Final registration is determined by an outside, independent Registrar who confirms that the standards have been met by the organization. Subsequent, periodic audits are made by the Registrar to ensure that the standards are being complied with. The process that a law firm would go through in order to obtain registration would include comparing existing quality procedures against ISO 9000 standards, identifying steps required to comply to the standards, preparing the program, documenting the quality manual and then being assessed for registration. TQM is a concept that integrates various initiatives into a systemic quality improvement process. It is a process that recognizes the need to determine the customers' requirements and to use that knowledge to drive the entire organization to ensure those needs are fully met.
Total quality is the goal and continuous improvement is the means to achieve that goal.
The reason I bring it up is to put ISO standards in a context. ISO registration is not an end in itself. That is a mistake that many make. Rather it is a very important element in a total quality environment. It provides a structure for the quality process, provides a publicly recognized benchmark, a measurement system and a means to manage the business more effectively.