Economic growth and legal services

Economic growth is one of the Labour Party's five missions for Britain.

The UK government is now working on strategies to achieve this.

The success of our legal sector provides a platform for growth across the UK. Legal services enable UK businesses to grow. They are a staple of our high streets and keep investment flowing.

The government’s missions can only be achieved if legal services are placed at the centre of its economic plans.

Impact on solicitors and firms

The UK government’s plans for economic growth will affect how solicitors practise and run their businesses.

The government’s economic strategies have the potential to:

• ease the financial burden on small and medium-sized firms
• improve tax arrangements and investment opportunities for large firms
• make it easier for UK lawyers to practise internationally
• address retention and recruitment challenges
• fix our crumbling courts infrastructure
• boost investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and lawtech
• unlock the untapped potential of legal services in Wales

For this to happen, we must make sure the UK government recognises the huge economic contribution of legal services.

What we're doing

November 2024

We're working hard on your behalf to make sure legal services are placed at the centre of the government’s industrial strategy, Invest 2035.

In November, we responded to a consultation on the strategy. We called for the UK government to address the barriers and opportunities identified by our members.

Read our response to the industrial strategy consultation

The government will now prioritise a series of sub-sectors to focus on, based on their initial eight key growth-driving sectors.

We want them to recognise legal services as a leading subsector. This will ensure our sector receives the policy attention and support it deserves.

January 2025

We responded to the Department of Business and Trade's call for views on their new trade strategy.

The government will publish the trade strategy alongside the industrial strategy. It will set out how they plan to achieve long-term economic growth through trade.

In our response, we called on the government to:

• reduce barriers to market access for UK lawyers and law firms operating overseas
• allow UK solicitors to practice under their home title in foreign jurisdictions
• make visa processes and short-term secondments easier
• engage with key markets such as the US, EU, China and India to address specific barriers faced by UK legal professionals
• provide practical tools and support for law firms, especially small and medium-sized firms
• use free trade agreements and other initiatives to unlock growth opportunities in key markets
• promote English law as a valuable asset in global trade

Download our full trade strategy response (PDF 199 KB)

February 2025

We responded to the UK government’s consultation on its comprehensive spending review.

The spending review will be used to set the budgets for government departments. This includes long-term investments.

We want the government to target spending in the legal services sector. The spending should be used to:

• clear the £1.3 billion court repairs backlog
• invest in court staff, judges, and lawyers to address case backlogs
• review criminal legal aid rates annually, extend increases for housing legal aid to other civil areas, and reform the legal aid means test
• support the Ministry of Justice to update the Legal Aid Agency’s IT infrastructure
• retain level 7 apprenticeship funding and expand it to Wales
• create grants, loans, or tax relief for small and medium-sized law firms to develop lawtech and AI skills
• allow legal partnerships access to full expensing and reform business rates to support small and medium-sized law firms

Download our full spending review response (PDF 395 KB)

Spring 2025

The government is expected to publish the final industrial strategy in June 2025.

The trade strategy and comprehensive spending review will also be published in the spring.

They are expected to be shared alongside an ‘economic event’. This will set out the budgets for government departments.

We are working hard to make sure legal services are central to these economic plans.

Share your views

We will continue to engage with policymakers to make sure they hear your challenges and priorities.

We would love to hear your views. Have we got these asks right? Is there anything we’ve missed? What would help you and your firm practise more effectively?

To share feedback with our team, email campaigns@lawsociety.org.uk.