Legal Services Consumer Panel: Service Delivery Qualitative Research
The Legal Services Consumer Panel (LSCP) commissioned a programme of qualitative research to understand how legal services are experienced by consumers and professionals, and how service delivery is evolving in response to increased use of digital tools. The research focused on three areas of law: family, probate and conveyancing.
The purpose of the work was to ensure that consumer needs and perspectives inform ongoing discussions about legal service delivery, digital transformation and future service delivery guidance. The findings were intended to support evidence-based policy development and to contribute to sector-wide conversations about accessibility, service quality and consumer protection.
Approach
The project used a mixed qualitative methodology, combining depth interviews, an online community, a multi-stakeholder workshop and supporting video outputs.
The research programme included:
In-depth interviews with legal service users who had accessed family, probate or conveyancing services within the previous two years, exploring expectations, experiences, challenges and preferences across different stages of the legal journey.
In-depth interviews with legal professionals, providing insight into service delivery models, the use of digital tools, and perceived challenges and opportunities from a provider perspective.
An online community with 30 legal service users, run over several days, enabling participants to share detailed reflections, respond to structured tasks and prompts, and discuss their experiences of traditional, digital and hybrid legal services.
A facilitated workshop with regulators, professional bodies and consumer representatives, designed to test and translate the research findings into a set of draft features for future legal service delivery.
The research examined service users needs and how digital tools are used alongside phone-based and face-to-face contact. Particular attention was paid to communication, clarity, continuity, emotional support, choice and flexibility in service delivery.
Outputs
The project delivered a set of interlinked outputs designed to support both strategic understanding and practical application.
A full qualitative research report was produced, presenting findings from the depth interviews and online community. The report covered consumer expectations, challenges in current service delivery, the role and impact of digital tools, the continued importance of human contact, and perspectives from legal service providers. Findings were grounded in verbatim quotes from participants throughout.
A workshop summary and guideline development report was produced following the stakeholder workshop. This output set out a draft framework of features for future legal service delivery, grounded in both the research evidence and discussion with regulators, professional bodies and consumer representatives. The features focused on consumer-centric service design, understanding user context, clarity and transparency, choice and personalisation, and the availability of human support.
In addition, a short video output was produced to communicate key research findings in an accessible format. The video was designed to bring consumer voices to life and to support wider engagement with the research among policymakers, regulators and stakeholders who may not engage with full written reports.
Together, these outputs provided the Legal Services Consumer Panel with a robust qualitative evidence base and a suite of materials to support policy development, stakeholder engagement and future guidance on legal service delivery.
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