Client care letters: do yours meet your clients’ needs?

New research has identified principles to help legal services providers better communicate with their clients. 

Sue Chandler is CILEx Regulation’s consumer engagement and policy officer.

C ILEx Regulation has worked with the other legal regulators, and the Legal Services Consumer Panel, to commission research into communications between legal advisors and their clients.¹

The findings show that client care letters are often not as effective as they should be in making sure consumers understand the work being carried out on their behalf, or in outlining what is required of the client.

The research found that consumers struggle to find key information in client care letters due to lack of signposting, dense text, unfamiliar terms and heavily caveated language. While the findings were fairly universal, for vulnerable consumers they were much worse. Consumers reported that client care letters were ‘complicated’. One said: ‘It’s like they’re trying to make you feel thick.’

Why look at client care letters?

In its report published in March, the Legal Services Board pointed to research indicating that inaccessible language and legal jargon, and methods of communication used by legal advisors are a major barrier to consumers understanding and engaging with legal services.²

We wanted to understand legal communications from the consumer’s point of view. We decided to focus the research on client care letters because they are usually the first written communication a client receives after taking legal advice. As such, they provide the foundation for the ongoing relationship between the client and provider. Consequently, improving these initial communications will benefit both the client and their legal advisor.

The research

The research was carried out through interviews and workshops, with consumers being asked to consider real client care letters. A range of consumers were involved, including vulnerable consumers who had used, or were about to use, legal services across a variety of areas of law.

The research aimed to learn what consumers understand from, and feel about, client care letters, what information consumers consider they need from an initial communication and how best that information should be communicated, and then to develop key principles for communicating client care letter information, with consideration being given to content, format, language and tone.

Key findings

As client care letters have evolved as the vehicle for providing required regulatory information to clients, it is possible that a letter may no longer be the best or preferred method of communication. It was found, however, that there is a need for written confirmation to be sent out at the beginning of the process. A letter is seen as formal and this indicates to the consumer that the client care letter is an important communication. An additional copy of the letter, sent electronically, is valuable for future reference.

The term ‘client care letter’ is not familiar to consumers but individuals who had recently used legal services recalled receiving an initial or ‘welcome’ letter. There was a real mix of engagement with client care letters among the consumers interviewed. Some read the letter in detail, others only scanned it for key information and some did not read it at all. For some consumers, low confidence in understanding legal communications coupled with the perceived complexity of the information were major barriers to engagement.

While there is some good practice, client care letters are often unnecessarily lengthy, with largely generic information. Consumers find it difficult to pick out key information. For the most vulnerable consumers, for example those with low literacy levels, visual impairment or for whom English was a second language, the difficulties were heightened.

There can be a mismatch between the information consumers feel they need and what is provided. Consumers look for information personal to their specific case:

• Confirmation of a named contact;
• Scope of the agreed work;
• Associated fees and charges;
• Likely timescales; and
• Details of next steps/any actions that are required.

This information is often hidden among other content, if provided at all. Many letters provided more generic content, and this was considered less pertinent at the time of the initial engagement of the legal advisor such as:

Terms of business;

• Regulatory information;
• Cancellation rights; and
• Complaints procedures.

Consumers interviewed suggested alternative ways of providing this information which might be more effective, including, for example, a separate leaflet signposted in the client care letter. Clients could then be further reminded of the information with further signposting as the case progresses.

Consumers have a limited attention span, so the first page is vital to encourage engagement. The content, format, language and tone set expectations for the rest of the letter. Making sure that information consumers want is placed on the first page encourages them to read the letter in detail. The researchers observed a noticeable drop off in the time spent reading later pages. Consequently, any key information included in later pages could easily be missed.

8 key principles

The research identified eight principles for legal services providers to follow to help consumers engage with their content (see table left).

The 8 principles in detail

1. Show a clear purpose Provide the purpose of the letter and the importance of reading it upfront.

2. Keep it concise Recognise that the ideal length is 1–2 pages. If this is not feasible, use short sentences, bullet points and headings to break up the information.

3. Put it in Plain English Avoid using legal terms, archaic or complex language. Minimise the use of vague and/or heavily caveated sentences.

4. Prioritise information Focus on the information which is perceived to be most relevant to the consumer and ensure a logical flow.

5. Personalise information Provide details on the consumer’s specific case, for example their estimated costs and not general estimated costs. Tailor the letter so that irrelevant information is excluded. Use personal pronouns so it is clear you are talking to the individual.

6. Make it easy to read Use line spacing and a large font size (minimum size 12). Use headings to make the letter easy to navigate and avoid dense paragraphs

7. Highlight key information Use visual tools such as bold text, headers, summary boxes, tables or diagrams, to make it easier for consumers to pick out key points.

8. Consider additional opportunities to engage clients  Finally, while there should be a clear reference to the complaints procedure in the Client Care Letters, consider whether more detailed coverage is better delivered in separate leaflets; or whether reminders could be sent later on in the legal process, to ensure that clients engage with this information.

We are considering how to draw on these principles, and the detailed findings from the research, to best inform and support you in your communications with your clients. We encourage you to read the research and consider how you might adopt the findings to help improve your client communications.³