Hi all, and a very happy new year!
For those of you who don't know me, I am the Manager, Innovation & Consumer Engagement at the Victorian Legal Services Board. My mission in life is to empower people like you to provide more accessible, affordable legal services to everyday consumers.
I am currently doing some research into the provision of unbundled/limited scope legal services (LSLS). This will result in some regulatory guidance to be put on our website. The kind of service I mean: where the client retains overall responsibility for their matter, but you help them with parts of it - be that in the form of strategy and planning, or drafting and checking documents and so on.
For many years, LSLS have been touted as one solution to the Access to Justice gap, and yet there is little evidence as to how many lawyers offer such services, how many clients take them up, and what level of public demand exists for them. For this reason, I wanted to pick your brains. If you are interested, could you please send me some thoughts on the questions below. Please either commend on the blog, or contact me directly at jpakula@lsbc.vic.gov.au.
Questions for you:
- Do you offer LSLS through your marketing?
- Do you offer it to clients when they say they can't afford end to end service?
- How many clients ask you for LSLS?
- What kinds of LSLS do you perform?
- How do you manage these kinds of retainers differently to an 'end to end' retainer?
Thank you!
Jennie