This ICLR special report has been compiled to give members a flavour of what was discussed during the annual Westminster Legal Policy Forum, held on the 25th February 2020. The theme of the day was ‘regulation, consumer protection and responding to innovation’, with speakers drawn from across regulators, representative bodies, academia and the legal services…
Solicitors Regulation Authority publishes Residential Conveyancing thematic review
A review about the service provided by solicitors to the public Published 5 April 2019 Executive summary Buying and selling a property is often the most expensive and important financial commitment a person makes in their life. Having access to reliable and good quality legal support really matters. It not only reduces stress and uncertainty,…
Platform Economy in Legal Profession: An Empirical Study on Online Legal Service Providers in China
Platform economy breaks into the legal profession by pooling lawyers with different specializations into a simple user-friendly platform, consolidating the lower-tier supply side of the legal market and generating economy of scale. This paper is the very first empirical piece looking into China’s online legal service portals. It is found that, the intermediary functions of…
Measuring Legal Service Value
This article proposes a theoretical foundation for measuring legal service value. It aims to support efforts to compare the value of offerings from different law firms, as well as alternative legal service providers. The value of any legal service depends on (i) its effectiveness, (ii) its affordability, (iii) the experience it creates for its clients,…
Understanding consumer experiences of conveyancing legal services
Conveyancing is one of the most common legal services people use in their lifetime, with more than one million homes bought and sold every year in the UK. However, there are some concerns about the conduct of some solicitors and the quality of service they are providing, with high proportions of insurance claims and complaints to the…
The legal needs of small businesses 2013-2017
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has published its third research report focusing on the legal needs of small businesses and looking at how their views have changed – and the legal services market has responded – since similar research was conducted in 2013 and in 2015. It is the largest ever survey of small firms’ interactions with the legal…
Vulnerable consumers
A qualitative study of how consumers with mental health problems and dementia experience legal services published by the Legal Services Board (LSB), England and Wales. Why is this research important? The LSB has a strategic objective to reduce the existing high levels of unmet legal need. Ensuring the needs of vulnerable consumers are understood and…
Opportunities for law firms to tackle unmet legal need
The opportunities for law firms to reach out to potential clients are outlined in a new paper published by the SRA. Improving access – tackling unmet legal needs outlines some of the barriers faced by the public and small businesses when they need legal services. It also details ways in which law firms can develop their…
The legal needs of small businesses 2015 survey
Large scale quantitative survey of the experiences of 10,528 small businesses, showing the origin of legal problems that they face and their strategies for dealing with these problems, including where they seek advice and their experiences of doing so. Read the report on the LSB website
Higher Demand, Lower Supply? A Comparative Assessment of the Legal Landscape for Ordinary Americans
Comments on the lack of data available, provides a summary of a US household legal needs study in 1994 where 50% of households experienced one of more legal problems annually. Of those with legal needs, 37% of the poor sought assistance from a third-party for resolution of the problem, 29% from a specifically legal third…