Recent survey raises questions about whether legal needs are being met
updated on 23 April 2024
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A recent Legal Needs survey published by the Law Society, found that two-thirds of people have experienced at least one legal issue in the last four years but only half obtained professional help.
The survey, which had over 12,000 respondents, aims to understand why people don’t seek help and what people’s perceptions of the legal system are. The Law Society explained that the results raise “questions about the inadequacies in the wider justice system and weak public legal education that prevents people from seeking professional legal help”.
The survey found that 32% didn’t have their issue resolved adequately and had an unmet legal need, primarily because they didn’t get professional help (20%).
Meanwhile, when people sought professional help, 19% used solicitors as their main advisers on contentious issues, a 2% fall from the 2019 survey; doctors ranked second (10%) and 8% of people used insurance companies, a rise from 6% in 2019. In addition, 11% received non-professional help, including from friends or family. According to the report, 88% of the people who received professional help were satisfied with the services of their main adviser.
The Law Society said: “The data suggests that there might be a gap in respondents' knowledge regarding the nature of their issue and therefore, seek alternative professionals for advice. These findings present an opportunity for legal professionals to address a large untapped market of individuals who could benefit from solicitors to resolve legal needs.”
The report also discovered more about the kinds of legal issues people were facing. The most common issues were related to:
- employment, finance, welfare and benefits (28%);
- wills, trusts and probate (26%);
- consumer problems (26%); and
- property, construction and planning (25%).
In terms of the causes of contentious legal issues, some felt that Brexit, the covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living had either caused or had some impact on their issue. The Law Society said it’s “determined to use these findings to improve accessibility of the profession so that the justice system is accessible to all”.
