SRA strives to close gaps in access to justice

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The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) launched new research surrounding gaps in access to justice.

The SRA’s six-month research, which an external provider sponsors, aims to find out what impact any gaps in access to justice might have on different groups of consumers.

The extensive research is conducted across England and Wales and is led by Professors Irene Scopelliti and Zachary Estes from Bayes Business School of City, University of London. It involves an examination to identify how factors such as ethnicity and socio-economic status impact access to legal services.

This move solidifies the SRA’s efforts to deepen its understanding of consumer concerns and requirements.

The research seeks to identify “different groups, or segments, of consumers based on their individual needs and behaviours when a legal issue arises.” From this independent study, the SRA can identify the gaps in access to justice and develop ways to address these gaps.

The SRA’s research, which will run until autumn, includes:

• a review and consolidation of existing data on consumer segmentation;
• understanding the current level of legal service provision;
• identifying different consumer types and which support each group requires on their legal journey; and
• testing policy interventions to specifically help the most affected consumers.

The SRA was motivated to commission the research project because it is aware that “many people don’t access the legal services they need.”

Last August, we reported the SRA cracking down on price compliance transparency by demanding law firms display their SRA digital badge on their website. This was after a study found that consumers were not in the best position to choose which lawyers to instruct due to insufficient information on prices and service levels.