Data-crunching by the LSB, which oversees all eight legal services regulators, revealed a 93% rise in divorce applications during those summer months. By August, applications had dipped to below 2019 levels until a second spike of 46% between August and October, when there were fewer pandemic restrictions in place.
Domestic abuse referrals also appear to have tracked fluctuations in the pandemic, increasing 23% between April and July 2020 before dipping between August and November.
The data, published this week, also revealed a 14% drop on the previous year to 303,000 conveyancing applications to the Land Registry in December. Housing lawyers also experienced significant fluctuations, with an 87% drop between January and April 2020 followed by a partial recovery between April and July.
For personal injury lawyers, claims to the PI Claims Portal have decreased each month since April and, by December, were down 30% from the previous December.
Lawyers have handled more antisocial behaviour reports since the start of the pandemic, with reports up by 92% at their peak, in April 2020.
Wills, trusts and probate lawyers dealt with higher numbers of deaths in 2020, up 102% on the previous year between February and April 2020 and up 19% in December. Registrations of lasting power of attorney fell by two-thirds between January and May 2020, to nearly 29,000 and were 14% down in November on the previous year.
The Law Society this week urged the LSB to concentrate on recovery and access to justice in the next three years.
Responding last week to the LSB’s draft strategy and business plan consultation, Law Society president David Greene said: ‘The key challenges include the social and economic impact of the pandemic, Brexit, and years of severe under-funding in the justice system, all of which are having a significant impact on the profession, clients and wider public confidence.’
The LSB’s draft plan identified three themes for 2021-2024―fairer outcomes, stronger confidence and better services.
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