Achieving fairer outcomes for people experiencing greater disadvantage is one of the nine challenges in the ‘Reshaping Legal Services’ strategy. This qualitative research uses interviews and case studies to explore:
- What people are vulnerable to when they use legal services, and the barriers or unnecessary frictions they experience
- What good inclusive service looks like for people in vulnerable circumstances and the balance regulation strikes between safeguarding and enabling them to use legal services.
Drawing on a rapid literature review, this research conceptualises vulnerability as being caused by the nature of the interactions between an individual and the services provider they are using. Many consumers may experience situational vulnerability in needing legal support and market-specific vulnerability from having limited knowledge of the law and legal services. Two-thirds of the participants also had additional risk factors for experiencing vulnerability, such as low incomes, disability or poor health, low literacy or experience of domestic abuse.
The case studies and overall research report suggest that how legal services are delivered changes the level of vulnerability each client experiences; either decreasing or increasing it. The case studies also demonstrate that sometimes those additional risk factors and potential levels of client vulnerability are not always obvious. The research indicates the potential for an inclusive design approach to decrease consumer vulnerability beyond those most obviously vulnerable.
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