Litigation contracted by 21%, but the legal market as a whole shrank just 4.3% in 2020 after a strong bounce-back in the second half of the year, according to LexisNexis’ latest Gross Legal Product (GLP) Index report, supported by the Bar Council.
The detailed report, which tracks legal activity levels, gives a comprehensive insight into the impact of COVID-19 on the legal industry in 2020. It highlights the resilience of the profession as a whole―with employment, corporate, tax, risk and compliance and commercial all up on the previous year―but will concern lawyers in property, immigration, crime and litigation.
In litigation, civil fell furthest with a 35% drop in 2020―it is not possible to measure the backlog of civil cases. Criminal litigation fell 7.1% and the backlog of criminal cases reached a historic high, with many criminal barristers facing financial struggles due to lost earnings.
Employment litigation, on the other hand, rebounded―rising 14% in Q3 and 20% in Q4 compared to 2019. This was driven by several factors, including the redundancy rate, and employment tribunals increased their throughput of cases with remote trials. Family litigation was relatively stable, rising 9% in Q4.
In legal practice, commercial grew by 11% while risk and compliance work increased by 22% and employment rose by more than 6%. Competition work decreased by 10% as global trade and M&As declined. Immigration saw the sharpest fall with work reduced by 47%, followed by property.
The burden of navigating the pandemic has generated advisory work for lawyers, particularly in employment and tax. A boom in restructuring and insolvency work is anticipated but has not yet materialised―according to the report, demand in this practice area had fallen 18% at the end of 2020, perhaps due to government schemes propping up struggling businesses.
Chris O’Connor, head of segment marketing at LexisNexis and co-author of the report, said: ‘While it’s been a difficult year for the industry, the GLP Index demonstrates that many practice areas have bounced back as of Q4 2020.
‘The GLP Index help firms measure their growth against the market, see how they are performing and identify where to focus their efforts.’
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