David Abbott has recently completed his term with the Legal Services Consumer Panel (LSCP). In this valedictory blog he highlights the Panel’s recent report on Regulatory Leadership on Access to Justice. The end of my six year term coincided almost exactly with the launch of an important LSCP research report on Regulatory Leadership on Access…
Read more - Regulatory Leadership is Needed on Access to Justice
Ensuring that small businesses and vulnerable consumers can access, afford, and understand their legal rights is not just a matter of fairness — it is a key driver of economic stability and growth. Yet far too often, they struggle to get the support they need. Research from the Legal Services Board in 2017 found that…
Read more - Justice for Growth: Why Legal Support is an Economic Essential
AI is a sophisticated technology but its use in consumer interactions is very new. Understanding how it is playing out in general consumer services would greatly add to the resources that regulators can rely on to develop frameworks that work for the legal sector. Nothing captures the headlines or our imaginations quite like emerging technology….
Read more - What does AI mean for Consumers of Legal Services?
Public confidence in lawyers hinges on a reliable mechanism for addressing grievances. Recently, the Legal Services Board (LSB) took steps to improve the handling of first-tier complaints. The resulting package of work emphasises that approved regulators must ensure service providers establish clear, accessible and efficient complaint management processes. It encourages transparency, timely resolutions and effective…
In light of recent firm failures like Axiom Ince, the importance of Compensation Funds to consumers has never been clearer. These funds are the last regulatory safety net for individuals who have lost money because their lawyers acted fraudulently, dishonestly or negligently. As the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) lifts the bonnet on its consumer protection…
Read more - Compensation Funds: Time for a centralised approach?
I’ve already been in post for two months, but only now publishing my first blog post. No sooner had my predecessor Sarah’s valedictory blog post been published but the general election was called, imposing restrictions on people in public office saying anything interesting. However, the delay has given me the opportunity to meet a selection…
At the end of April my six years as Chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel came to an end, and I have passed the baton on to Tom Hayhoe. A good time to reflect, therefore, on what has been achieved in the last six years and what is still to be done. With a…
Mark McLaren and Adam Cooper have recently completed their terms with the LSCP. In this valedictory blog they reflect on legal consumers, regulators and the changes they’ve seen. When we started on the Panel, the hot topic was competition. The Competition and Markets Authority’s study of the legal services market had not long been published,…
Read more - From complaints to chatbots: six years with the Legal Services Consumer Panel
As legal services consumer panel members we have been horrified by the picture emerging about the closure of the law firm Axion Ince. The full scale of the number of consumers affected by the collapse of the firm is not yet known, but in December 2023 the SRA said it expected thousands of claims to…
The Legal Services Board (LSB) recently accepted proposals by the Office of Legal Complaints (OLC) which would substantially reduce the time within which consumers can bring complaints to the Legal Ombudsman, from six years to one year; and to limit the grounds for escalation of cases to a more limited set of circumstances. The history…
Read more - A seismic shift that requires rigorous monitoring
Mainstream political and public debate over recent years has focused very little on the woeful decline of investment in our legal infrastructure, whether in the courts or in the free legal advice services which enable those of modest means to access justice. The ghastly recent series of events including the Sarah Everard case have finally…
My last two blogs have focused respectively on legal advice deserts, and particular difficulties encountered by ethnic minority communities using legal services. It is easier to diagnose these problems than it is to find solutions, let alone the means to implement them. Without reversing some of the cuts in funding for legal aid and free…
Read more - Can unbundling help to improve access to justice?
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