Potential Brexit effect on the Legal Sector

The impact of Brexit will inevitably be felt in all corners of commercial life in the UK, including the legal sector. 

At this year’s Bar conference which took place on 4 November, the chair of the Bar Council’s Brexit Working Group, Hugh Mercer,  raised the issue of the rumour that recently has been circulating the legal world that in the wake of Brexit certain European governments are planning to “sponsor” a new raft of home grown law firms populated with English speaking lawyers, regulated by one of the authorities in England & Wales, aimed at taking a slice of the work that currently is placed with the big ticket English law firms with European reach that have hither to been the “go to” law firms for complex cross-border transactions for decades.

Mr. Mercer stated that he believes that several European governments see Brexit as an opportunity to make inroads into the legal work that traditionally goes to the top tier English law firms.  He further stated that some of the bars within the EU are aggressively driving this agenda having seen the English law firms successfully eclipse the indigenous law firms and now seek to reverse the trend.

Whilst to some it may seem that having government sponsorship means these new firms are playing with a deck loaded in their favour; it might just be the shake-up needed in the legal sector to keep everyone on their toes and provide an even better level of service to those clients with complex cross-border matters and transactions.

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