Victoria Morrison-Hughes, Founder

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It’s personal – why I developed The Legal Lexi

I am a Costs Lawyer; I see firsthand the sheer volume of documents that a Solicitor sends to a client to get them onboarded and signed up to their Terms. They are often complicated documents.

Solicitors are required to give clients information in a way they understand, to ensure they are in a position to make informed decisions about the services they need, how their matter will be handled and the options available to them, to provide the best possible information about how their matter will be priced at the time of engagement and, as the matter progresses, about the likely overall costs and costs incurred.

In the event of a solicitor client dispute the Civil Procedure Rules requires Solicitors to have obtained prior and informed approval to any unusual items of costs from their client. The consequences of failing to obtain a client’s informed consent can impact, and potentially eradicate, the solicitor’s entitlement to some elements of their costs.

The Legal Ombudsman states that a client should never be surprised by their Solicitor’s charges.

But what if your client has dyslexia or is vulnerable at the time of engaging in their legal services?

I have a father, a younger brother and my eldest son who are all dyslexic. I have therefore observed firsthand the difficulties that they get into when faced with a wealth of paperwork. It is quite simply overwhelming. They just sign and return, not wanting to admit that they have not read or certainly don’t understand what they are signing. They trust the provider to have explained to them the key terms.

How can you be assured you have informed consent empowering your customers and ensuring they are not surprised by your charges, if, for example you do not know if you are dealing with a client with a vulnerability, such as dyslexia?

The Legal Lexi is an application through which all key cost information is communicated by the Solicitor to the client with the benefit of plain language (oral and in writing) explanations of the key elements of that communication, gathering and documenting your clients’ responses to short questions which illustrate their understanding and providing you with informed consent.

Still unsure?

Schedule a live demo via Teams and see in less than 30 minutes how The Legal Lexi can easily fit into your firm’s workflows to give you confidence that you have your clients’ informed consent and protect your entitlement to costs.

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