Member Article

Data transparency: a large step for legal regulators, small step for the business owner

There’s been a long awaited, much lobbied for step in the right direction towards lawyer transparency. Legal regulators are making data about solicitors – including their complaints history – ‘openly available’ to the public.

But is this information really anything new and is it really going to help business mangers find out more about the legal world? The information regulators are proposing to bring out in the open is available in the public domain, but it’s hidden away in dusty corners of the internet in almost incomprehensible formats. The new proposals will see more user friendly, easily accessible data delivered but truly, at this time, there doesn’t appear to offer too much more on offer.

The biggest change will be potential access to complaints histories. The fears harboured within parts the legal profession that revelation of this information will lead to unjustified danger to their reputation is unlikely. The available information is likely to be based on formal complaints to the Ombudsman and possibly insurance claims etc It’s unlikely to provide the ‘warts n all’ transparency about lawyers overall ‘performance’ that you might expect and find within the review and ratings platforms of other sectors.

Whilst, the step towards transparency is undeniably a step in the right direction to help businesses identify the most appropriate lawyer for their needs, here at Lawyerfair towers we’re not convinced, alone, it’s a big enough leap.

What this revelation should provide is an extra layer of pre-instruction due diligence for the consumer and for the lawyer, a spur to improve their CRM process.

The move has also been trumpeted as a major benefit for legal comparison sites, such as Lawyerfair.

And it’s through my prism as advocate of legal comparison and transparency, that I take this announcement as a step forward but not yet the transformational market information that adds real value to my client base of business owners.

It’s certainly an additional source of access that we welcome however; the commercial market will be much less affected by this change. This sector is waiting for the day when market intelligence goes way beyond complaints, when it’s an easier process to understand which lawyers provide best value for money and ultimately, a tangible return on investment. At LawyerFair, we already conduct lawyer due diligence on behalf of our clients. This includes research into complaints but also the lawyer’s attitude to service delivery, commerciality, risk sharing and fixed fees. Whilst clients are welcome to submit complaints within their review of each lawyer, by working with exceptional lawyers we see that as a minor consideration.

Instead, we have developed a review system that alongside the traditional tick box process, also requests feedback about the value add being provided by our panel lawyers. Our aim is to provide an extensive market intelligence explaining which lawyers have a qualitative reputation for finding the legal route that creates best value for the money being spent by the client on legal fees.

For example, we work with Lawyers who understand that it’s not always in the clients interests to have the most gold plated documentation. This is not an exercise in corner cutting but instead they reach an agreement with the client that appropriately apportions risk between what the lawyer sees as the perfect document and protection for the client and what the client can afford in fees and is prepared to risk in terms of the document not being “all singing all dancing”. By this method the lawyer acts in the commercial best interests and reduces the fee to suit client needs and affordability, thus delivering best value and potentially driving greater satisfaction levels and access towards legal advice.

That’s the kind of market transparency that gets me excited

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Khaleelah Jones .