The Law Society’s first International Data Insights Report, published this week, showed the UK’s legal services exports increased by nearly half a billion to £6.648bn in 2021. UK-headquartered DLA Piper brought in the most revenue between 2021/22 (£2.64bn), followed by Clifford Chance (£1.96bn) and Allen & Overy (£1.94bn).
Both London Commercial Court, which outperformed New York and other competitors, and London Court of International Arbitration were the leading centres for litigation and arbitration, respectively, particularly in the maritime sector.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: ‘The UK is currently the second largest market for legal services globally.’
The report showed the EU is the UK’s most valuable trading bloc for legal services, accounting for £2.15bn in exports from the UK in 2021. The US accounted for nearly £2bn in exports from the UK in the same year. 59 US firms have offices in London.
