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In a number of cases where a "consumer" instructs a solicitor, the expense is not in the fees charged by the solicitor but in the additional amounts paid out.
If you buy and sell a house, the legal fees are a small proportion of the cost of doing so, the real costs come in the form of the estate agents fees, capital gains tax and stamp duty.
In probate its the inheritance tax and in litigation it's the court fees and the risk of paying the other side's costs that are the issue.
I'm not sure that the general public understand this fully.
I would be interested to know if this was explored by the CMA in their research or perhaps they don't understand it either!