Until 2010, the Lexcel standard was attainable by law firms and in-house legal departments in England and Wales.
Since September 2010, Lexcel accreditation has been attainable by any law firm or in-house legal department in any jurisdiction in the world.
For example, the Lexcel requirement 1.4 for a "policy on the avoidance of discrimination" is very similar to the Indicative Behaviours (IB2.1-2.5) in the SRA Handbook 2011.
Before requesting an independent assessment, a practice or legal department should ascertain how closely aligned to the standard it is.
If an organisation's policies, plans, procedures and processes are not correctly aligned with the Lexcel standard, the assessor will note minor or major 'non-compliances'.
Where an organisation is being assessed for the first time, they have up to six months to correct the non-compliances and on completion of any necessary work, will then be awarded the Lexcel Standard.