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Finding a lawyer to be as easy as buying baked beans

Andrew Morgan
by Lovemoney Staff Andrew Morgan on 09 July 2011  |  Comments 8 comments

New rules on the provision of legal services mean that we'll all soon have much greater choice when expert advice is needed.

Finding a lawyer to be as easy as buying baked beans

The way we use lawyers is set to be revolutionised later this year when the Legal Services Act (LSA) comes into effect. You might not realise it yet, but this really is good news.  

When most of us need a lawyer, it seems that our method of choosing one is not altogether scientific – in fact we don't really have a clue how to find a good one – and surveys of the legal sector have consistently shown that we find lawyers unapproachable and not particularly customer focused.  

Not much better than a used car salesman

One survey last year put lawyers just above used car salesmen in the eyes of consumers.

The days of sticking a pin in the Yellow Pages however, and hoping for the best when we're selling our house, want to discuss making a Will, or need to make a claim should hopefully be consigned to history when the new provisions are introduced in two months' time.

The “Tesco Law”

When the LSA was being debated in Parliament, one minister argued that buying legal services should be as easy as buying a can of baked beans – and the nickname Tesco Law was born.

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Finding a decent lawyer might not become quite as easy as picking up a tin of Heinz, but the new system will do a great deal to increase choice and competitiveness.

At present only lawyers are allowed to provide legal services to the public. Come October, any company that passes a “fit and proper” test will be allowed to do so.

Big named brands

The UK legal market is worth around £20bn annually so it’s no great surprise that many big name brands have started to explore ways they can get a slice of this lucrative market.

The Co Op bank has already started a pilot scheme in Bristol offering free legal advice to customers, while the AA, Saga and Halifax have all expressed interest in setting up their own law shops. It remains to be seen whether legal customers will be prepared to entrust life changing transactions such as a divorce or a house purchase to advisors operating in a less regulated marketplace.

Aggressive marketing

Many may choose to continue to use the traditional high street lawyer. But that marketplace is set to change too.

One national grouping of lawyers, Quality Solicitors, is now promoting its brand with a high profile TV advertising campaign and a distinctive, colourful makeover of its 170 branches.

In the clearest indication yet of how the LSA is set to transform the high street, Quality Solicitors has just signed a deal with WH Smith that will see the opening in August of “legal access points” at 150 WH Smith stores throughout the country – increasing to 500 over the coming months.

In a clear distancing from the perception of some high street solicitors, Quality Solicitors says on its website that its lawyers aren’t “stuffy” or “intimidating”.

Traditional high street solicitors, not noted for their slick marketing techniques are understandably nervous about the moves. By October however, it’s clear they will have to up their game considerably if they are to survive in the new environment. 

Dying without a Will can cause a financial mess for those you leave behind

The legal lottery

For many, the need for a lawyer arises at a time of extreme stress in their lives – divorce, death in the family and personal injury are some of the reasons why we have to consult solicitors.

This means that we don’t always exercise the care required when taking the important step of appointing a legal advisor. But the increasing complexity of the law means it's crucial to do proper research and go to a lawyer who's a specialist in a particular area.

You wouldn't go to a heart surgeon to have your hip replaced. Why go to a tax lawyer when you've been discriminated against at work? The transparency that will result from the more flexible LSA environment means it should be easier to find a lawyer equipped to deal with a specific problem.

Price comparisons

Incredibly 77% of people who employ a solicitor do so without shopping around to compare prices. In these austere times, it’s hard to imagine us adopting the same attitude to the purchase of any other type of professional service. 

But the anticipation of the increased competitiveness to be brought by the LSA has seen the emergence of a slew of legal price comparison websites. From now on there’s simply no excuse not to get a good deal when using a solicitor.

Price guidance, areas of expertise of individual solicitors and feedback are now available on sites like wigster.com, lawcomparison.co.uk and CompareLegalCosts.com. Who would have thought it? Legal advice at the click of a mouse.

More: Don’t get ripped off making a Will | Five ways to cut the cost of moving home

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Comments (8)

  • nitnot
    Love rating 5
    nitnot said

    Before consulting a solicitor always check the 'Solicitors from Hell' website - and be particularly aware of 'No Win - No Fee' scams! This most certainly does NOT mean that if you lose it will cost you nothing! It may mean that you will save their 25 - 30% commission on your winnings, but you'll still get a very hefty bill for the 'other sides' legal costs and court costs plus Barristers fees, expert witnesses reports, disbursements, telephone calls etc. etc. etc . . . This can easily amount to £10,000 or more. You could take out 'legal indemnity' insurance or your home policy may cover some of your costs - usually up to £50,000 - but only if they have agreed to foot the bill once their legal department has assessed your chances of winning which would normally need to be a 'dead cert'! Just sending them the bill after you've lost won't work!

    ALWAYS insist that your solicitor petitions for ALL your costs if you win - plus interest at the 'County Court' rate, NOT RPI - which is much lower. You don't always need to employ a solicitor - you can take your own case to court as a 'litigant in person'. This could involve a lot of spadework and many hours on your computer, but can be great fun because the court will not expect you to adhere to the niceties of court etiquette and procedure - and you can get away with things which would get a professional disbarred!

    Regarding the judge as 'a silly old fart' won't earn you the 'sympathy of the court' but don't expect to find a real life 'Judge John Deed' either - but you can call your own expert witnesses and introduce your own documentary evidence and be accompanied by a knowledgeable person to assist you as your 'McKenzie Friend in Court' (Google it) If you think you could handle your own case then for goodness sake spend a few hours in the public gallery at your local County Court and see how the professionals do it and how the untutored shouldn't!

    Report on 09 July 2011  |  Love thisLove  4 loves
  • fender
    Love rating 20
    fender said

    Solicitors from Hell use to be a great place to look, but problem now is, Solicitors can pay a fee to have comments removed or, an even bigger fee to make sure their outfit of shysters never end up on the site again.

    What this so called TESCO law need to provide is a site like "Solicitors from hell" which legal outfits cannot simply bribe and pay to keep their names from.

    The TESCO law type site should be funded by trading standards we might then stand some chance of being warned about bad and dodgy lawyers who's only real interest is milking their clients out of every pound they can get away with.

    To sell a business I used one outfit of legal shysters in Chester who claimed they were experts in their field.

    Turned out beyond fidling their bills they were useless. They completly cocked up to the point of being totally negligent. I ended up with what effectively was a lost pension and a very bad job which my dog could of done better.

    But, even though they had cocked up and lost my money, I was still forced to hand over their fiddled £40k fee. The majority of which they had already helped themself to without my agreement.

    When I complained to the senior partner as per the LSC complaints procedure, he wrote back and said "the bill is paid and the matter is closed".

    He could write a reply like that because he knew there is no effective regulation.

    Think of the hacking thing we have had all this week.

    In this instance everyone including a load of MP's admit self regulation doesn't work.

    In effect its a free ride to a cover up.

    Why is the legal trade able to get away with it. They are actually worse than the news paper trade. When will some MP ever take a chance stand up and expose the legal trade for what they really are? It is typical Uk double standards as usual.

    No regulation, cover up and protection from government, that in effect,

    is the the Legal trade, the LSC and law society in one.

    With my issue I tried everything the LSC, the Law Society even my MP. I was sent round and round in circles even by the MP.

    All I got told was to go to another lawyer spend another £30-40k and try and do the firm that lost my money for negligence..

    All the professions not just the newspapers need to be independantly regulated. It should be the OFT and trading standards who watch what they up to. Then the lawyers would at last be on equal footing with the used car salesmen they share position with in the trusted by customer opinion pole.

    The only reason the professionals are allowed to regulate themselves is to protect them.

    Its a complete joke.

    Report on 09 July 2011  |  Love thisLove  3 loves
  • su51
    Love rating 1
    su51 said

    luv this iv had the same problem the law complaints departments are useless the systems corrupt my ex`s lawyer was abusing legal aid for years i complained to the right places its not worth the bother 8 month ex was on my mortgage, it was a simple thing they worked out what he was due he accepted i knew he wanted the money but his lawyer refused every offer demanded half my house his lawyer had the proof he was on my paperwork 8 month,

    what his lawyer forgot ex was married before and had his own house with his 1st wife,

    the bills now sitting at 12k for the 8 month and so far dragged on 7 years,

    i hope karma kicks in soon and they are all exposed there is no law complaints dept and his lawyer threatened me i hope i hear of his karma it always happens what goes around comes around,

    my own said the only thing i could do was go to court it would cost me 500 to 3k i only seen 3k and me paying all my lawyers bill could`nt afford it she canceled lots of appointments you never knew if she`d be there,

    and the mail goes to 3 different address`s i only get mail if the regular postmans on,and she knocked 2 years off the amount of time i went to her,his knocked one year off,mine runs when she see`s me,

    since i complained she said she`d pay the divorce iv been asking how much more its going to cost me for weeks they never get back to me they are so incompetant,im wondering why shes paying the divorce.

    Report on 09 July 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • tony rome
    Love rating 0
    tony rome said

    Tesco Law LSA 2011 If the standard of education for the UK subject remains the same (it has remained unchanged since the Edu Act 1948), then the selection of a solicitor remains as always, the same for choosing a politician – he seems a nice guy, fancy a change, or, all of a sudden, not happy with a political party. If you listen to a reporter interviewing a UK consumer on any topic, 99.99% of the consumers’ respond with typical UK ignorance (“We shouldn’t bin in Europe” but ask the consumer to give a reason and the consumer is lost (and now that the consumer will be without The News of The World, the UK consumer will indeed be lost)). The UK consumer simply does not think things through. They call in builders only to be ripped off despite many programmes advising where to get advise before any commitment is made. Even in the absence of advise, common sense dictates ‘I ought to do some research or investigation first because this is any area about which I know little’. But even then the UK consumer mystically moves in a haze of ignorance and wonders why they have been scammed. I suppose 99% of the UK consumer has never heard of the law society, a place where I regularly search for a specialist solicitor (and this year’s search evidenced that only one solicitor in Telford had heard of and knew something about The Harassment Act 1997 (I had to go Birmingham before I could find a solicitor that had some knowledge to match my own knowledge on the law)). It could be summarised that the quality of legal provision in the UK can be equated with the level of ignorance in the populace. As to The Tesco Law, will it bring competition or simply spread the margin for rip offs. Certainly the current field needs changing but equally the citizen needs to wake up from his or her insomnia about contract law and professionalism. The UK has the tightest consumer protection in the West (and the subject needs it because of his or her ignorance) and very valuable are the services of Consumer Direct, the OFT and TS. These Government provisions; however, should not been seen as a substitute for a wider education of the subject, to fit the subject for the cruel world of corruption, rip-offs, and scams. There you go Tony Rome

    Report on 10 July 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • oldhenry
    Love rating 274
    oldhenry said

    Of course it will be a chance to rip off the public. The UK economy is founded on rip offs. The mates of politicians love it. In the typical market town of the UK there are solicitors that have been in existence for years, often used by generations of the same family. Many if not most of these are reliable , if rather slow. So you need to seek a recommendation before selecting a solicitor.There are choices now but will it improve the legal field by having 'Tesco' selling legal services a the till? I doubt it myself.

    Report on 10 July 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • bradley88
    Love rating 1
    bradley88 said

    Most solicitors will be happy to charge £200-00 per hour min in litigation matters leading to an 'open cheque' scenario stopping access to justice. An amazing new unique legal concept is available where you/businesses can act for themselves, only via SEL LITIGATION- look them up on GOOGLE SEARCH

    Report on 10 July 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • plainvanilla
    Love rating 11
    plainvanilla said

    As easy as buying baked beans?

    More like as easy as finding a good electricity/ gas/ telephone supplier.

    Or a train or airline ticket.

    Or insurance.

    Or a hospital or a school.

    Or a tradesman

    Etc etc.

    This will be just another way of muddying the waters. Hiding behind creative accounting and advertising. More small print. New customers only tricks. First year only.

    There is no longer any fixed price for anything in Britain.

    An item/ product/ service is worth as much as can be got away with.

    Loyalty, pride in your work, honesty, responsibilty, truth, fairness, patriotism.

    These attributes just stand in the way of a quick buck.

    And solicitors are the masters at that. The original and best win-win merchants.

    By the way - I've got some unicorn doo-doo for sale. An excellent aphrodisiac.

    Only £200 a jar.

    Anybody want to buy some.

    Report on 10 July 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • jacytacy
    Love rating 0
    jacytacy said

    Have a look a t this:

    http://my-love-for-money.blogspot.com/

    Report on 18 July 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves

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