Competition watchdog to review legal services amid concerns about affordability and transparency

The government’s competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), is turning its attention to the legal profession to look at “long-standing concerns” about the affordability and standards of legal services.

The review has been launched in response to several surveys which indicated that the public and small businesses are unhappy with the services they buy from lawyers. The CMA will initially examine two key concerns – that customers cannot make informed decisions about the best deals available for legal services and that customers are adequately protected when mistakes are made. As Legal Futures reports, this initial review could lead to the CMA making recommendations to the government, the launch of a more in-depth investigation or even competition or consumer law enforcement action.

Rachel Merelie, senior director of the CMA, said: “We would be concerned if customers are not getting a good deal, either because they do not know what to expect when purchasing a legal service or because they are not seeking appropriate legal support in the first place. We want to see if some customers end up paying more than they expected or receive a poor service."

Neil Buckley, chief executive of the Legal Services Board, summed up the issue, saying: "A major problem in legal services is that a large proportion of the population and small businesses cannot afford such critical services.”