A new report by the Legal Services Board (LSB) urges the legal sector to design services that can be accessed by everyone.

The report, ‘Reshaping Legal Services to Meet People’s Needs: An Analysis of Legal Capability’, shows that six in 10 adults (64%) experienced a legal problem in the last four years, including 53% (29.8million) who faced a contentious problem. However,  37% of people do not feel confident that they could personally achieve a fair and positive outcome if faced with a legal problem.

There is wide variation in legal capability across society. Those with lower legal capability tend to be women, be younger than 55, have a disability that limits daily life, and have lower household incomes (£32,000 or below).

The report concludes that the legal sector needs to do more to take account of the significant variation in legal capability so that services and interventions are designed accordingly. This involves addressing the barriers that currently impede people navigating the journey to resolving legal issues.

The new report was launched at an event on Monday 24 February 2020 to mark the start of Justice Week 2020.