Legal services clients feel they have more choice than ever before and increasingly think they have received value for money, according to the latest findings of a regular survey.

The Legal Services Consumer Panel’s tracker survey, which polled 3,500 people who had used a lawyer in the past two years, also found satisfaction levels continue to be high, with 85% saying they were satisfied with the service they received.

The survey is an indication that measures to increase transparency and ensure clients have more access to information about their solicitor may be having an effect, but  panel chair Sarah Chambers urged the SRA and others to push on further with this agenda.

‘We challenge legal regulators to step up their efforts to encourage more shopping around by showing providers how to standardise information about their services, including the way in which prices are presented,’ she said. ‘We continue to advocate for measures to help legal services consumers to make informed choices when seeking a service provider that can meet their needs.’

More consumers are shopping around this year (43% compared with 30% in 2021), and 82% of consumers felt they had choice. Consumers find it easier to compare prices of legal services (75%, up from 59% in 2021), with more consumers using websites or advertisements (24%, up from 12% in 2021).

There has been an increase in the delivery of legal services in person, up from 33% to 44%, although the loosening of lockdown restrictions is likely to have played a part in that. Meanwhile the proportion using mainly online legal services fell from 44% to 34% over the same period. More than a quarter (28%) of those who received their service mainly online would have liked to speak to a legal professional in person or by phone more than they did.

An increasing proportion of respondents believe that the service they received was good value for money, rising from 65% in 2021 to 70% in 2022. This proportion has risen from 58% in 2012. Unbundling of services increased in popularity, being used by 18% of consumers in 2022, but this is still below pre-pandemic levels.

Satisfaction with the service provided by lawyers has continued to rise gradually year on year, with 85% reporting they were satisfied in 2022 compared with 79% in 2012. Satisfaction with the outcome dipped slightly from 89% to 87%.

Satisfaction with the service was higher among respondents who had used lawyers for less complex matters such as will writing (93%) and power of attorney (89%), and lower for those who had used them for more challenging issues such as family matters (79%) and conveyancing (82%). Low satisfaction was also reported among those using legal services for neighbour disputes (78%), although the sample size was small.

 

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