Transcript Access to Justice for all? What we conclude from four years of consumer research or How I bought a house without understanding what.

Access to Justice for all?
What we conclude from four years of consumer research
or
How I bought a house without understanding what conveyancing was
Alex Roy
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The conclusion?
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We focus too much on the need to change consumers’ knowledge, trust or income
The problem is perhaps more about services
Access to justice is held back by a relatively homogenous provision of legal services,
this fails to offer a range of:
– Services (delivery channels/products or packages)
– Prices (level/structuring)
– Quality levels
Consumers profess a lack of trust and understanding but, when faced by a legal
problem, most prove capable of finding a solution that meets their needs
Behavioural economics questions the benefit of public legal education and can
explain how consumers manage to navigate a complex market
Market liberalisation could encourage providers to compete for consumers and
support increased access to justice
Regulation must provide the regulatory floor of protections that consumers need
while removing barriers to competition
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The conclusion – the profession?
“Sadly this just seems to indicate that the LSB don't appreciate the current
market... solicitors are businesses. There is a need to provide any service at
the appropriate cost and advice on prevention needs to be appropriately
priced. There appears to be little incentive or opportunity to explore or become
involved in such a market without demonstrating a clearer benefit to the
business involved.
The research tends to suggest a sensible approach [is undertaken] by the
legal profession not to undersell itself and to have regard to the actual cost
involved in the provision of legal services.”
Online comment
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Some stats
49% of consumers have
had a judiciable problem in
the past three years.
37% of individuals handled
their legal issue without
help.
83% of consumers said
service either met or
exceeded expectations.
One third of consumers
who were dis-satisfied
raised the issue, but didn’t
complain.
52% of small businesses
handled their legal issue
without help. The value of the small
business legal market
could be up to £100bn.
8% of consumers
negotiated over their legal
fees.
77% of consumers who
negotiated managed to get
their fees reduced.
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Profile of People with Legal Needs
14%
18%
18-24
21%
25-34
20%
35-44
45-54
52%
14%
13%
55-64
65+
48%
Male
Female
87%
England
26%
Source: Profile
Base: All (4017)
28%
AB
Those
experiencing
legal need are
more likely to be
U35 (M/F) &
overall Male
8%
Scotland
Wales
14%
C1
5%
C2
30%
DE
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File location/File Name (including version)/Author Initials/Support Initials/Date
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Most common legal need experienced
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Fewer than half trust lawyers…
Doctors
80%
Teachers
68%
Lawyers
43%
Accountants
42%
Ordinary person
37%
Shop assistants
34%
Bankers
16%
Car mechanics
15%
Builders
10%
Estate agents
7%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
LSCP Tracker survey 2012 – % who would trust to tell the truth
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Overall, satisfaction with service is
high
Total
Male
Female
18-34
35-54
50+
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Very satisfied
Fairly satisfied
Neither satisfied or dissatisfied
Fairly dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Other
80%
90%
100%
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Most common response to legal
need
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Most common response to legal
need – small businesses
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What drives choice?
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What drives choice?
System 1 thinking
is quick, intuitive,
requires little
mental effort and
is often based on
affect
System 2 thinking
is analytical,
deliberative and
requires a good
deal of mental
effort to
implement
System 1 thinking is likely to dominate choices in situations
where the individual does not have the capacity, knowledge or
time to make more analytical decisions.
The nature of legal services is that providers will have more
knowledge than customers.
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System 1 thinking
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What difference does it make if outcomes are presented in
terms of gains (e.g. PI) and losses (e.g. Divorce) - Prospect
theory
If you highlight the positive benefits of a service rather than
the chance of avoiding a negative outcome what happens? Framing
People will use the same lawyer even if the legal problem is
entirely different - Representativeness heuristic
Legal services are often perceived as expensive even where
the individual has no previous experience of using legal
services - Anchoring and adjustment
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Most common response to legal
need
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Vulnerable consumers face greater
challenges
“I decided to start my own business…. I was in contact with three or four [solicitors]. The first one
I contacted replied; so the second time I explained that I was Deaf. No reply since then. So I
contacted the solicitor’s receptionist and she said she needed to talk to them before getting back
to me. I was being ignored.”
“Yes, they added post-it notes next to legal jargons to explain in simpler terms. It was a good
solicitor, she would write, this means what ...or you would need to do what? This was a good
solicitor but the one I had for car crash solicitor is not good.”
“We went to a solicitor [company name]… big in [local town] and they had a lady there who dealt
with learning difficulty and disability… and I was so, you know, really pleased about that - I
couldn’t believe it.”
“I didn’t realise that I could get advice through citizens advice, I thought it was just there for other
things like…tenancy agreements and stuff like that…it wasn’t until me brother said ‘we’ve got to
get this sorted (name)’ you know, and he said we’ll go to citizens advice bureau and see what
they say.”
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Will consumers change providers?
• Consumers are more satisfied with the service they receive and
consider they get better value for money if they shop around
• Levels of shopping around were unchanged in 2013 at 22%
• Choice tools are still little used by consumers – 1% use a price
comparison website, 2% a customer feedback website and 4%
an accreditation scheme
• Reputation, location, specialist knowledge and speed of delivery
all matter more than price in factors influencing people’s choice
of lawyer
• The most common route to finding a provider is to go back to a
lawyer used before – this leads to the highest levels of service
satisfactions
Consumer Panel Tracking Survey 2013 – Briefing note 2: Shopping for legal services
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Selecting a supplier (sample 500)
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Challenges to improve access?
• Remove barriers to innovation by those within sector
• Remove barriers to competition from outside existing providers
whether competing directly in future within regulation or outside
of reserved activities
• Encourage market to develop transparent choice tools
• Reduce regulation where unnecessary or ineffective
• Objective? Securing lower prices, better quality and a greater
range of services/products
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The Research
All LSB Research can be found at:
https://research.legalservicesboard.org.uk/
Specific projects included in this presentation:
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2012 individual consumer needs report
2013 Small business legal needs benchmarking survey
2013 Consumer use of legal services
2013 Lessons from behavioural economics
2011 Will writing research
2013 LSCP Tracking Briefing 2
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