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11 December 2024
Issue: 8098 / Categories: Legal News , Legal services , Technology
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Lawyers provide multi-billion-pound boost to UK economy

UK law is flourishing, with the value of legal services exports rising nearly 40% in two years from £6.7bn in 2021 to £9.5bn in 2023, according to Law Society analysis of Office for National Statistics figures.

Law Society president Richard Atkinson said the growth reflects ‘the high regard and the pivotal role that English and Welsh solicitors play in providing world-class legal services to global clients’.

A report by TheCityUK, ‘UK legal services 2024’, also published this week, notes legal services in the UK generated more than £47bn in revenue in 2023, a 7.7% year-on-year increase. In 2010, for comparison, UK legal generated just over £25bn.

It reports the UK is a global hub for lawtech with 356 companies operating in the sector, and is home to 44% of all EU lawtech start-ups.

Another trend is the growth in numbers of corporate counsel, with 35,738 solicitors (about one in five) now working in-house. 

Issue: 8098 / Categories: Legal News , Legal services , Technology
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

Daniel Burbeary, office managing partner of Michelman Robinson, discusses launching in London, the power of the law, and what the kitchen can teach us about litigating

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Firm welcomes partner with specialist expertise in family and art law

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Dual-qualified partner joins international private client team

NEWS
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
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