Overview of the research
In November 2023, we published our Corporate Strategy 2023–26, with the mission to drive confidence and trust in legal services.
Following publication, we commissioned Thinks Insight & Strategy (Thinks) to conduct independent research to better understand how we can best achieve our mission, as well as benchmark views so we can assess progress over the life of the corporate strategy.
The results of this work were published in October 2024. In 2025, Thinks conducted a shorter piece of research for us – a one-year-on Pulse Survey – to see how things had changed in the next year. Surveys were live between 8 May and 2 July 2025, one year on from the original survey in 2024. It should be noted, this was ahead of the publication of the Legal Service Board’s review of the SRA’s regulation of SSB Group Limited in October 2025, which was critical of our handling of issues at the firm.
This report summarises these findings.
Key objectives of the research
The overall objectives for this programme of research are:
- Understanding which main areas contribute to confidence and trust in legal services.
- Understanding where we should be focusing strategically in order to drive confidence and trust in legal services.
- Setting a benchmark for the levels of confidence and trust in legal services, to track over time.
In 2024, Thinks defined measurable Strategic Performance Indicators (SPIs), which are being used to track the success of the strategy over time. It also identified the key drivers of confidence and trust in legal services among key stakeholder groups.
It engaged the same five key audiences in the Pulse Survey in 2025 as it did in the research in 2024:
- Consumers – representing a variety of demographics, and those who had recent experience of using legal services and those who hadn’t.
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) – specifically senior decision-makers who have interactions with legal services.
- Legal Professionals – including regulated solicitors as well as barristers, trainees and apprentices, and unregulated legal professionals.
- Members of the UK Parliament (MPs) and members of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) (MSs)*.
- Opinion Leaders – leaders across policy and politics, regulation and media with relevance to legal services.
* Fieldwork in 2024 conducted pre-election, so significant differences between 2024 and 2025 cohort.