Management of Risk
Developing plans for identified threats
For the risk team that has helped identify significant threats in the operating environment and develop robust, tangible and measurable plans to reduce their firm’s commercial, financial and reputational risks.
2009 WINNER
From left: Martin Ellis (Prime Professions), Roy Welsby, Naomi Sharma (Grant Thornton) and Peter Crossley (Hammonds)
The judging panel reviewed three excellent submissions. All three submissions were well considered, described robust processes which had been put in place to minimise risk exposures and to ensure compliance and had well articulated targeted outcomes .
The judges concluded that the clear winner was from Grant Thornton International ( SAS ). What distinguished the Grant Thornton proposal was the following -
- The demonstration of the level of maturity of the processes which had clearly been embedded into operating procedures.
- A confidence level in the robustness of the processes which had enabled GT SAS entities to use risk management as a market differentiator to attract and retain clients
- An internal licensing and authorisation process to ensure strict compliance ( essential in view of the external focus given to this throughout the company)
- A continuous review of the effectiveness of the framework and to refine this according to changing business needs
- A clear demonstration of the adequacy of resource directed to implementing the programme
The entire submission was well documented and there was clear evidence of the points made above.
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2ND PLACE
Five years ago, DWF LLP was an early adopter of an enterprise approach to law firm risk management. Over time, the firm has integrated risk roles and procedures with its quality management program, including a firmwide ISO 9001:2000 accreditation. More recently, the firm has expanded its efforts to address a more full set of risks and, subsequently, has worked toward specific business results including improved business continuity capabilities and better working relationships with the firm’s clients and insurers. The firm expects to use the knowledge and experience it has gained to expand the scope of its risk management activities in the future.
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3RD PLACE
Berwin Leighton Paisner has made bold moves to establish the governance, policies, and processes to address potential risks across the firm. It has looked beyond traditional law firm models to borrow best practices from other professional service firms and is confronting potential practice risks. The firm has blended risk identification and analysis functions with a distributed approach to engaging practice leaders and therefore ensuring the ownership and institutionalization of risk procedures. While BLP is in the early stages of launching its program, their enterprise approach to addressing both business and practice risks is expected to make them a risk leader in years to come.
ROLL OF HONOUR
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