Legal sector contributes £26bn to UK economy
The UK legal services sector grew 8.8 per cent to 342,000 jobs in 2017, an increase of 30,000 year-on-year, according to a report released today by TheCityUk.
The output of the UK legal sector in 2016 was £26bn, the equivalent to 1.4 per cent of UK gross value added (GVA).
The industry employs 107,000 people in London, with a gross value add of £9.6bn.
The UK is the largest legal services market in Europe and only second to the US globally.
Managing partner of City law firm Fieldfisher Michael Chissick said: “We are punching way above our weight in terms of headquartering of international law firms, we are second in the world behind the US.”
TheCityUK’s Gary Campkin said: “As the UK prepares to leave the EU, it is vital to ensure international parties continue to recognise the benefits of using English law.”
Chissick said London “is second to none” as a legal centre and predicted that “it will continue to be post-Brexit”.
He added: “Banking documents, construction documents, most of them are governed by English law and that is a huge benefit for the UK law firms.”