We understand that firms are often keen to assess their risk management regimes.

This is always a good idea as an effective review can help to establish if a firm’s systems and procedures continue to adequately address areas of exposure to risk. However, it can sometimes be difficult to determine where to start or what to prioritise and we have therefore prepared a set of self-assessment questions which can be adopted as a basis for an initial appraisal of a firm’s risk controls.

Our Self-Assessment Questionnaires

Our self-assessment questionnaires are designed to help you evaluate your firm's processes and procedures, to pinpoint areas where there might be exposure to risk and to assess where you might want to introduce (or improve) some controls or systems.

The questionnaires focus on a range of different topics: from letters of engagement and core competencies to diary systems and client account fraud. You can complete each of the question sets or pick and choose from the questionnaires that you think might be most useful.

They were first published in February 2021, but we have re-launched them for the 2023-24 practice year.

How to Access the Questionnaires & What to Expect

To access the questionnaires please click on the links below and you'll be taken to each one in turn. As you work through the questions, there will be advice and commentary, depending on your specific responses and this advice will include some suggestions for improvements.

Part 1: Risk Management Health-check Survey - Letters of Engagement

Part 2: Risk Management Health-check Survey - Core Competencies/Dabbling

Part 3: Risk Management Health-check Survey - Supervision

Part 4: Risk Management Health-check Survey - File Maintenance

Part 5: Risk Management Health-check Survey - Conflict of Interest

Part 6: Risk Management Health-check Survey - Diary Systems

Part 7: Risk Management Health-check Survey - Client Account Fraud

At the end you will also be asked for some feedback on your experience and we would be grateful if you would complete this for us. This will enable us to tailor the questions further in the future and develop new topics on which to provide support.

At the end of the questionnaire, you will be offered the opportunity to save a copy of your responses together with a copy of the questions.

The questionnaires are entirely confidential – we will not ask you to submit your name or details of your firm, unless you request that we contact you directly. The questionnaire is simply aimed at providing you with an introduction to risk management across some key areas of your practice.

We will receive a copy of the responses, but we will not be able to identify the firm who has completed the questionnaire.

We hope these healthcheck surveys will prove to be a valuable tool for you and your practice. If you have any queries about them, please don’t hesitate to contact our Law Society of Scotland team at masterpolicyteam@uk.lockton.com.