Back many years ago, one of the standards for judging what the man in the street would think was referred to from case law as how something would be judged by the man on the Clapham omnibus. Nowadays, I am sure these things are judged by internet polls but it is clear that people view the “professions” very differently than they did fifty years ago, and rightly so, as trust and respect have to be earned they are not a given because you have letters after your name.
A recent legal watchdog report has revealed that consumers place reputation above all else when choosing a lawyer with 77% naming this as top criteria with price second with 69% and convenience of location third with 68%. The same report found that 48% of legal work is now carried out on a fixed fee basis with only 7% of cases charged on hourly rates. Certainly hourly rates are something many clients are wary of and understandably everyone wants an idea of what something is going to cost before they decide whether or not to buy. With much legal work this can be achieved easily especially in areas such as conveyancing and wills. Even in litigation cases it is possible to provide quotes for stages of the work and depending on the outcome at each stage the likely costs for the next stage. This goes a long way to give clients confidence in lawyers and as time goes on I am sure more and more work will be done on a fixed fee basis. Certainly at Jacksons we are always willing to discuss different fee structures with clients and prospective clients and often can give them options as to how their work is priced. Not talking about money does not make the subject go away and the majority of clients appreciate straightforward conversations as to what work is going to cost to enable them to make their decisions.
It was extremely disappointing and concerning to see from the legal services consumer panels tracker that only 42% of the general public trust lawyers. There is little comfort in the fact accountants scored no better and it is incumbent on all of us to work hard to improve the reputation of our profession. Personally, I think much of the issue is that lawyers need to work hard to get to know their clients as individuals. Trust has to be earned and we need to ensure that our profession and our professional body takes the necessary steps to weed out dishonest or bad lawyers and to represent the vast majority who are working hard to provide good technical and caring advice to their clients.
On a more encouraging note, it was pleasing to see in the watchdog report that contentment among people who have used legal services was high with 85% of people saying they were satisfied or very satisfied with the service they received. However, I must say, I would be very concerned to learn 15% of our clients were not satisfied with our service. Our aim is to provide a professional but friendly service to clients and we work hard to get to know them and to build a relationship with them so that we can understand their business and personal needs and thereby provide the most appropriate legal service. It is always a privilege to be able to go out and visit commercial clients at their place of work not ours to learn more about them and to experience first- hand their passion and pride in the business that they run. It is fascinating to get an insight in to the many and varied industries in our region and to learn a little of the challenges they face and the successes they are enjoying.
If you would like to talk with us about your business then do get in touch we look forward to meeting with you on a no obligation basis to tell you about the service we can offer and more importantly to learn about what you are doing.
