Britain’s legal sector up 200% since late 1990s
Successive waves of liberalisation have enabled the legal-services sector to become a major motor of economic growth, according to an independent expert report published by Britain’s Ministry of Justice.
In an “extraordinary success story”, according to the report, the sector has grown by more than 200% in real terms since the late 1990s – well ahead of the 157% growth of the country’s economy overall, the England and Wales Gazette reports.
The report, published last week, will help the British government's attempts to persuade other major economies to include legal services in free trade agreements.
Authors Hook Tangaza says that the market growth began with soaring demand for legal services from liberalised financial services and telecommunications sectors.
“When these poles for economic expansion combined with a more open global economy, the perfect demand conditions were created for the growth of business legal services,” it states.
Business customers account for nearly two-thirds of all legal-sector demand.
Demand
This growth in demand was accompanied by supply-side reform, beginning with the Administration of Justice Act in 1985, which removed solicitors' conveyancing monopoly.
Citing conveyancing as “a case study in liberalisation”, Hook Tangaza notes that “consumers now have a wider range of price and service level options than in the past”.
Other liberalising moves included permitting partnerships with foreign qualified lawyers and the introduction of LLPs.
The report concludes that, although the major barriers to free and open legal markets have largely been removed, more accessible services for consumers are needed, especially those enabled by technology such as artificial intelligence.