English law demand grows as UK legal exports hit new highs

The value of UK legal services exports has grown by £2.5 billion in the past five years, underlining the international strength of English law, according to a new Law Society report.

The report says the figures highlight that the UK has not only maintained but “significantly enhanced” its position as the world’s second-largest legal market after the US. It also suggests that demand for English law is growing, with much of the increase in trade attributed to solicitors providing services to clients outside the UK.

London's dominance

The UK legal sector generated £34 billion in revenue in 2024, up 16% from 2022, with London firms responsible for more than two-thirds of that total.

Revenue at London-based firms rose 8% to £23 billion in 2024 - accounting for 68% of the sector’s total. Firms in the capital posted an average of £7.9 million in revenue last year, compared with £4 million across England and Wales.

Just 72 firms - many of them based in the City - surpassed £100 million in turnover, but together they contributed 53% of the sector’s revenue and employed over a third of all solicitors.

English law still dominates

English law continues to dominate cross-border work. It governs two in five cross-border transactions, according to data from TheCityUK. It was also the governing law in 78% of London Court of International Arbitration cases and the top choice at the ICC Court of Arbitration in Paris, used in 15% of cases - twice as often as Swiss law, which came second.

London also holds its crown as the world’s most popular seat of arbitration, with 34% of respondents picking the capital as their preferred destination in Queen Mary University’s 2025 survey in collaboration with White & Case.

Meanwhile, the London Commercial Court continues to lead in global litigation. Between September 2023 and September 2024 it issued 196 written judgments - more than double the 88 in New York, the next-most-popular destination - with 62% of litigants coming from outside the UK.