90% ‘would recommend their solicitor to a friend’

Nine out of 10 people would recommend their solicitor to a friend, according to independent research commissioned by the Law Society.

Of 1,011 people questioned by research agency GfK NOP, 505 said they had a solicitor to whom they would go for advice on a legal matter. Of those, 90% said they would recommend their solicitor to a friend, while 9% said they would not and 1% said they did not know.

The research was conducted in June to coincide with the launch of the Law Society’s latest national advertising and PR campaign to promote solicitors to the public.

Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said: ‘These findings show that the brand of solicitor is not only strong but also invaluable as the battle for customers in the legal services market intensifies. The fact that nine out of 10 people would recommend their solicitor to a friend emphasises that consumers realise solicitors are the sensible choice to help with important legal issues at key points in their life.’

Law firm consultants said the result was positive, but urged lawyers not to be complacent.

Stephen Mayson, director of the Legal Services Policy Institute at the College of Law, said: ‘The results highlight the difference between clients who were asked to talk about their solicitor and people who are asked about lawyers in general. You tend to get a more positive outcome with the former.’

The research demonstrates that, once solicitors have won a client, they do get a high level of recommendation and referral, said Mayson.

The question for the future is how solicitors get the clients in the first place if other people with a strong brand become active in the market,’ he suggested.

Tony Williams, principle at Jomati Consultants, said: ‘It’s encouraging on one level because people only recommend if they feel confident about the service they have received. The only word of caution is that new entrants will have different methods of service delivery, like out-of-hours services, which will change the game.’

Peter Scott, former managing partner of Eversheds and founder of Peter Scott Consultants, said: ‘The best ambassadors solicitors have are their satisfied clients. While it’s a good thing that nine out of 10 people would recommend their solicitor, there has to be a caveat – ‘satisfied’ clients will recommend their solicitor. And that is about clients feeling they have received a good value for money service.’

Scott said if a client’s determining factor in choice of firm is price, they may go for those firms offering a ‘pile it high sell it cheap’ service. But not everyone buys on price and solicitors should ensure they get the quality of service and value for money right, he said.

The same rules apply to the legal services market that apply to the retail market, said Scott. ‘And not everyone shops at Tesco.’