Lawyer Monthly - August 2021 Edition

27 AUG 2021 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM HOW CAN PEOPLE IN THE UK GET BETTER ACCESS TO LEGAL SERVICES? report into the current state of UK legal services towards the end of 2020, drawing additional conclusions from its research and conversations with industry stakeholders that provide further illustration of the problem: - 3.6 million adults in England and Wales are estimated to have an unmet legal need involving a dispute every year. - 36% have low confidence that they would be able to achieve a fair and positive outcome if faced with a legal problem. - Only one in 10 small business owners see lawyers as cost-effective, and 50% of them handle their legal issues alone. - Only 33% of UK adults agree with the statement that “people like me can afford help from a lawyer”. - The UK is ranked 79th in the world in terms of the accessibility and affordability of civil justice. When taking all of these considerations into account, a clear picture emerges: one that shows a significant percentage of the UK population who feel locked out of accessing high-quality legal services, and who require better guidance and advice on how to receive the support they need. When should people be seeking legal advice? This question is difficult to provide a definitive answer for, as the legal viability of any individual’s case will depend entirely on the specific circumstances. However, it is clear that at present, many people are unaware of where to turn for an answer to this question, or are finding it hard to decide whether it is worth asking. According to the LSB findings, the issues that people are most likely to seek out professional legal support for include cases involving injury, wills, conveyancing or family law matters, whereas they are much less likely to seek help for employment, welfare, property and consumer problems. However, cases belonging to the latter category – such as complaints over poor services and faulty goods, or antisocial behaviour from neighbours – tend to be some of the most common issues that people face, meaning that many people are not seeking out help at the times they most frequently need it. There remains a significant percentage of individuals and businesses who are unaware of the legal options available to them, or who simply lack the resources to take advantage of them.