Could family lawyers be doing more to win business? The findings of a YouGov poll published last week to coincide with the government’s launch of a web app to provide advice to separating couples suggest they could.

The survey showed that more than half (52%) of UK adults found it hard to access the help they needed when they separated. Of the 2,505 participants, 39% said they did not access any professional support after the split. Of those, 25% said it was because they couldn't find the right help or felt embarrassed.

That indicates a large unmet need among the public, which lawyers are could be capitalising on.

A survey published this week by the Law Society’s Law Management Section showed that the volume of family work did not increase over the second and third quarters of this year, or over the previous quarter last year. This was in sharp contrast to other areas of work like conveyancing and corporate, which are on the up.

Co-operative Legal Services is one organisation that clearly thinks there is money to be made from offering family law advice - it launched its family law practice this autumn to a great fanfare.

But how can high street firms that lack the geographical reach and marketing budget of the Co-op let the public know that they exist? Ambitious collective branding ventures like the one revealed by the Gazette today at Connect2Law perhaps offer a clue.

Catherine Baksi is a reporter on the Gazette

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