You can find the full article posted on @SLAW: https://www.slaw.ca/2024/10/23/surveysbut-in-law/
For those in private practice, sending a survey to your client about how much they liked your service would be like shooting yourself directly in the foot. If you were unsuccessful or the client didn’t get the result they were hoping to achieve, there’s a high likelihood that the survey will reflect poorly on your services. If you were slow to reply or provided realistic advice about the client’s minimal chances of success (which they didn’t want to hear), or if the client received a ‘high bill,’ the sticker shock alone could lead to poor survey results. In the world of in-house, despite how available you make yourself to the business, they may still see you as a cost centre or see you as the ‘red tape’ to getting work done. In both cases (private practice or in-house), the idea of providing a survey to your clients is a scary proposition because no one wants to hear negative news, and lawyers tend to be perfectionists by nature. Why would we survey our clients with all the potential for negative feedback?
Implementing Legal Design is a user-centric approach that involves conducting human-centered research. Margaret Hagan, a pioneer of Legal Design, suggests that understanding the legal needs of the client or the user provides better opportunities to improve the legal service.
If you look at a survey not as bad or positive feedback, but as a learning and growth opportunity that helps foster stronger solicitor-client relationships, then the idea of a survey isn’t so crazy after all.