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Client and Lawyer Satisfaction with Unbundled Legal Services CLIENT AND LAWYER SATISFACTION WITH UNBUNDLED LEGAL SERVICES: CONCLUSIONS FROM THE ALBERTA LIMITED LEGAL SERVICES PROJECT Prepared by: John-Paul E. Boyd, M.A., LL.B. August 2018 Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family Conducting meaningful research since 1987 308.301 14th Street NW, Calgary, AB T2N 2A1 +1.403.216.0340 [email protected] www.crilf.ca The Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family is a non-profit, independent charitable institute affiliated with the University of Calgary. The major goals of the Institute are to undertake and promote interdisciplinary research, education, and publication on issues related to law and the family. The Institute’s mission and vision statement is: The Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, established in 1987, is the national leader in high-quality, multidisciplinary research on law, the family and children. The Institute seeks to achieve better outcomes for families and children by: • promoting the development and use of evidence-based research; • informing courts, government, professionals, academics, service providers and the public; and, • advising on the development of law, policy, processes and practices. The members of the Institute are: Marie Gordon, QC (President) David Day, QC (Vice-President) Eugene Raponi, QC (Treasurer) Jackie Sieppert (Secretary) Prof. Beth Archer-Kuhn Prof. Nicholas Bala Prof. Pallavi Banerjee Wendy Best, QC Prof. Rachel Birnbaum Michelle Christopher, QC Sarah Clarke David C. Dundee Robert Harvie, QC Krysta Ostwald Prof. Christopher Sprysak Prof. Janet Walker Prof. Jonnette Watson Hamilton The Honourable Debra Yungwirth The Institute’s honorary lifetime members are: The Honourable Heino Lilles The Honourable Herman Litsky The Honourable R. James Williams ii The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the board of directors of the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family. While financially supported by The Law Foundation of Ontario Access to Justice Fund and the Alberta Law Foundation, the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family is solely responsible for all content in this report. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. vi 1.0 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Purpose and development of the Alberta Limited Legal Services Project ............................... 5 1.2 Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 11 1.2.1 Survey development and ethical considerations .............................................................. 12 1.2.2 Participant recruitment ................................................................................................... 13 1.2.3 Data collection ................................................................................................................ 13 1.2.4 Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 14 1.3 Limitations ........................................................................................................................... 14 1.4 Organization of report .......................................................................................................... 14 2.0 SURVEY FINDINGS ......................................................................................................... 15 2.1 Demographic information .................................................................................................... 15 2.1.1 Client respondents .......................................................................................................... 15 2.1.2 Lawyer respondents ........................................................................................................ 17 2.2 LaWyers’ practice information .............................................................................................. 17 2.3 Clients’ experiences of the unbundled legal services they received ..................................... 21 2.3.1 Nature of and satisfaction with services received ............................................................ 22 2.3.2 Effect of services received ............................................................................................... 26 2.3.3 Cost of services received ................................................................................................. 29 2.3.4 Attitudes toward unbundled leGal services ...................................................................... 30 2.4 LaWyers’ experience of the unbundled legal services they provided .................................... 32 2.4.1 Nature of client, file and services provided ...................................................................... 32 2.4.2 Cost of services provided ................................................................................................. 34 2.4.3 Attitudes toward unbundled leGal services ...................................................................... 36 2.5 LaWyers’ vieWs on providing unbundled legal services and on the Alberta Limited Legal Services Project ................................................................................................................................. 39 2.5.1 Unbundled leGal services provided by lawyers ................................................................. 39 2.5.2 Lawyers’ satisfaction with and reasons for joininG the project ......................................... 40 2.5.3 Lawyers’ views on the benefits of unbundled leGal services for clients ............................. 43 2.5.4 Lawyers’ views on the benefits of unbundled leGal services for themselves ..................... 47 3.0 SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................... 50 3.1 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 50 3.1.1 DemoGraphic information................................................................................................ 50 3.1.2 Lawyers’ practice information ......................................................................................... 51 3.1.3 Clients’ experiences of the unbundled leGal services they received .................................. 52 3.1.4 Lawyers’ experiences of the unbundled leGal services they provided ............................... 54 3.1.5 Lawyers’ participation in and views of the Alberta Limited LeGal Services Project ............ 55 3.1.6 Lawyers’ General views of unbundled leGal services ......................................................... 56 3.2 Discussion............................................................................................................................. 57 3.2.1 Clients’ experience of unbundled leGal services ............................................................... 58 3.2.2 Lawyers’ experience of unbundled leGal services ............................................................. 60 3.2.4 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 63 3.3 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 64 iv 3.4 Postscript ............................................................................................................................. 65 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 66 GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................................ 68 APPENDICIES ............................................................................................................................ 69 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report presents a discussion of the data collected from clients and lawyers through the Alberta Limited Legal Services Project. This work was funded by a project grant provided by The Law Foundation of Ontario, through its Access to Justice Fund, and by an operating grant provided by the Alberta Law Foundation. The Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family gratefully acknowledges the generous support of both Foundations, without which this research could not have been undertaken. Thanks are due to the Institute’s staff members, Dr. Lorne Bertrand and Joanne Paetsch, for their processing and analysis of the data collected, their patience, and their thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Thanks are also due to Robert Harvie QC, who played a critical role in the conceptualization, organization and implementation of the Alberta Limited Legal Services Project, and to the other members of the Limited Scope Retainers Working Group of the Canadian Bar Association’s Alberta Branch, including Susan Billington QC, Joan Braun, Megan Dawson, Andrea Doyle, Cecilia Frohlick, Ed Gallagher, Cori Ghitter, Marie Gordon QC, Jack Hauptman, Jocelyn Hill, Brad Kring, Joshua Lam, Ola Malik, the Honourable Gillian Marriot QC, Kendall Moholitny, Richard Rand QC and Diane Shearer. Special thanks are owed to Parisa Jiwa, a sole practitioner providing coaching and unbundled legal services through
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