Improving quality information available for consumers

Transparency rules have increased the price and service information available to consumers choosing a law firm. Sue Chandler explains how, with information about quality still largely unavailable, work is underway to improve this

It is well established that when choosing a product or service, consumers need and search for information that can help them understand price, services offered and the quality they might receive.

Most of us will do this in some way or other – whether checking an Amazon rating and review, using a comparison site for insurance, or reading TripAdvisor recommendations for a holiday stay or day out. As it is such an established part of our decision-making process, it is not surprising that it is being used more and more when choosing a law firm.

The CILEx Regulation Transparency Rules set out what we expect our authorised firms delivering specific legal services to publish. These, and similar requirements brought in by other regulators in 2018, have led to a huge increase in information available to the public.

However, the Competition and Markets Authority, in its review published in December 2020, found a mixed picture on the evidence available of improved consumer engagement. It recommended that more is done, especially regarding provision of information about the quality of legal services.

Defining good-quality legal service

So, what constitutes a good-quality legal service? Is it the legal knowledge and technical expertise provided by the lawyer carrying out the legal work? Is it the lawyer’s ability to carry out legal work accurately? Is it the way the legal service is delivered, in terms of speed, responsiveness to queries, the clear way information is presented or other aspects of customer service?

As a lawyer, you will probably be able to make a case for all of these and more. And as you do this, you might also start to consider how these aspects could be identified, captured, measured, and provided to consumers in a useful and user-friendly way. Add to this the vast range of very different legal services that exist and you will appreciate that there is no one easy solution.

We have been carrying out work to gain an understanding of and identify quality indicators for some months. We commissioned research into how consumers experience legal services, what they look for when choosing a legal firm and what they value in a legal service, as have the Legal Services Board and the Legal Services Consumer Panel.

Pilot project

As one approach to moving this work forwards, alongside the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, we have launched a pilot to look at what more can be done to improve the range and the accessibility of information available to consumers about legal service quality.

The pilot brings together law firms and comparison websites and review-site providers. The aim is to try out ways of increasing information about the quality of legal services which is easily available to members of the public.

Legal services are largely an unknown quantity to many people because they are used so infrequently and what a legal service provides is not well understood by members of the public. The more information that is readily accessible, the more consumers should be able to improve their knowledge of what legal services entail.

We are considering approaches to increase the number of consumers prepared to leave an online review

People will be able to gain insight into aspects such as the range of possible outcomes, that results cannot be guaranteed, and that good advice and service can be provided even when the hoped-for outcome is not achieved.

The pilot is initially focusing on conveyancing and employment law services. Conveyancing is more easily commoditised and there are relatively high levels of information already available to the public following the introduction of the transparency rules. Additionally, there appears to be more independent data relating to conveyancing transactions already available (through Land Registry data) compared to other areas of law. 

Employment law presents a greater challenge as legal services are more tailored and finding data for comparison of service is more difficult. An unfortunate result of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the increase in people encountering employment problems. Greater transparency of information in this area of law could quickly bring help to consumers needing this.

At the outset, we are considering approaches to increase the number of consumers prepared to leave an online review about their experiences of using a law firm. We are also looking at how the numbers of consumers who read such reviews as part of choosing a legal firm can be increased.

As the pilot progresses, we intend to explore possible ways of making objective data and information easily available for consumers. Alongside this, consideration will be given to how information already published, for example by regulators, firms, and comparison tools, could be made more accessible to the consumer.

The intention of the pilot is to encourage the use of comparison and review sites within the legal services market. In this way, consumers will be able to access increased information about quality and view comparison sites as a usual part of the journey to selecting a law firm.

There is no decision yet about the approach that will be taken in the legal sector to provide quality information for consumers and we will be continuing work to look at different options. Although the pilot is underway, we welcome additional firms joining and if you are interested please contact us at info@cilexregulation.org.uk to find out more.

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