The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) recently published an article in the Scotsman newspaper highlighting the need for Scottish solicitors to be more transparent about their pricing and the overall costs of legal services. The SLSCC referenced recent research by Consumer Scotland which showed that although the price of services is only one consideration in choosing a legal services provider, legal services are still perceived as expensive by many consumers. The SLCC counsels early transparency about pricing at the outset of an engagement, with detailed explanations on how fees will be calculated as the case progresses.
The SLCC, which deals with complaints against legal services providers in Scotland, took the opportunity of the article to highlight that many of the complaints it sees stem from inadequate information provided about pricing and a lack of understanding by consumers on how the costs they face have been calculated. Although the SLCC recognises that the Law Society of Scotland’s guidance on price transparency aims to address these issues, its article calls for more comprehensive consumer information to aid in comparing and considering costs.