What you need to know about doing legal work yourself

If you have a legal issue, you may be able to do some of the work yourself. All legal services are made up of different tasks. An increasing number of people are interested in doing some of these tasks for themselves whilst paying a solicitor or legal adviser to do the other parts. This is sometimes called an ‘unbundled service’.

This is often an excellent way to afford legal advice from a regulated professional when funds are tight. It can also give you a greater sense of control and ownership over your legal issue. People who have done some of the work themselves on a legal matter are just as satisfied with the overall handling of their case as those whose legal provider handled all the work. Almost 70% of people that have done some of their own legal work say they are likely to ask about doing so again.

Your legal adviser will provide you with detailed advice and will help you decide what you should do next. This helps cut down on the costs as you are doing some of the work yourself.

Examples of doing some legal work yourself

In a divorce case you can discuss with your legal adviser what forms you can complete yourself, and if you need your legal adviser's help with this.

In probate matters you can register the death yourself, as well as contacting banks and other organisations to close accounts and inform them of the deceased. You can find out if a will has been left and you can also complete a probate application online.

Benefits of doing legal work yourself

  • lower costs
  • a greater sense of control and ownership
  • speed up the process

 

Drawbacks of doing legal work yourself

  • you will have to learn the overall process of your legal issue
  • it involves a risk of making mistakes, which may be difficult or expensive to correct

 

Is this the case for all legal work?

Taking on some of the work yourself will be more suitable to some situations than others. If you think it might be right for you, speak to a solicitor or legal adviser, or an advice organisation. Not all solicitors will offer this service or agree to work in this way, but you can shop around to find what suits you.

Examples of the sorts of things you may be able to do for yourself:

  • gathering information and documents – birth, death and marriage certificates
  • sending letters
  • family law – filling in divorce forms
  • probate work – filling in a probate form
  • actions against the police – making a complaint

Talking to a solicitor or legal adviser

If you are choosing a solicitor to help you with your legal issue, ask them some questions to make sure you choose the right professional for you. Whether you can do some of the work yourself could be one of those questions.

If you have already chosen a solicitor to work with, you could still ask them if you could save money by taking on more of the work yourself.

Important questions to ask

  • What tasks could you do by yourself?
  • Will there be any support for you if you get stuck or confused about a task?
  • If you do some of these tasks yourself, how will it affect your overall costs?
  • Are you less likely to get the outcome you want by doing some of the work yourself
  • How will you communicate with your solicitor about the tasks you are doing yourself, and will the solicitor check these to make sure they are correct?

What if you don’t have a solicitor or legal adviser, but would like to find one?

You can find a solicitor or legal adviser by visiting the Law Society’s ‘Find a solicitor’ website. This will allow you to search for your legal issue, as well as a location for a legal adviser.

Resources

If you are planning to handle some of your own legal work, you may find these resources useful: