The Advertising Standards Authority has thrown out a complaint about the Law Society of England and Wales’ Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS).

A solicitor challenged whether the claim that all Law Society CQS firms have to go through rigorous examination was correct.

The Law Society said that the CQS accreditation mark acted as a recognised quality standard for residential conveyancing practices.

All practices applying for CQS accreditation were assessed, and all relevant staff within the practice were required to pass mandatory training modules.

The ASA said the accreditation requirements did show that conveyancing practices went through rigorous examination.

However, it did note that between 2014 and 2016, just two applications out of some 300 had been rejected.

It also noted that the requirement for staff to undertake training and pass multiple-choice assessments within six months of accreditation meant that technically, firms could be accepted into the scheme before all staff had been assessed.

Overall, however, the ASA was satisfied that the Law Society’s claim was not misleading, and it rejected the claim.