Better information in the legal services market

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Legal Ombudsman commissioned Economic Insight to undertake an ambitious programme of research on price transparency in the legal services market.

Our research for the SRA and the Legal Ombudsman involved over 4,200 participants and sought to test how consumers’ decisions are affected by the way different regulatory protections – such as SRA regulation, access to the Legal Ombudsman, access to a Compensation Fund, and professional indemnity insurance – are communicated and presented.  

We used surveys, randomised controlled trials and literature reviews and found that consumers use information on regulatory protections when it is provided and are willing to trade off between the type of provider, and their associated regulatory protections, and the cost of the service.