The UK legal sector is worth £25bn and growing, new research shows, prompting calls not to “jeopardise future success”.
Law Society-commissioned research found that an 8,000 jobs boost follows each one per cent growth in legal services, each £1 of extra turnover in the sector stimulates £1.39 in the rest of the economy, and every 100 extra jobs in legal services supports a further 67 jobs. The sector grew by 8% 2014 to 2015
Law Society chief executive Catherine Dixon says: “This is a phenomenal success story which we should celebrate.
“The legal services sector is a net exporter, helping to offset the UK’s overall balance of payments deficit.”
Dixon says reforms should be “fully considered to avoid any unintended consequences of change which could put our position as the jurisdiction of choice at risk and so jeopardise future success”.
Ed Crosse, president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association (LSLA), says the increase to court fees could have a “negative impact on the competitiveness of the UK as a forum of choice for domestic and international litigation, particularly for lower value claims”.
The scope and costs of disclosure have also “become prohibitively high for many cases, and clients are becoming wary of this”, he adds. “Unless active steps are taken by the courts to control disclosure, for example, by encouraging parties to be more innovative in their approach, there is the risk that the courts in England and Wales will be perceived as being too expensive for many cases.
“Clearly there will be cases where extensive disclosure is required, for example, claims involving allegations of fraud. Court users do also value the fact that our approach to standard disclosure in such cases can increase the prospect of securing a just outcome on the facts.
“But extensive disclosure and witness evidence is not always necessary.” Crosse says the Shorter and Flexible Trials Scheme was a direct response by the judiciary to these concerns.
The Law Society research, Economic Value of Legal Services, is the first ever investigation of the wider economic value of UK legal services.
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