How we work

Consumer research

Last updated 14 March 2011

View list of downloadable consumer research reports

In 2007, we commissioned a research study aimed at providing information on consumer attitudes toward the provision of legal services, and profiling public awareness of our role as a regulator. In addition, the research explored consumer attitudes toward referral arrangements.

Eighteen months on, we decided to conduct a follow-up research project to act as a benchmark for some of the findings of the 2007 research study as well as to explore further into the public's experiences of legal services. This project is more detailed than the 2007 study and drills down into how different groups of the public perceive solicitors and the key issues facing them.

We were also keen to explore the experiences of different demographic groups—in particular we decided to look closely at differences between the experiences of the general public in using legal services, and those of disabled people, and black and minority ethnic people. A full list of the questions we asked can be found on page two and three of the full research report.

You can download or read the summary of the full 2008 report below.

Focused and more-recent consumer research reports are available as downloadable documents.

Consumer research study 2008

What we did

We appointed ComRes as our researcher. Between 5–21 December 2008, they carried out telephone interviews with

1014 adults nationally representative of the adult population in England and Wales (by age, gender, region and social class),
508 black and minority ethnic adults, and
250 adults who classified themselves as being disabled.

What we are doing with the results

We will use the results of the research study to develop our work around supporting and protecting consumers—the results will help us

achieve our strategic objective of providing information to help consumers make decisions about legal services and understand the standards they should expect from their solicitor,
inform our work around how we communicate to our stakeholders, and
strengthen our understanding of the information and support people require when accessing and using legal services.

Use of information

The methodology section of ComRes's full report sets out the circumstances for the use of the information found in our research study. The core sample used for the survey is nationally representative for England and Wales, and is representative demographically by age, gender, region and social grade. The sample was selected using quotas so that it is generally representative, and was then weighted so as to be exactly representative.

The key findings

Below is a summary of the key findings from our research. For more detailed information, download the full report.

People's experiences

How many people use solicitors?

41 per cent of the general public in England and Wales have used a solicitor in the past five years.
- Changes since 2007: this represents a slight decrease since our previous consumer survey in 2007, when 43 per cent of those surveyed had used a solicitor in the past five years.
The figure is lower for black and minority ethnic people, with just 28 per cent having used a solicitor in the past five years; people at low subsistence levels such as manual workers and state pensioners are also much less likely to have had direct contact with solicitors recently.

How do people pay for their legal services?

19 per cent of the general public use legal aid to pay for their legal services. This compares to 30 per cent of disabled people, and 29 per cent of black and minority ethnic people.

What legal services do people use most frequently?

21 per cent of all those using a solicitor in the last five years did so in order to process property transactions. Wills and probate matters are used by 14 per cent of the public, with the next most common being personal injury services (5 per cent). The remaining services, in order of most frequently used, are matrimonial matters, employment claims, criminal defence, civil disputes, and asylum/immigration issues.
Disabled people are more likely overall than the general population to have used a solicitor in the past five years. The exception is using legal services connected to property transactions, which disabled people are less likely than the general populations to have used.

Are people satisfied?

83 per cent of the general public who have used a solicitor in the past five years are satisfied with their performance. Over a third felt their solicitor had been generally supportive, with similar numbers feeling satisfied with the speed at which their solicitor completed the work.
Satisfaction rates are generally high across England and Wales, with people using legal services in Wales being the most highly satisfied clients. The region with the highest satisfaction rates in England is Yorkshire and the Humber, although rates across the country are generally high in all regions.
82 per cent of black and minority ethnic people in England and Wales feel satisfied with the performance of their solicitor.
Nearly a third (30 per cent) of disabled people however feel dissatisfied in some way with the performance of their solicitor.

What do people do if they are not satisfied with their solicitor?

The most common response of those who were not satisfied was to take no action; however, 26 per cent firstly approached the solicitors firm to try and resolve the issue, and a further 18 per cent approached a Citizens Advice Bureau for information. 15 per cent sought information from the Solicitors Regulation Authority, 7 per cent approached the Legal Complaints Service, and 7 per cent contacted the Law Society.
- Changes since 2007: In 2007 we asked which organisations people would go to, and the most popular choice then was also Citizens Advice. 18 per cent said they would approach the Law Society, 6 per cent chose the Legal Complaints Service, and just 4 per cent said they would approach the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

How important is cultural background and language when using legal services?

Nearly a third (31 per cent) of black and minority ethnic people believe having a solicitor who can speak a language other than English is important.
52 per cent of black and minority ethnic people place importance on their solicitor being able to understand cultural sensitivities, such as beliefs and values.

Experiences for disabled people

16 per cent of disabled people have trouble accessing a solicitor's office, and a small proportion state that a solicitor has declined to represent them in the past five years—however the reasons given did not relate directly to their disability.
The majority of disabled people state their solicitor communicated well with them. See Experiences of disabled people using solicitors in England and Wales.

Solicitors Regulation Authority

What happens when people contact the SRA?

The vast majority of the general public have not contacted the SRA before; the small number that do are most likely to do so by telephone.
84 per cent of the general public who do contact the SRA agree that they are responded to promptly, and 85 per cent agree the SRA is polite and helpful.

Do people know who regulates solicitors in England and Wales?

51 per cent of the general public answer "don' t know" when asked who they think is responsible for regulating solicitors; a further 19 per cent of the public believe it is the Government, with 9 per cent choosing the SRA from a list of possible responses.

Do people know who regulates solicitors in England and Wales?

51 per cent of the general public answer "don't know" when asked who they think is responsible for regulating solicitors; a further 19 per cent of the public believe it is the Government, with 9 per cent choosing the SRA from a list of possible responses.

What do people think are the most important functions of the SRA?

50 per cent of the public believe it "very important" for the SRA to provide a helpline for solicitors to get advice on standards and on their conduct (as the SRA provides through the Ethics Helpline service).

Using a solicitor

Where do people turn when looking for a solicitor?

27 per cent of the general public are still most likely to use a phone directory when looking for their solicitor, and 26 per cent would instead search for one on the internet.

Do people research the background of their solicitor?

49 per cent of the general public would ask other people's opinions about a particular solicitor before employing them.
However, just over a third (36 per cent) of the general public feel they would be unlikely to search out information on solicitor's background, such as any regulatory decisions made against them, before employing them. The majority of these people say this is because they would only use a solicitor that was recommended to them, but a proportion says they would assume the solicitor to be reliable by virtue of how they perceive the profession generally, or because they know solicitors are regulated.

Are people well informed about using solicitors?

The least well-informed people about solicitors are the young, people from low subsistence levels such as manual workers and state pensioners, and black and minority ethnic people. However, people in these groups are also more likely than the rest of the population to actively seek information on solicitors if they needed to.

Are people happy with the concept of buying their legal services from places like banks or supermarkets?

On the whole the public is currently open-minded about organisations like banks and supermarkets providing legal services—68 per cent of people agree they might use a supermarket to buy basic legal services (such as standard legal documents), although 69 per cent felt they would have some level of concern about the quality of legal services provided by such organisations.
A significant majority of people would prefer to be able to use somewhere like a bank or a supermarket for accessing their legal services, particularly young people, black and minority ethnic people, and people from lower subsistence levels such as manual workers and state pensioners.
People who have not used a solicitor recently are much less likely to have an opinion on alternative providers of legal services, than those who have used a solicitor recently.