Profession urged to remove jargon

Mar 31, 2016

Written By Jack J Collins, Editor, AllAboutLaw.co.uk

A report published this week by the Legal Services Board has suggested that regulators should follow in the footsteps of other sectors and remove confusing legal speak to make life easier for consumers.

The report has suggested that other sectors, in particular financial services and medical care, have devoted a significant amount of money, time and effort into making services more understandable for consumers, and that the legal sector should follow that lead.

The innovative work done by these sectors could allow the legal sector to significantly reduce its own language barriers without having to dedicate huge amounts of time to the task – because the lessons have already been laid down.

Chief Executive of the LSB, Neil Buckley, stated that: “We know that a high proportion of consumers with a legal problem do not seek legal advice. Many of the barriers experienced are not unique to legal services. Our new report brings together a series of examples of how these problems are tackled in other sectors.”

The report was based around three barriers (aside from financial ones) that were reducing access to legal aid – inaccessible language, breaches of trust and failure to adjust to vulnerable people’s needs.

The Board took ideas and advice from a variety of bodies within other professions, such as the Financial Conduct Authority, and the General Dental Council, whereupon they found that length and reliance on terms and conditions were preventing consumers from progressing with their application for legal assistance.

It was also found to stop them seeking advice in the future – the lengthy process making them feel that something was being hidden and leading to a breakdown in trust between consumer and provider.

As such, the LSB stated that law firms should be doing their utmost to present information to clients in a clear and concise manner – with the most important information being presented first and clearly laid out at the front of any documentation.

Other regulators have made bullet point summaries of long documentation a necessary part of any transaction, and the LSB has said it will look into ways of making this part of the legal profession as well.

It has also stated that it will look into providing lawyers with ‘guides or toolkits’ in order to help them break down difficult legal concepts into layman’s terms, making them more consumer-friendly in the process.

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