Understanding your impact assessment rating
1. Factoring in impact is an important part of the BSB’s risk-based approach. Taking impact
into account allows the BSB to focus on chambers where the consequences of
significant risks materialising are likely to be the most severe.
2. In April 2014, all chambers were asked to complete an Impact Audit Survey. These
surveys sought to measure the potential impact of a range of risks should they
materialise at a chambers.
3. For example, inadequate complaints handling processes would have more significant
consequences at a chambers with a large and vulnerable lay client base than at a
chambers with a very small corporate client base. Therefore, the potential impact is
greater at the chambers with the large lay client base.
4. The Impact Audit Survey focussed on key areas such as the type of work undertaken,
the amount of public access work and the provision of pupillages. It shows only what the
impact would be were things to actually go wrong and is not an indication as to how likely
this is to happen or how effectively a chambers is managing risk; this will be assessed
separately through the supervision return process which is explained on the BSB’s
website.
5. There is very little that a chambers can do to reduce their impact rating as it will be
inherent to their activities and profile. It is important to note that a chambers can be High
Impact, but still be considered Low Risk, and so receive a low level of supervision, if it
can demonstrate that it is managing risks effectively.
Factors that increase impact
6. Based on their answers to the Impact Audit Survey, chambers have been grouped into
three categories according to impact: Low, Medium and High.
7. These ratings were based on an assessment of responses to the Impact Audit Survey.
The following factors will lead to a higher impact rating:
(a) Undertaking high impact types of work
8. The highest impact types of work are:
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Crime
Family
Immigration
9. This is because these types of work generate the highest proportion of complaints to the
Legal Ombudsman.
10. In addition, the following areas of work also generate a high volume of complaints but
increase impact to a lesser extent:
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Property
Employment
Personal injury
(b) Undertaking a high volume of cases
11. At chambers who handle a large volume of cases there are more clients involved, which
could potentially magnify any risks that did materialise.
12. For example, the impact of a failure to manage confidential information appropriately
would be greater at a chambers that handles a large volume of cases where more clients
could be affected by the failure.
(c) Undertaking Public Access work
13. For Public Access work lay clients do not have the additional protection of a solicitor or
other legal professional. Therefore additional safeguards need to be in place in
chambers to manage this potential impact.
(d) Taking pupils
14. Chambers that take pupils are subject to additional risks because they are subject to a
number of additional regulatory requirements and need to have the appropriate
procedures and controls in place.
(e) Undertaking work under the Money Laundering Regulations or using Barco or a
third party escrow account
15. Chambers undertaking work that falls within the scope of the Money Laundering
Regulations, or those that use escrow accounts, must have additional procedures and
controls in place to manage the associated risks. The impact of a control failure could be
significant if, for example, it resulted in inadvertently facilitating money laundering.