Certification to the Legal Services Excellence Standard is through an NSAI independent audit. The auditing process involves two main components: reviewing documentation to ensure compliance with the four pillars of the (LSES) standard, and holding separate meetings with a cross-section of staff to confirm operational compliance.

A maximum of 250 marks is available for each of the four requirements, giving a potential score of 1000. A minimum score of 60% in each area is required to achieve certification.

1. Applicants can acquire all information relating to the certification process through the Legal Services Excellence Standard online portal.
2. Applicant conducts an online self-assessment via the LSES portal that will assess if the applicant can apply immediately or needs to implement actions to meet the Standards requirements.
3. If the Applicant does not meet all of the four requirements, they can participate in the Law Society Skillnet Diploma in Legal Practice Management that will guide them through the necessary actions, template documents and operational procedures that are required to achieve the requirements or they can access useful resources on the Law Society website.
   • Access the Law Society Skillnet Diploma in Legal Practice Management
   • Access a Law Society resource toolkit for each of the four pillars
4. Applicant implements action(s) to meet the scheme requirements.
5. Applicant completes the online application form via the LSES portal and pays the required fee.
6. Applicant completes the online audit assessment process and uploads all necessary documents.
7. Applicant receives notification of audit assessment date and format for onsite visit.
8. NSAI conducts a document review in advance of the onsite visit.
9. NSAI assessors complete an onsite assessment/office visit and staff interviews.
10. NSAI notify the Law Society LSES team of the outcome of the audit via an audit assessment report.
11. Law Society LSES team send an audit assessment report to the Applicant and where appropriate (ie where the 60% mark is achieved across all four requirements) will award the Legal Service Excellence Standard Certification 
12. The Legal Services Excellence Standard Certificate is issued. 
13. Where certification is not awarded the Applicant will be advised of areas requiring improvement. Applicant can re-apply for audit assessment of the requirement(s) that did not achieve the necessary minimum mark criteria.
14. Subsequent application for LSES Certification renewal will be conducted via document assessment review for the first three-year renewal and by document and onsite office visit including staff interviews for the second renewal application.