his wide experience of the legal profession together with his detailed practical knowledge of how to achieve and maintain the Lexcel Standard.
Based: London
Kathy Leahy
Lexcel/Matrix/Merlin Standard/Assessor/Consultant/Business Coach
Based
West Midlands
Experience
10 years + experience managing and providing business consultancy to all sectors including government department, 11 years Lexcel, plus an assessor for other quality standards including SQM.
Specialisms
Business management programmes, policy development and operational delivery.
Neil Partridge
Lexcel assessor, consultant and trainer. GDPR specialist. Cyber security Lead Auditor. Marketing and commercial project leader.
Contact Details :-
Tel: 07967 965340
Email: neilp@pdalimited.com
Based
London and Southeast
Experience
Has conducted more than 500 assessment, training and consultancy visits to legal organisations. Delivered 8 Law Society webinars (to date) on GDPR, information security and Lexcel. Speaker at the Law Society’s Lexcel national annual conference in 2018 and 2019, and the Law Society’s 2019 GDPR conference. Has supported more than 100 legal sector organisations for GDPR, including data mapping, updating polices, training and handling Data Subject Access Requests. Neil trained all Lexcel assessors, on behalf of the Law Society, and more than 250 legal practices, on the changes for Lexcel v6.1. Co-author of the PDA GDPR Supported Guidance Pack and the Cyber Primed cyber/data security standard. Director of commercial projects for multinational businesses. Board member of three companies in the legal compliance, marketing and cyber security sectors, respectively. Board member of a charitable Trust in the City of London.
Specialisms
GDPR/data protection, cyber security, data security, Lexcel, SQM (consultancy), SRA compliance, risk management, project management.
Meltem Kanli
Lexcel Assessor/Consultant/Locum Solicitor
Based
London & South East
Experience
Locum Solicitor, specialist in employment law & HR matters. 25 years + experience at Marks & Spencer Plc Marble Arch store. Customer service and complaints handling, people management, training and development, risk and compliance management.
Stuart Lee Lexcel Assessor and Consultant, SQM Lead Assessor, Compliance Consultant
Contact Details:-
Tel: 07553810810
Email: Stuart.lee@sjlquality.co.uk
Based The North West.
Experience 18 years experience working with the Legal Profession as an assessor, regulator, consultant, policy maker, trainer and contract manager. Lexcel assessor since 2011 assessing all size of legal providers from sole practitioner to practice with 270 staff and 11 offices. 11 years experience at the Legal Aid Agency. Associate SQM Lead Auditor responsible for training assessment team and quality assurance.
Specialisms Lexcel, SQM, Consultancy and Risk Management. Obtained
Claire Ludbrook Lexcel assessor/consultant/trainer
Based North East, but operates nationally and internationally
Experience Law graduate, with LPC. Experience of working in a firm. Supported over 40 firms through to achievement of Lexcel and worked with ISO 9001 :2008 in a service environment.
Specialisms Customer service, quality systems, equality and diversity and best practice.
Rob Macleod MBE Lexcel assessor/consultant/trainer
Based London and the North
Experience Lexcel assessor since 1998 has worked with private firms, large and small and in-house legal teams. Extensive international experience working with a range of quality assurance standards and compliance frameworks, such as IIP and ISO 9001:2008 in blue chip organisations.
Specialisms strategic planning, people management, management development, equality and diversity, IT and being practical.
Gayle Audley Lexcel Assessor/Outsourced Commercial Director/Performance Management Coach
Contact Details: -
Tel: 07956 660172
Email: gayle@gayleaudley.com
W: gayleaudley.com
Based: Northern base, national presence.
Experience: As a former top British tennis player and elite performance coach Gayle knows what it means to be the best and now brings her sporting pedigree into the business arena. After studying law she went onto work in a commercial capacity with a number of top UK businesses.
Specialisms: Gayle works with around 50 law firms each year ranging from sole practitioners to multi-nationals and has conducted over 500 Lexcel assessments to date on behalf of The Law Society. Following the pandemic there may never be a better time to bring together people, innovation, technology and opportunity and she looks forward to working with you and being a part of your success story.
Stuart Blake
Lexcel assessor and consultant, regulatory compliance consultant, trainer
Tel: 07530 702175
Email: stuart@beaconlegal.co.uk
Based
Midlands and South West, operates nationally and internationally
Experience
Non-practising Chartered Legal Executive with over 30 years' experience in the legal profession and over 15 years in legal practice management intimately involved in Lexcel and regulatory compliance. Consultancy clients have included large multi-national law firms, sole practitioners and everything in-between.
Specialisms
Practical applications and solutions. Policy/procedure development. COLP/MLRO support. Hands on assistance where required.
Jane Blackstock
LexcelAssessor/Consultant/ SQM Consultant
Based
Midlands and South West, operates nationally
Experience
Over 20 years running own consultancy business and 19 years as a Lexcel Assessor covering firms of all different sizes nationally.
Specialisms
Providing bespoke assistance to Law Firms in working towards the requirements of Lexcel and providing ongoing support with maintenance of the accreditation.
Dawn Lindop
Lexcel Assessor, SQM Auditor, non-practising solicitor and compliance consultant
Based
Midlands but will travel
Experience
Qualified as a solicitor in 1990 and spent several years in private practice before joining the Law Society and thereafter the SRA. In over ten years as a senior adviser in the SRA’s Practice Standards Unit Dawn visited hundreds of firms of solicitors of all sizes and types to assess regulatory compliance and help improve their compliance and risk management systems. Since 2011 she has run her own compliance consultancy
Specialisms
Lexcel, SQM, SRA compliance consultancy, file reviews and COLP/COFA support
Debbie Fowler Lexcel Assessor/Consultant/Trainer/Locum Family Lawyer/ Practice Development Specialist
Contact Details: -
Tel: 07813 070715
Email: djfconsultancy@me.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/debbiefowler1
Based W. Midlands
Experience 21 years legal experience, currently a Chartered Legal Executive, Family Lawyer & 10 years Lexcel/Legal Sector consultancy.
Specialisms File review assignments, training, practice development techniques/strategies, and risk management.
Caroline Harris Lexcel/assessor/consultant/Investors in People/qualified non-practising Solicitor
Based West Midlands & South West
Experience 30 years experience in the legal sector, 12 years with IIP & 10 years Lexcel/Legal Sector consultancy & 10 years Lexcel/Legal Sector consultancy.
Specialisms Joint Lexcel/IIP assessments.
Christine Tallon
Lexcel Assessor and Lexcel accredited consultant/freelance legal risk and compliance consultant
Contact details:-
Tel: 07968 411794
Email: christallon@aol.com
Based: South Wales also covering Mid Wales, South West England, London, Midlands, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire.
Experience: Qualified as a solicitor in 1991 and spent over 25 years in private practice including at equity partnership level in a medium sized firm in London where she was a member of the Risk & Compliance Committee and involved in applying for Lexcel accreditation and subsequent reaccreditation.
Specialism: Risk & Compliance Consultancy, client care, file reviews. Having had extensive involvement in private practice, Christine understands the issues which arise in practice and is able to provide a practical and pragmatic approach.
Cathy Poulter
Lexcel/Investors in People/SQM/CQS/assessor/consultant/trainer
Based
South West
Experience
Experienced ex solicitor, originally admitted to the roll in 1979, now an independent consultant working in the legal sector providing assessment, advice and guidance, approved Law Society project supplier & 10 years Lexcel/Legal Sector consultancy.
Specialisms
Client care, complaints handling, risk and regulatory compliance including Outcomes Focused Regulation & support for COLP/ COFA.
Dafydd Thorne
Lexcel/SQM Assessor/Consultant
Based: South west but works all across the south
Experience
Own communications and training consultancy across all business sectors since 2002. More than 10 years working in the legal sector
Specialisms
Communications. Practice and Performance Management
Ian Fuller
Lexcel/Business Coach
Based
Ian is based in Cornwall and covers the South West
Experience
Assessor with 10 years’ experience of assessing against the Lexcel Standard and around 20 years on Investors in People across a range of organisation sizes and sectors.
Specialisms
Coaching and advising on business planning, leadership and management development, and people management good practice and supporting processes.
Samantha Gallagher
Lexcel Assessor and Consultant, Risk and Compliance Consultant and SQM Auditor
Based
Midlands but also covering East Anglia and London
Experience
Risk and Compliance Consultant with a background in conveyancing and regulatory compliance. Worked in private practice for a number of years before joining the Law Society and then the SRA. Spent over 10 years undertaking regulatory inspections for the SRA’s Practice Standards Unit and assisting firms to meet their regulatory obligations.
Now as an independent consultant supports legal practices with meeting their SRA obligations and the requirements of relevant legislation and accreditations. Also offers tailored compliance solutions to help businesses develop and embed effective quality and risk management processes. These solutions include drafting policies and procedures, developing and implementing file review processes and internal audit functions.
Specialisms
Lexcel, regulatory compliance, risk management including file reviews/audits, CQS and SQM.
Michael Johnson
Assessor for Lexcel, Auditor for ISO 9001 and also the LawNet Quality Standard (LQS).
Contact Details: -
Tel: 07885 825 023
Email: michael@lexconex.com
Web: www.lexconex.com
Based
South West, but carries out assessments and audits throughout England, South Wales and in Continental Europe.
Experience
Practised as a Solicitor for 21 years, in Private Practice (commercial and relocation/residential property, liquor licensing, from Trainee Solicitor to Equity Partner, including as Managing Partner) and for 3 years as COO of an International Title Insurance Group. Since 2010 has carried 100’s of audits and assessments predominantly for Legal Practices (private practice and in-house) but also for other non-legal sector Organisations.
Specialisms
Whilst independently assessing and auditing, seeing compliance through the eyes of the Practice, all staff and those who have the responsibility to introduce, maintain and monitor it.
Neil Huxtable Lexcel/Investors in People/AQS/SQM/assessor/consultant
Based South & North Wales
Experience Business owner providing consultancy on organisation development and human resources, IIP assessor experience & 10 years Lexcel/Legal Sector Consultancy.
Specialisms Welsh speaker, organisational development, performance management & joint Lexcel/IIP assessments.
Jeff Williams-Jones
Lexcel assessor / consultant; management consultant; qualified executive coach and leadership mentor; lecturer in management subjects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels; Investors in People practitioner for 18 years.
Contact Details:-
Tel: 07966 256565
Email: jeff@mana.cymru
Based
Wales but will travel
Experience
35 years as manager/owner of a trading company, Entrepreneurship, University Teaching.
Specialisms
Welsh speaker, strategic development (business planning), human resource management
Roger Young Lexcel assessor/commercial business coach
Based London, Midlands, South Wales & France
Experience 25 years + commercial business, management and board level experience & 10 years Lexcel/Legal Sector consultancy.
Specialisms Strategic planning, organisational change, people management, financial appraisal & planning, risk management, leadership & Director mentoring.
Gemma Shanks
Lexcel Assessor and Consultant / Compliance Consultant / Non-practising solicitor.
Based
North East. Operates nationally.
Experience
Non-practising solicitor with over 12 years’ experience working with the Legal Profession and the Lexcel Standard. Extensive Lexcel experience working with a significant number, and variety of firms from sole practitioners to multi nationals and local authorities.
As a consultant, assists law firms helping them to implement effective processes and procedures to achieve the Law Society’s Lexcel standard and regulatory compliance. Frequently supports firms through complex structure change projects, helping them to navigate through the process quickly and efficiently. Excellent communication skills and a pragmatic and intuitive approach allows for working well with all personnel within firms, from senior management through to support staff, to achieve the best results possible.
Specialisms
Lexcel, File Reviews, CQS, SRA Compliance Consultancy, COLP and COFA support and Risk Management
Kate Williams
Solicitor; Lexcel Assessor; Consultant
E-mail: k.williams@purplebulb.co.uk
Based
South-West
Face to face work primarily in Gloucester, Bristol and Somerset. However, I work with organisations nationally and have remote working functionality.
Experience
I have a number of years’ fee earning experience as a commercial property solicitor employed in private practices and in-house with experience ranging from complex multi-billion portfolio deals to individual small-business transactions. I continue to maintain my practicing certificate working for our family-owned property holding company and am now also an independent consultant supporting legal and other businesses in risk management and organisational development.
Specialisms
As a former Investors in People Assessor trained against the current version of the IIP standard, I assist with mapping and links between the Lexcel and IIP standards, and support organisations working towards IIP accreditation.
In a Lexcel context, I undertake Lexcel assessments, support legal practices working towards Lexcel accreditation (from gap analysis to policy and procedure review, development, drafting and implementation), provide tailored advice and support to work towards improvement areas identified in assessments, offer an independent file review service (from developing and implementing file review processes to conducting file reviews), deliver added value webinars for Recognising Excellence, and provide ad hoc tailored services according to need.
For those seeking general organisational development support I offer bespoke support according to need including carrying out internal auditing and investigation functions, helping to develop policies and processes, assisting senior leaders with strategy, employee engagement and management ideals, and helping to develop and implement people and performance management processes.
Malcolm Lawson
Lexcel, LawNet, ISO 9001, SQM, AQS (formerly GQM), CQS. Assessor/Auditor/Consultant/Trainer
Based
North East England
Experience
Over 19 years' previous experience as a Lexcel assessor/consultant working with a variety of legal firms from sole practitioners to multi nationals and in-house legal departments of local authorities. Significant experience of working with and providing consultancy support to businesses across all sectors including, education, charities and international blue chip organisations. Established and sold a number of small businesses
Specialisms
Customer focused approach. Practical experience as an owner of numerous small businesses and therefore empathy with business leaders. Leadership and succession planning. Performance Management, IT and Business Continuity.
Paul McCluskey
Lexcel Assessor & Consultant / Law firm banking & finance specialist
Tel: 07785 503007
Email: paul@mccluskeyconsulting.co.uk
Based
East Anglia / London. Operates nationally and internationally
Experience
Managing law firm finances is a complicated business.
With over 30 years financial services experience and former UK Head of Professional Practices at Lloyds Bank I specialised in helping law firms, across 3 national UK law society jurisdictions, to manage their client funds and structure debt in the most appropriate way.
I led a national team of over 100 Lexcel accredited managers, servicing the banking and finance needs of over 3,000 legal practices.
As an independent consultant, with a solid breadth and depth of experience earned by spending time with law firms leaders and cash room staff, I have a solid understanding of the challenges faced by a legal practice
My expertise focusses on:
Law firm financial management, offering practical support for COFAs.
Business development (sales and marketing) helping the firm develop their strategic approach to business growth.
Stuart Blake
Lexcel assessor and consultant, regulatory compliance consultant, trainer
Based
Midlands and South West, operates nationally and internationally
Experience
Chartered Legal Executive with over 30 years' experience in the legal profession and over 15 years in legal practice management intimately involved in Lexcel and regulatory compliance. Consultancy clients have included large multi-national law firms, sole practitioners and everything in-between.
Specialisms
Practical applications and solutions. Policy/procedure development. COLP/MLRO support. Hands on assistance where required.
Eric Xuereb
Lexcel/Barmark/assessor/consultant/trainer
Based
London, South East & Scotland
Experience
A retired solicitor and senior legal manager with over 30 years' experience in both private practice and local government & 10 years Lexcel/Legal Sector consultancy.
Roger Young
Lexcel assessor/commercial business coach
Based
London, Midlands, South Wales & France
Experience
25 years + commercial business, management and board level experience & 10 years Lexcel/Legal Sector consultancy.
Specialisms
Strategic planning, organisational change, people management, financial appraisal & planning, risk management, leadership & Director mentoring.
Rob Macleod MBE
Lexcel assessor/consultant/trainer
Based
North East, but operates nationally and internationally
Experience
Lexcel assessor since 1998 has worked with private firms, large and small and in-house legal teams. Extensive international experience working with a range of quality assurance standards and compliance frameworks, such as IIP and ISO 9001:2008 in blue chip organisations.
Specialisms
Strategic planning, people management, management development, equality and diversity, IT and being practical.
Should you require help or support with any legal sector issue please refer to the vast range of specialisms currently displayed on our Lexcel Assessor Profile. Or Contact John.edwards@recognisingexcellence.co.uk who will signpost you to the Specialist best suited to provide the support you need.
Recognising Excellence Ltd
Unit 3, Twigworth Court Business Centre,
Tewkesbury Road,
Twigworth, Nr. Gloucester
GL2 9PG.
Tel: : 01452 688357