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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

Freeths—Rachel Crosier

Freeths—Rachel Crosier

Projects and rail practices strengthened by director hire in London

DWF—Stephen Hickling

DWF—Stephen Hickling

Real estate team in Birmingham welcomes back returning partner

Ward Hadaway—44 appointments

Ward Hadaway—44 appointments

Firm invests in national growth with 44 appointments across five offices

NEWS
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transformed criminal justice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ed Cape of UWE and Matthew Hardcastle and Sandra Paul of Kingsley Napley trace its ‘seismic impact’
Operational resilience is no longer optional. Writing in NLJ this week, Emma Radmore and Michael Lewis of Womble Bond Dickinson explain how UK regulators expect firms to identify ‘important business services’ that could cause ‘intolerable levels of harm’ if disrupted
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
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