Redundancy: Some users had lost their job
The website run by all the legal regulators to help consumers navigate the justice system improves understanding of legal issues, research has found.
However, it also said most of the consumers they studied using the website did not previously know that it existed.
Research agency Mustard said, in a report for Legal Choices, that 29 out of 40 participants who used the site reported “an increase in their knowledge” of their legal issue.
“The information was generally perceived as providing a useful overview and was most useful for participants at the beginning of their journeys.
“Reflecting the fact that Legal Choices is not intended to provide tailored advice or detailed guidance, the site was less useful in offering specific steps people could take to resolve their issue.”
Researchers said participants “generally placed their trust” in organisations they already knew or had a strong reputation.
“We know that 3.6m people have visited Legal Choices in the last three years (June 2022-June 2025), however most of our participants had never heard of Legal Choices.
“This impacted their trust in the site and created uncertainty about its role and purpose.”
Mustard recruited 40 people for its Legal Choices Evaluation Report, including those with an unmet legal need or who had recently resolved a legal issue. None of them had used the website before.
The main types of problem they had faced were redundancy, other problems at work, being at risk of eviction, other problems with rented homes, debt and ‘no win, no fee’.
Half of participants felt “more confident”, with 14 feeling “more informed/equipped”, 13 “more empowered” and 11 “less worried”.
For those who felt more confident, researchers said this often came from “seeing their situation reflected in the information on the site”, providing reassurance that they did in fact have a legal issue that needed attention.
“For some, this confidence was reinforced because they had already researched their issue elsewhere, and finding the same information on Legal Choices confirmed they were on the right track and boosted confidence.
“Legal Choices also helped them to feel more in control by clearly showing what actions they can take and where to seek help, giving them a more concrete sense of their next steps.”
Researchers said 15 of the 40 participants reported that visiting Legal Choices influenced what they planned to do next.
“This reflected that the biggest value in using Legal Choices was for those at the start of their journey.”
For those who were later in their journey, “they had largely already determined the best next steps and Legal Choices was useful to confirm this”.
Mustard went on: “For participants who felt that Legal Choices had little impact on their behaviour, including those who had completed their legal issue and would not have acted differently, a key factor was the perceived lack of content on actionable or specific next steps.
“Participants still in the midst of their legal journeys felt stuck and uncertain about how to progress or what options were available to them.
“In many cases, this reflects the fact that Legal Choices is not intended to provide tailored advice or detailed guidance. However, it also highlights the limitations of the site’s impact for certain users, particularly those facing complex or less common legal issues.”
When asked if they would recommend Legal Choices to others, participants gave an average score of eight out of 10.
“Those who felt they had learned the most from the website were unsurprisingly the most likely to give higher scores.”
