To a certain degree the ultimate delivery of our service is dictated by parties external to Forths (i.e. those parties who are providing us with information, on matters, to enable us to undertake our investigations) and to this effect we cannot be prescriptive with regards to delivery times for reports etc.
It is the case, however, that what we can promise all of our work providers are certain internal service standards which are rigorously adhered to, to ensure the best possible service for our clients. Such standards are as follows:
Case Management System (CMS)
At Forths we have invested heavily in our IT infrastructure, including the development of a bespoke CMS which all staff, at Forths, are logged into, on a daily basis, as an integral part of the running of our files.
This system has been developed to enable us to be aware of any and all deadlines on specific matters, work flows that have occurred on matters etc. Individual fee earners case management activity is reviewed, at Director level, on a weekly basis to ensure strict adherence to our internally set service standards.
The allocation of cases to fee earners is undertaken, at Director level, on a daily basis upon receipt of the same. This exercise is undertaken with reference to the CMS to ensure the correct allocation of work to individuals and to ensure that work of a certain nature (e.g. with tight deadlines) is allocated to those individuals with the correct amount of capacity to ensure that such deadlines are met.
Internal Service Standards
- Acknowledgement to provider of work within two working days of receipt of instructions
- Initial request(s) for discovery (from parties to the claim, their representatives,
external parties) within five working days of receipt of instruction
- All requests for discovery from external parties chased within 15 working days from
the date of last contact (unless advised otherwise)
- Providers of work updated every 15 working days (unless advised otherwise) as regards
the status of the case, and outstanding information (if calculation / report has
not been issued)
- Schedules / Calculations / Reports issued within 20 working days following the receipt
of the final piece of discovery
- Following the issue of our Schedule / Calculation / Report we will acknowledge any
further correspondence within three working days of receipt and respond within 15
working days if no further information is required
If further information is required we will obtain this as necessary (under the Service Standards as noted at paragraphs (b) to (d) above) and following receipt of such full information we will respond within 15 working days.
The above represents basic service standards. In the event of specific Court determined deadlines we will obviously amend our service standards accordingly.
