4.6. Acceptance Criteria
Last updated
Last updated
Each Item should also contain information about how that work is completed. This is achieved in the form of Acceptance Criteria. Defining these helps everyone involved understand the quality criteria of an Item. If the Acceptance Criteria are not met, an Item cannot be finished. In law firms, there are multiple aspects that need to be considered: the client’s expectation, the (formal) standards of the attorney, and the legal framework affecting the Item. The Acceptance Criteria of an Item between client and attorney might look different from one the attorney assigns to an employee where there might be additional steps involved the client isn’t aware of. Overall, Acceptance Criteria improve clarity and communication within the attorney’s team as well as between the attorney and their client.
While the team itself should be able to determine whether the Acceptance Criteria are met, there is a speciality to the legal industry: due to regulatory requirements we suggest that the attorney responsible makes the final decision on whether the Acceptance Criteria are met and, thus, whether the task is finished.
For practical and liability reasons, criteria like “winning a lawsuit” or a “watertight contract” should not be added to Acceptance Criteria. Acceptance Criteria need to be easily checked and clearly determined whether they are met or not. For Items in a law firm, the Acceptance Criteria might look as follows:
Acceptance Criteria for a contract project could be:
General legal clauses are drafted.
Contracting parties, contacts and signatories are entered.
Obligations of the parties are defined.
Commercial framework is defined.
Client’s business model is implemented.
Required approvals/licenses have been obtained.
Contract is balanced and fair to decrease the complaints from the client’s contracting parties.
This can also be broken up into to Acceptance Criteria for initial contract drafting and contract negotiation.
Acceptance Criteria for a statement of claim for a lawsuit:
Facts of the case are recorded.
Evidence has been collected and assessed.
Statute of limitations has been checked.
Basis of assessment is calculated.
Opposing party (parties) has been entered.
Appropriate court has been assessed and entered.
Facts of the case are drafted and supported with evidence.
Legal assessment has been drafted.
Client’s requirements were added.
Damages have been calculated.
Claim has been drafted.
Cost statement has been added.
During a brief joint coffee chat in the late afternoon, Gabriel describes to Fiona his feeling of finding nuggets of information yet having many more questions. She supports him, saying that she would very much feel the same and that it might be good to discuss it with somebody more experienced. This reminds Gabriel of his good friend Sara, the IT consultant, who had offered to help when they last met. After coffee, he calls to invite her to a joint lunch as he’s sure Sara and Fiona will also get along well, with the added benefit that they could discuss a few questions. Attorneys have inquisitive minds and a tendency to find challenges and tough questions.
It might be a gift to anticipate problems, but here in this setting our two colleagues feel that they would enjoy being able to “just do it”. They already have the first question for Sara: who defines when something is good enough to be declared as done? Yes, they have heard about Acceptance Criteria, which state what requirements need to be met. They will try to describe these for a few Items, but they do not have a clear feeling about who would have which responsibility yet. In any case, they want to add the Acceptance Criteria to their Items, so it is clear what determines whether the Item has been finished. That would also be beneficial for Gabriel who does not yet have that much litigation experience.
Acceptance Criteria for Item 5:
Set up a table to align the arguments before court with the submission/argument, relevant proof, the legal basis, and potential applications to the court.
Element: ...
Acceptance Criteria:
