Enhancing Access to Justice: Addressing the UK's Legal Services Gap
Solicitors and law firms are essential in helping UK individuals, families, and businesses protect their legal rights, resolve disputes, and secure financial support. However, access to these vital services is currently uneven, leaving many in dire need without the necessary legal support. The industry must proactively address this gap.
Despite the legal services sector being larger and more diverse than ever, a significant percentage of individuals and businesses remain either unaware of their legal options or lack the resources to access them.
This article will explore the key barriers preventing people in the UK from getting proper access to legal services, and examine current and potential solutions to broaden access to justice.
Why Are People Struggling to Access Legal Services?
The challenges facing UK consumers and businesses have been clearly documented by the Legal Services Board (LSB), notably in its 2020 report on the Legal Needs of Individuals in England and Wales. This research, compiled in partnership with The Law Society and YouGov, surveyed 28,633 individuals and revealed concerning statistics on the prevalence of unmet legal needs:
- 64% of people surveyed had experienced a legal problem in the last four years—equating to about 29.8 million people. 53% of these were contentious problems.
- An estimated 1.8 million small businesses also face legal issues annually.
- Of those who faced a contentious legal problem that was resolved, 31% did not ultimately receive help, wanted more help, or found the issue took over two years to resolve.
- Individuals with low legal confidence were significantly less likely to seek professional help (54% did not, compared to 47% of those with high confidence).
- Crucially, 66% of those who received professional help felt they achieved a fair outcome, compared to only 53% of those who did not.
The LSB’s subsequent 10-year report reinforced this picture, highlighting that:
- An estimated 6 million adults in England and Wales have an unmet legal need involving a dispute every year.
- 36% of people have low confidence in achieving a fair outcome if faced with a legal problem.
- Only one in 10 small business owners view lawyers as cost-effective, leading 50% to handle their legal issues alone.
- Only 33% of UK adults agree that "people like me can afford help from a lawyer."
- The UK ranks 79th globally in terms of the accessibility and affordability of civil justice.
These figures show a clear problem: a substantial part of the UK population feels locked out of high-quality legal services and requires better guidance on accessing the support they need.
When Should People Seek Legal Advice?
Determining the legal viability of a case is highly fact-dependent, yet many people are unsure where to seek preliminary guidance or whether professional advice is warranted.
LSB findings indicate that people are most likely to seek legal support for issues involving injury, wills, conveyancing, or family law. Conversely, they are much less likely to seek help for common issues like employment, welfare, property, and consumer problems (e.g., complaints over faulty goods or neighbour disputes). This suggests that many people are not seeking help when they most frequently need it.
To help individuals and businesses determine when to seek legal advice, they should consider the following questions:
- Source and Responsibility: What is the root cause of the problem, and whose actions led to it?
- Rights Infringement: What are my legal rights and responsibilities? Have my rights been infringed, and have I attempted informal resolution?
- Desired Outcome: What specific resolution am I seeking, and which individual or organisation needs to be contacted to achieve it?
- Evidence: Do I have the necessary supporting evidence and documentation to back up my version of events?
- Capacity: Can I resolve this matter effectively with the resources I have, or is a professional legal adviser or advocate required to make my case?
For those with low legal confidence, efforts are needed to communicate this process clearly and reduce the perceived barriers to accessing initial legal assistance.
Pathways to Easier Legal Support
The legal industry already provides a range of services and support measures to ensure individuals and businesses can access free or affordable legal advice:
- Legal Aid: A government-funded scheme covering the costs of legal advice, family mediation, and court representation for serious circumstances, such as risks of homelessness, domestic violence, or a prison sentence.
- Citizens Advice: A free service offering broad guidance on issues from benefits, debt, and welfare to employment law, housing, and immigration.
- Law Centres: Offices providing free legal advice from solicitors or trained advisers on social welfare law issues.
- Trade Union Support: Members can often obtain free legal advice through their union, not limited solely to employment law matters.
- Free Legal Clinics: Many law firms offer free advice sessions, giving individuals a chance to discuss their case, receive guidance on progression, and incur no financial obligation for the initial consultation.
- No Win, No Fee Arrangements (Conditional Fee Arrangements): Solicitors offer this for many civil cases, meaning the client only pays the solicitor's fees and expenses if the case is successful.
While these approaches are improving accessibility, the industry is committed to further progress. Examples include the LSB's campaign to promote legal expenses insurance and The Law Society's efforts to reintroduce legal aid for early legal advice, particularly in family and housing law.
The UK legal sector is respected globally for the quality and variety of its services. By continuously working to broaden access to legal help, the industry will help ensure that every member of society can benefit equally from its essential work.
Bridging the Gap: LegalTech and a Future of Accessibility
The challenges of legal service affordability and access are not new, but the response from the legal sector has been transformed by a new wave of LegalTech and JusticeTech solutions. These innovations do not replace the expertise of the solicitor, but rather act as essential tools to lower costs, remove geographical barriers, and triage problems for the millions of UK adults with unmet legal needs.
Leveraging Digital Tools to Lower Barriers
The shift to digital was accelerated by recent events, resulting in permanent changes that dramatically enhance access:
- Remote Consultation: The ubiquitous use of video conferencing allows solicitors to conduct detailed consultations with clients regardless of their location, effectively addressing the issue of "legal aid deserts" where face-to-face services are non-existent.
- Online Dispute Resolution (ODR): For simpler civil and commercial disputes, secure online platforms allow parties to resolve issues without the high cost and time commitment of a physical court appearance. This provides a faster and more cost-effective route to justice for businesses and individuals alike.
- Smart Triage and Guidance: The development of sophisticated online legal information and guided pathways allows the public to input their details and receive initial, authoritative guidance. This not only empowers the user but ensures that only complex cases are passed to fee-earning solicitors, saving both time and money.
The Solicitor's Role in an AI-Enhanced Landscape
The most significant recent development is the integration of Generative AI. For a solicitor, this technology is not a competitor but a powerful efficiency tool that ultimately benefits the client:
- Increased Efficiency and Lower Cost: AI-powered tools can handle laborious administrative tasks, such as initial document review, e-discovery, and summarising large volumes of case law. By reducing the time spent on these routine tasks from hours to minutes, solicitors can dedicate their time to high-value, strategic work, which has the potential to reduce overall client fees.
- By using these audited, high-quality tools, solicitors can ensure the factual accuracy and completeness of their background research, reinforcing their Expertise and Trustworthiness in advising the client.
The Rise of Alternative Service Providers
To address the cost crisis, clients are increasingly turning to services outside of the traditional solicitor-client model for routine matters:
- Paralegal Practitioners: For many common issues, such as small claims or basic contractual disputes, qualified Paralegal Practitioners offer regulated advice and support at a significantly lower rate than a solicitor.
- Accredited Mediators: In areas like family law, accredited mediation offers a confidential and collaborative route to resolution that is highly cost-effective and often yields faster, less antagonistic results than a court battle.
The goal of LegalTech and these alternative services is singular: to ensure that the solicitor's invaluable time is reserved for the complex, strategic matters that truly require their years of training, making legal services more available and affordable for the UK public.
Lee Marston, Managing Partner Clough & Willis Address: 2 Manchester Road, Bury, Lancashire, BL9 0DT Tel: +44 (0)800 038 0815 | Email: lee.marston@clough-willis.co.uk | Website: www.clough-willis.co.uk
Clough & Willis is a full-service law firm based in the UK, offering high-quality legal advice on a broad range of personal and commercial matters. Lee Marston is Managing Partner and Head of Family Law at Clough & Willis. In addition to practicing solely in family law, he is also a Resolution Accredited Specialist in the financial side of divorce and children disputes and was a founding member of the Family Law Panel in 2005.
