Legal Services and the future of the UK Economy

The Law Society has recently pushed for Brexit negotiators to make legal services one of their priorities in upcoming trade discussions. This is after a recent report demonstrated that legal services put more money into the UK economy than first estimated.

A recent report produced by KPMG shows that in 2018 legal services provided £60bn into the UK economy, this compared to £25bn in 2016.

In 2017 statistics showed that legal service exports reached £5bn and contributed £4.3bn to the UK’s balance of trade. The productivity of the legal service market rose by 17% over the 5-year period 2013 to 2018, despite employment levels decreasing by 0.7% over the same period of time. The Gross Value Added (GVA) contribution per employee increased to £100,500. The increase in productivity is mainly down to changes in methodology as technology has developed and allowed the sector to automate processes which is increasing efficiency.

Law Society president Simon Davis said: ‘This report shows the value of our sector to UK plc – that is why we think it is vital our trade negotiators put legal and other professional services at the heart of forthcoming talks on a new deal with Europe. It is crucial the government seeks to maintain access to the EU27 for our legal professionals as well as recognition of their qualifications once the post-Brexit transition period finishes at the end of 2020.’

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At Hawsons we have a dedicated team of legal accountants at our offices in Sheffield, Doncaster, and Northampton. We act for a large number of law firms across all three of our offices and offer a wide range of services which are tailored to meet their individual needs. Our legal client base consists of a multitude of firms of varying structure and size, from sole traders to limited companies and LLPs with corporate members.

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