Standards of service and service level agreements (SLAs)

A survey conducted two years ago among European law departments (with median revenue of $1.8 billion) found that 46 percent of them used “standards of service,” which “commonly set out in more detail the aims expressed in the mission statement and relate to client care or administrative system issues. They are often contained in manuals or agreements with client departments.” [www.practicallaw.com/A28843, pg. 4].

I am astonished that half the departments had these standards of service. The median law department had 7 to 9 lawyers. That’s small for such a level of formality. Rarely in my consulting peregrinations have I seen SLAs, let alone “manuals or agreements.” Few law departments feel the need to memorialize their client relations.