Reform UK’s rise: Will City law firms shift their support?
Businesses, including law firms, snuggled up to Labour in 2024 but with Reform UK on the agenda, will firms shift their focus before the next election?
Unlike in the US, business lobbying of British political parties and the UK government is kept somewhat behind closed doors, but it remains a powerful tool. For professional services, including law firms, there are also benefits in ‘donating’ to political parties in the form of professional support.
Before the 2024 general election, the Labour Party had received more donations than other parties combined, hitting nearly £10m from businesses and individuals.
Some of the Big Four firms ranked highly on the list, with PwC and EY donating hundreds of thousands of pounds to the party, but legal firms were also among the list.
However, unlike a general cash donation, such as the £2m donation by Lord David Sainsbury, these donations for professional services are mostly ‘non-cash’ and instead reflect a rough estimate of the time they have provided to the party.
Leading up to the 2024 general election, Morning Wire noticed that one of the law firms that appeared on the Electoral Commission’s list of donors had donated two associates from its ‘government affairs’ practice to Labour to help draft its legislation.
The hourly rate for these lawyers was calculated to be quoted as a donation.
For the law firm, lending two of its associates would have provided it with in-depth information about what might come to the table if that party won. At the time, it was widely expected that Labour would win the election, and they did, in a landslide.
The insights help the law firm align its strategy with the types of work it needs to advise clients on. A great example of this is the surge in ’employment’ practices across the City as a result of Labour overhauling workers’ rights in its controversial Employment Rights Bills.
City firms court government ties
But dominating time doens’t stop at general elections.
Since the last election, there has been a surge in former Conservative ministers joining law firms to advise on geopolitical risk. Law firms such as Kingsley Napley and Akin Gump included former MPs and ministers as ‘consultants’ or ‘Strategic Advisors’.
Even the former Prime Minister, Lord David Cameron, joined DLA Piper as a consultant.
According to the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, many notable City law firms are registered, including 23 LLPs such as CMS, DLA Piper, Pinsent Masons, and Clifford Chance.
For CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, Fair Civil Justice (FCJ) and the US Chamber of Commerce are listed as its current clients. The FCJ is a UK-based legal reform campaign group established in late 2022 and supported by the US Chamber of Commerce.
The FCJ’s focus, led by former Tory MP Seema Kennedy, has been on the litigation funding sector and the surge of class actions in the English courts, as she claims that ‘predatory litigation’ is damaging UK plc’s reputation.
Former clients of CMS for which it conducted consultant lobbying included the owners of Wimbledon, the All England Lawn Tennis Club, and the Schoolwear Association.
DLA Piper has Bristow Group, CrowdStrike, and Provincial Aerospace listed as current clients.
Pinsent Masons had East Devon District Council as a former client, while Clifford Chance had International Military Services on the books in 2020.
Getting close to government
It can also pay off for City firms to be close to the government, as in the case of the three law firms, Freshfields, Clifford Chance and Baker McKenzie, who were among the 50 delegates who accompanied Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on his trip to China.
When approached for a comment by Morning Wire at the time, Georgia Dawson, senior partner at Freshfields, said: “Along with other, similar business delegations, this delegation provides a valuable opportunity to contribute to discussions on issues that matter to our global client base.”
While a spokesperson from Baker McKenzie said, “Sunny is delighted to have been invited to join the UK Government’s Trade Delegation alongside prominent CEOs and other law firm leaders….As a global law firm, we represent clients in, and with business interests in, virtually all jurisdictions across the world.”
Clifford Chance declined to comment.
Time with Reform?
But what is next for law firms? Reform UK is looking more likely to be the party that will be in competition to take over at the next general election as it continues to top the polls.
Businesses across the City are starting to meet key Reform figures including Richard Tice, and Morning Wire understands that among them is a London-listed professional services firm.
But when will law firms started donating their time to the insurgent party to gain insights into what a Reform government might look like? Morning Wire understands that while Reform UK has not experienced the flood of donations (in the form of staff) that Labour saw in the lead-up to Sir Keir’s win, sympathetic lawyers are engaged in advising Reform on legislation.
With Labour on the ropes and Farage declaring that his party is now on an “election war footing” might it soon pay for professional services firms to break cover and provide offers of staff on secondment?
Eyes on the Law is a weekly column by Maria Ward-Brennan focused on the legal sector.