Transcript LegalWales2014 final - Legal Services Consumer Panel

Elisabeth Davies
Consumer Issues in Legal Services
Legal Wales Conference
Friday 10 October 2014
Bangor University
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
Who we are, what we do
• Providing independent advice on the consumer
interest on legal services regulation issues
– Helping the Legal Services Board to “get things right
first time” working as a critical friend from the inside
• Representing different types of consumer
– Prioritising those who are less able to give voice to
their own interests – “vulnerable consumers”
• 8 lay members plus a small secretariat
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
Statutory basis
• Legal Services Act 2007
• Geographical remit: England and Wales
• Powers
– To make representations on any issue
– To trigger an investigation in specific areas
– To publish our advice
• Duties on others
– Legal Services Board must give reasons when it
disagrees with our policy advice
– Mandatory consultee on specific activities
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
Our vision
• A market where everyone can access high
quality and affordable legal services that meet
their needs:
– Responsive services
– High quality advice
– A diverse workforce that understands its diverse
clients
– Quick, fair and cost-effective complaints handling
– Consumers placed at the heart of regulation
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
A strong evidence base
• Annual Tracker Survey:
– Nationally representative sample of adults and
sample of users of legal services
– Booster samples for Wales and BME groups
• Consumer Impact Report 2014:
– Our flagship report
– Assesses the legal services reforms from a consumer
perspective
– The third edition will be published end of this year
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
A changing market for consumers?
80%
70%
60%
50%
2011
40%
2012
2013
30%
2014
20%
10%
0%
Choice
satisfaction
Shopping around
Difficult to
compare
Used same
lawyer
Fixed fee
Value for money
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
What’s changed for consumers
• Compared to 2011 data consumers are:
– happier with the available choice
– shop around more
– are more satisfied with value for money
• Fixed fees have risen in use
• Online delivery is becoming more prevalent
• Almost 1 in 5 transactions involve some degree of
unbundling
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
Online service delivery
• Consumer demand
– Around 1/2 services delivered remotely (LSCP Tracker)
– 47% consumers say online delivery important (Peppermint)
– 23% law firms currently offer 24/7 interactive legal online services
and further 26% plan to within a year (Peppermint)
• Examples of new services
– Online tracking, case management
– Automated document services, e.g. wills, divorce
– ‘Ask an expert’ piece-rate or subscription services
– Guided choices, e.g. roadtrafficrepresentation
– Apps for conveyancing, PI claims etc
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
Challenges facing consumers
• Making informed comparisons on quality is
difficult
• Levels of trust in lawyers is low – How low?
• High numbers of ‘silent sufferers’ - 44% of
dissatisfied customers do nothing
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
Trust in lawyers
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
2011
2012
2013
2014
20%
10%
0%
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
Silent sufferers
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
Challenges facing consumers
Research by the Legal Services
Board suggests that just 21% of
people with a problem who seek
advice get it from a regulated lawyer
• New challenges around balancing access to justice
and consumer protection
• Unregulated businesses are emerging to fill gaps
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
What’s changed for Welsh consumers
• Less likely to have used any legal services within the last
two years
• More likely to have made a will
• More confident in regulation: they say they are more
likely to trust lawyers, feel their consumer rights are
protected and have confidence to complain
• More likely to use small local law firms and to ask lawyers
to do all the work rather than do some of the legal work
themselves
• More likely to use a fixed-fee deal
• More satisfied with the outcome of their case and service
received
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
Challenges facing consumers in Wales
•
•
•
•
Importance of physical access to providers
The implications of the jagged edges
Online service provision – implications of location
Welsh language needs - SRA proposals to change their training
requirements
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
What about the future?
• What developments in the period to 2020 are most likely
to have an impact on the consumers of legal services?
• Four areas we consider will have the most profound
impacts on consumers:
– Self-lawyering
– The influence of technology
– Changes in consumer behaviour
– Market changes
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014
Future consumer issues
• Core challenge - extend access to justice to those
currently excluded from the market because they cannot
afford legal services
• Consumers will seek alternatives to lawyers or use them
in different ways
• More services will be delivered by unregulated
businesses and providers
• Calls will grow for more radical solutions which cut out
lawyers, such as an inquisitorial style of justice and
online dispute resolution
LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER PANEL | October 2014