Lifetime Lawyers Accreditation

Lifetime Lawyers offers industry leading accreditation

Lifetime Care in Practice (lCP) Award

Introduction

Lifetime Lawyers members are all specialists in older client law, but what sets Lifetime Lawyers members apart from other lawyers are their specialist client care skills that enable them to advise and support older and vulnerable clients.

In essence, the LCP Award is not about legal training, its focus is firmly on evidencing and building good older client service and communications. A 21st century professional service based purely on legal technical expertise will no longer offer enough. Clients can naturally assume that you know the law, but what sets the older client practitioner apart is being able to communicate and translate legal expertise into clear explanations of the options for your client and his family and guiding them through the process sensitively.

This externally accredited award will enable you to demonstrate that you have these additional skills and will set you apart from other non Lifetime Lawyers accredited lawyers.

The LCP Award will truly give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

What will I achieve?

The LCP Award aims to show that:

• The older client practitioner is an individual experienced in dealing with older and vulnerable clients on a regular basis
• The older client practitioner has a good understanding of the needs and additional considerations required when acting for older and vulnerable clients, their families and representatives
• The older client practitioner understands both the potential physical and cognitive limitations that may affect the way advice is given to older and vulnerable clients and has the requisite level of interpersonal soft skills and ability to communicate well

LCP syllabus

The syllabus covers 3 key areas

• The Client Relationship – Who is my client?
• Undue Influence, safeguarding and abuse of older and vulnerable people and protecting the clients’ interests
• Older Client Communication and interviewing techniques

How it works

The LCP award has 4 standards. There are full guidance notes on how to complete the award and resources. The notes contain the full syllabus and all the support material.

It is advisable to take time to read through the resource and guidance material before embarking on the standards.

LCP – Standard 1

To read and agree to abide by the Lifetime Lawyers Code of Practice as well as the membership rules

LCP – Standard 2

To upload your older and vulnerable client care procedure document to your profile on the Lifetime Lawyers website

(This must cover off and reflect the Lifetime Lawyers Code of Practice)

LCP – Standard 3

To strive to incorporate the Lifetime Lawyers Code of Practice in supporting all dealings your organisation has with older and vulnerable clients

LCP – Standard 4

Complete the Lifetime Care in Practice assessment online

The e-assessment is carried out entirely online through a series of 60 multiple choice questions. It is not essay based. Candidates will need to set aside 90 minutes to complete the multiple choice questions.

The pass mark is 70% i.e. candidates will need to score 42 out of 60. Candidates may have two attempts at the assessment.

All new members must aim to complete this within 8 weeks of joining Lifetime Lawyers.

Lifetime Law in Practice (LLP) Award

This is the Lifetime Lawyers Award which focuses on legal and technical skills. It is also accredited by SFJ Awards. It follows a similar format to the LCP Award

What will I achieve?

The LLP Award aims to show that:

• The older client practitioner is an individual experienced in dealing with the legal requirements older and vulnerable clients on a regular basis
• The older client practitioner has a good understanding of the law when acting for older and vulnerable clients, their families and representatives
• The older client practitioner understands capacity limitations that may affect the way advice is given to older and vulnerable clients

LLP syllabus

The syllabus covers 3 key areas:

• Capacity
• Funding Care
• Estate Planning, Tax and Trusts

How it works

The OCLP award has 2 standards. There are full guidance notes on how to complete the award and resources. The notes contain the full syllabus and all the support material.

It is advisable to take time to read through the resource and guidance material before embarking on the standards.

LLP – Standard 1

To have achieved the Lifetime Care in Practice Award (LCP) detailed above

LLP – Standard 2

To complete the Older Client Law in Practice (OCLP) assessment online

The e-assessment is carried out entirely online through a series of 60 multiple choice questions. It is not essay based. Candidates will need to set aside 90 minutes to complete the multiple choice questions.

The pass mark is 70% i.e. candidates will need to score 42 out of 60. Candidates may have two attempts at the assessment.

All Lifetime Lawyers must aim to complete this within one year of completing the LCP Award.

lCP and lLP sample questions

Accreditation

The accrediting body is SFJ Awards which is a UK Regulated Awarding Organisation specialising in providing qualifications and skills and knowledge assurance to the Justice and Community Safety Sectors, the Legal Sector and the Finance Sector.  Using its knowledge of these sectors, SFJ Awards is able to develop and accredit programmes that assures employers, customers and the public that those working in this sector have the appropriate skills, knowledge and understanding to perform their roles and function and that they can apply this in their workplace.  SFJ Awards has experience of developing accreditation schemes across its customer base from Level 2 (GCSE) to Level 7 (Masters equivalent) and ensuring that these schemes, whilst being robust and rigorous, do not create a significant burden on the individual or his/her organisation.

The Lifetime Lawyers LCP award is based on distance learning and e-assessment which will enable Lifetime Lawyers to study and be assessed where it is convenient for them. It will be at level 6-7.