Why your law firm probably needs to improve price transparency right now

How easily can prospective clients find out the cost of your legal services?

Remarkably, more than two thirds of Scottish law firms reviewed by the Law Society of Scotland do not include pricing information on their websites.

Of the 381 firms across the country sampled by the Society, just 109 publicised pricing information online.

Law Society of Scotland guidance states firm should do so. The Price Transparency Guidance confirms firms should display pricing information for a range of services to ensure prospective clients can make well-informed choices.

This guidance only applies to firms offering services directly to costumers, and does not cover those solely undertaking legal aid work or which provide services to businesses.

David Gordon, lay convener of the Law Society of Scotland Regulatory Committee, said: “There has been progress since the Guidance was introduced in 2021 but it’s clear that there’s more to be done on making pricing information readily available to consumers.”

The findings of the study revealed a stark difference in pricing transparency between firms of different sizes. Larger practices with over 50 solicitors displayed pricing in 87 per cent of cases.

The smallest firms are least like to display pricing with just over 20 per cent of sole practitioner firms and 30 per cent of 2-5 solicitor firms publishing the information.

Almost half of firms with 6-10 solicitors, at 47%, and over a third of firms with 11-50 solicitors, at 37%, had pricing information available online.

Key findings

• 109 practice units had price information on their website
• This represented 28.6% of practice units sampled across all practice unit sizes
• The format of the price information varied and included hourly rates, fixed fees, a fee range, estimates, and a minimum cost (for example, fees from £300)
• Not every practice area that a practice unit covered had price information on the website. In some instances, only one practice area was included

Results table

What the Law Society of Scotland has said

Gordon continued: “As well as increasing clarity for consumers, price transparency can help improve access to justice. People can be anxious about seeing a solicitor because they have no idea about costs, resulting in some being put off seeking professional legal advice altogether. Having a clearer picture not only helps demystify the cost of legal services, but can also encourage people to seek professional advice rather than leave situations unresolved which can have an even higher cost – both emotionally and financially - in the long term.

“While unforeseen complexities can arise, potentially leading to additional work and expense, having a better understanding of costs from the outset benefits both the consumer and solicitor working on their behalf.

“Many consumers search for information online, but even small firms without a website can have information on display in their office or which they can send to potential clients before meeting with a solicitor. While people undoubtedly refer to reviews and recommendations from friends and family, those firms that are not making this information available could well be losing out to those that do.

“We are promoting the Guidance and the reasons behind it as a reminder for solicitors to make pricing information available. We plan to carry out additional research on compliance following the campaign and if further analysis shows that compliance with the Guidance has not improved significantly, we will consider next steps including whether to implement new Practice Rules about price transparency.”

Background

The 381 practice units included in the review, which took place in late 2024, were selected by random sampling and represented 37% of the eligible sample of Scottish solicitor practices. 109 practice units had price information on their website, which represented 28.6% of practice units sampled across all practice unit sizes. This research did not cover the availability of pricing information on premises, which is also allowed under the guidance.

The research results are available on the Law Society website. This research follows the Society’s public polling on price transparency published in June 2024 and the Price Transparency Report published by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, also in June 2024.