Consumer focus
The profession must work together to reshape legal services to better meet society's needs explains the Legal Services Board’s Stephen Gowland
This year, the Legal Services Board (LSB) launched a consumer-focused strategy for legal services in England and Wales. It makes clear the need for everyone across the profession – including CILEX Lawyers – to work together to reshape legal services to better meet society's needs.
Despite the achievements of the last decade, the basic legal needs of many citizens are not being met. Every year, 3.6 million adults in England and Wales have an unmet legal need involving a dispute. More than one in three adults have low confidence that they could achieve a fair and positive outcome when faced with a legal problem.
We want to collaborate with you and others across the sector to address this.
The LSB’s strategy draws on three overarching themes:
Fairer outcomes – broadening public access to advice and support and ensuring that no one has a worse outcome or quality of service due to their background or life circumstances. CILEX Lawyers play a part here, increasing consumer choice and widening access to justice.
Stronger confidence – resolving long-standing questions around the scope of regulation and broadening consumers' access to redress. This also requires regulators to put suitable mechanisms in place so that legal professionals deliver consistently competent and ethical legal services.
Better services – giving consumers the information and tools they need to drive stronger competition and creating the right conditions for providers – including those yet to enter the market – to redesign legal services that respond to their needs. This also entails regulators fostering responsible innovation that commands the trust of both the public and legal professionals and ultimately opens up access.
Dismantling barriers
A challenge we must overcome together is to dismantle barriers to a diverse and inclusive legal profession. We need to foster a more representative workforce, from entry-level and throughout a lawyer's career.
“We must all learn from each other if we want to achieve progress across the whole sector and ensure the profession is made up of lawyers who reflect the society they serve.” Given that CILEX Lawyers are more diverse in some respects than other professionals, you are uniquely placed to help: 78% of members are women, 62% are the first in their family to go to university, and only 7% attended a fee-paying school (in line with the national average).
For barristers, those figures are 39%, 47% and 34%, respectively. Among solicitors, 49% are women, and 21% attended a fee-paying school.
We must all learn from each other if we want to achieve progress across the whole sector and ensure the profession is made up of lawyers who reflect the society they serve, bringing diverse opinions and genuine understanding of consumers' circumstances.
Support and respect
We note the results of a recent CILEX member survey which found that 81% of respondents believed the profession looks down on them. Nearly nine in 10 respondents thought that the legal profession was ignorant about what a CILEX Lawyer could do.
It is disheartening to see the value of CILEX Lawyers undermined. A diverse and inclusive profession can only exist when lawyers feel adequately supported and respected by their peers, irrespective of differences.
We are committed to working with legal services regulators to understand and tackle non-inclusive behaviours. Our strategy seeks to encourage professionalism and strong ethics while supporting growth and promoting competition.
If it is successful, we will reduce unmet legal need and provide consumers with a far more equal experience. People who need legal advice will find it easier to find and compare providers from various backgrounds, understand different titles and professions, and reward those offering high quality and affordable services.
Consumers will consistently trust the advice they get, knowing an independent and effective regulatory system provides the essential protection they need. That system will be equipped to respond to the changing market, provide better value for money, and support innovation.
We hope you will agree that there is an opportunity for the sector to reshape and embrace a culture that puts the needs of consumers at its heart. We will continue to engage with people across the profession, including CILEX Lawyers, to collaborate and organise opportunities to explore the challenges and find solutions.
We look forward to working together to continue making a difference for society.
Stephen Gowland is a board member at the Legal Services Board and was the 50th CILEX President