By Legal Futures’ Associates Really Moving [1]
This year has brought exceptional circumstances– high pressure situations, money worries, no holidays and stuck at home with kids trying to navigate working from home or job losses. Any of these on their own could push more marriages to their limit but the pandemic brought so many stresses that it’s no surprise the demand for divorce services is up.
On The Law Superstore the request for divorce lawyer quotes jumped around 25th May, the week regional lockdown ended. Compared to May 2019, the quote requests increased by 80%.
There are of course seasons to legal services, much like many others. Often September can see a spike in divorce requests, after a last ditch attempt at making a marriage work on a summer holiday. And of course, post-Christmas when parents have been keeping it together for the kids, or pushed to the brink by family tensions and festive spending.
This is the first time that an international incident has so clearly impacted family legal services with others in the industry seeing similar patterns. Co-op Legal reported a jump of 40% in divorce enquiries during lockdown, and others reported increases in related services like will writing and transfer of equity.
But how are people finding these services? If lockdown has increased the need, it’s also changed the approach.
The interesting thing to consider is how firms will deal with the jump in business, and whether, in line with lockdown, the majority of benefitting firms will be found online? With a potential drop in footfall to traditional high street firms it might be expected that firms with quality websites, clearly presented online reviews and a digital marketing budget will be making the most of the busy period.
Our partner firms on The Law Superstore have been adapting by moving into adjacent legal services they hadn’t really focused on before, and moving beyond local business by getting leads for surrounding areas they hadn’t considered before.
The lockdown has presented a strange offering – more enquiries not only in conveyancing, but wills, divorce and other property services, balanced with pressure on businesses, working from home and general fears around reaching clients. For firms looking to the future and embracing digital marketing alongside their traditional approaches there will likely be wins during this strange time.