New kid on the 'comparison site block

Operating within the legal services sector as a non-lawyer, Matthew Briggs has developed a deep understanding of the legal profession but, as an outsider, the former chief of Yorkshire firms Minster Law and Brilliant Law (now Genius Law) was able to identify how the industry needed to evolve to meet the changing needs of the modern consumer. 

‘Recognising the need to bring easier access and greater transparency to the consumer, while also providing a future-proof and cost-effective alternative route to market for the legal profession, The Law Superstore (TLS) was born,’ he tells Solicitors Journal.

Briggs has an impressive track record within both the professional services and digital commerce industries. The first non-lawyer to found and head up a UK law firm when he launched Brilliant Law in 2012, he also grew Yorkshire-based Minster Law to become the largest volume personal injury firm in the UK, employing 800 people. Briggs was also involved in the launch of ecommerce site quotemehappy.com for Aviva and launched newhomefinder.co.uk, a leading residential property website. So, it is little surprise that the serial entrepreneur would be behind the legal sector equivalent of www.comparethemarket.com.

TLS made headlines in the legal press last autumn as a potential game changer for a sector that is notorious for resistance to change. As we edge closer to its launch this summer, Briggs explains that the original idea for TLS was conceived several years ago, as a result of the phenomenal success of the big four comparison sites: moneysupermarket.com, gocompare.com, comparethemarket.com, and confused.com. However, as Briggs explains, the requisite technology was not sufficiently advanced back then to deliver ‘whole of market, real-time aggregation of multi-level legal services’. 

Having successfully led challenger brands into the mainstream, he is no stranger to bringing a new concept to market. Now that the technology is available, Briggs believes that the powerful comparison platform will provide not only a brand new channel to market for legal providers, but will also unlock the multi-billion-pound legal access gap. 

Research from the Legal Services Board (LSB) indicates that 50 per cent of individuals will experience a legal issue at least once every three years, yet only 20 per cent will use a lawyer. Meanwhile, nearly 40 per cent of small to medium-sized enterprises will encounter a legal problem each year, but barely one in ten will seek advice from a regulated lawyer. 

‘Our core thought remains very simple: to offer “open door law” by digitally attracting, guiding, matching, and connecting people who are looking for a legal service with law firms that are offering that exact service,’ he says. ‘In the comfort of your own environment and using your mobile phone the consumer can browse, learn, and identify their legal requirement and get matched with the right service provider for free.’

So, how does the service actually work? Briggs advises that the user can easily find their required legal service by either free typing into TLS’s equivalent of the Google search bar or picking ?from a pre-defined menu. ‘The service even has a real-time dictionary, which recognises lay language and tags with the most relevant legal services,’ he says. ‘For example, by typing “I’ve been sacked”, TLS will present the user with unfair dismissal or compromise agreement.’

The user then answers a series of simple, rapid-fire questions relating to their legal requirements before they are then presented with the comparison page. The user can instantly prioritise the order in which the law firms appear using an advanced filter search, which contains 30 selection criteria including location, client rating, cost, and a range of special attributes, such as Saturday opening hours and multi-lingual practitioners. Once the user makes their selection, TLS contacts the chosen law firm so it can take instructions from its new client.

While widely seen as the brains behind TLS, Briggs is also keen to credit Jeff Winn, the founder of Winn Solicitors, as being instrumental in the concept of the superstore. As an independent business within Winn Holding Ltd, the parent company of Winn Solicitors Ltd, Winn has a non-executive role in TLS. Though he has no operational involvement in the business, Briggs says Winn’s vision and wealth of experience in marketing legal services has been invaluable to his project.

Regulator approval

In addition, the business has received institutional backing, such as from the LSB and Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which, according to Briggs, have been extremely supportive of his platform. ‘Not only does it deliver a great user experience, but it also enables law firms to showcase their businesses on a unique platform and one that consumers are familiar with. 

‘TLS adheres to every recommendation the LSB suggested in its comparison website white paper, and it recognises that this platform is the key to unlocking the access to justice gap, whereby consumers do not seek legal advice when they should. The SRA has also been impressed with how the platform has been built and, again, it sees TLS as a solution provider to consumer barriers.’

The business also has substantial financial backing from private equity providers JZI and Souter Investments as institutional investors, and its web platform has been developed by the team who helped some of the world’s brand giants and Fortune 500 companies such as Epson, Samsung, and Estee Lauder. 

But while it has the knowledge, expertise, and financial clout arguably needed for a new product in a shifting marketplace, the question remains as to whether now is the right time to launch TLS and whether it is really even needed. What feedback has Briggs received from market stakeholders?

‘From one end of the spectrum we have heard that this is exactly what the market needs, and “If TLS can deliver me a client, more cost effectively than I can do myself, then I’m in”. Conversely, “We don’t need a comparison site, it will never work for legal services and I don’t need my firm’s name associated with it”. 

‘Middle of the road comments include, “It’s inevitable, whether we like it or not”. It was only a matter of time before someone built a proper comparison platform for legal services. Don’t resist it, it’s what clients want.’ 

Crystal clear competition 

With the legal profession facing increased criticism and scrutiny for its lack of transparency and consumer choice, and the impending Competition and Markets Authority study of the sector, Briggs believes that now is the ideal moment to launch TLS to the market. ‘While some of this criticism is misplaced and the legal profession does offer a great level of choice, it’s fair to say that the choices available are not necessarily so clear to the customer,’ says Briggs. 

‘People increasingly buy services through online platforms and comparison websites – a decade ago it was inconceivable that people would buy insurance through a comparison site, but sites such as comparethemarket.com and moneysupermarket.com have transformed the way in which consumers shop for such services.’  

With consumers more savvy about where they purchase their products and services from, time is often of the essence, explains Briggs. ‘They don’t have the inclination to spend hours researching which providers can offer them what. With comparison sites, most of the work has been done for them and they simply input their information and in return they are provided with vetted suppliers that can deliver the work that they need and – importantly – can be judged on the selection criteria that is important to them as an individual, be that locality, expertise, or price.’

Consumer comparison sites such as Uber and Airbnb are described by Briggs as fantastic examples of services meeting the exact needs of the customer. ‘They understand the wants and needs of their customers and provide them with easy access to a whole host of vetted suppliers who offer transparent information about the services they offer, so that the customer can make informed decisions based on facts,’ he adds.

‘Seventy-nine per cent of people we surveyed said they would use a legal comparison website. We know most law firms’ core skill isn’t technology or digital marketing. We also know that too many people who have a legal issue are too afraid to seek legal advice. We want to make law firms more accessible and less daunting in the eyes of the consumer. By doing this the legal sector can start to unlock the £5bn latent market which exists today.’

The use of comparison sites within the legal profession would go a long way to answering the critics head on, he adds, and gives customers the opportunity to make informed choices based on criteria that is most important to them. ‘They also make financial sense and could go some way to helping legal service providers meet the “access gap” the LSB estimates to run in to several billion pounds each year.’

Resistance to comparison sites is unlikely to change overnight. It will likely still take some time for the majority of legal service providers to sign up to TLS, or indeed any other comparison site. Should a change of thinking come, however, Briggs and his TLS seem well placed to take advantage of what could well become a domino effect. And if Briggs’s past successes and slick talking do not change the minds of lawyers the length and breadth of the country, then maybe a free cuddly Meerkat in gown, wing-collar, and horse-hair wig would make the difference.

 

Professor Stephen Mayson, the independent legal sector thought leader, tells Solicitors Journal why he welcomes the new legal comparison site The Law Superstore and why he is urging the profession to see the benefits such comparison sites could bring to both the client and legal provider, particularly at a time of intense scrutiny and criticism Anything that helps to bring people who need legal services to those who provide them can only be a good thing. This is why I was intrigued to find out more about the launch of the legal comparison site TLS. I have often spoken about the reluctance of lawyers to promote themselves and the services they offer, so even without seeing TLS I recognised the potential positive impact that a well thought-out legal comparison site could have in helping law firms to attract new clients. There are certainly mixed feelings about the use of comparison sites in the legal profession, but with news that the Competitions and Markets Authority is to study the legal services market amid criticism that consumers often lack sufficient information to make informed decisions in a market that may still lack competition, there seems an ever greater need for a platform that demonstrates transparency and choice.  Provided the comparison site is constructed with the legal profession in mind, I believe such a platform could provide a very cost-effective route to market and combat some of the negativity that currently engulfs the profession. I certainly think consumers would welcome the approach. People increasingly conduct their lives online and turn to the internet before making any major purchases or decisions. Whether this is to verify what they have been told by a friend or relative, or to conduct their own initial research, the information they read online is often very significant in their decision-making and purchasing process.  Although we might see resistance to comparison sites from the profession, I can see no need to resist. If a comparison site is properly constructed, law firms should have the ability to set their own prices and promote the services and areas of law they want to promote. If the family law team are run off their feet but the conveyancing team are twiddling their thumbs, sites like TLS have the ability for the firm to turn the tap on and off for the services offered; this allows the firm to drive business only to the practice areas that it wants. Most firms would admit they have too little knowledge of the best way to take their services to market, or indeed of the true cost of acquiring new business. A comparison site offering an overt pricing structure, where a firm only pays once a client has chosen to work with it, seems to make a great deal of sense. Holding on to the belief that the legal services market is above online comparison and other modern routes to market is only going to hold the profession back, and give competitors greater scope to steal work and clients. I firmly believe that legal service providers can adopt these approaches without compromising the quality, ethics, or even pricing of the services they offer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interview by Solicitors Journal managing editor Laura Clenshaw ?@L_Clenshaw ?laura.clenshaw@solicitorsjournal.co.uk 

Words by deputy editor John van der Luit-Drummond @JvdLD ?john.vanderluit@solicitorsjournal.co.uk

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