Plans to strengthen the UK’s reputation as a global leader in legal services were unveiled by the government yesterday.

The new action plan sets out how the Ministry of Justice and UK Trade & Industry aim to promote the UK as a centre of legal excellence, encouraging overseas businesses to make use of its commercial arbitration, mediation and court services.

The creation of an online promotional toolkit for trade and industry advisers, explaining the value of UK legal services and UK law; and including representatives from the legal profession on official visits, are among a series of government commitments set out in the plan.

The MoJ will also be monitoring the international acceptance of alternative business structures, publishing an initial review in February 2012.

The government will be working with industry experts including the Law Society, the Bar Council and TheCityUK, an independent body promoting UK professional services, to find a joint approach to encouraging growth.

The UK’s legal services sector generated £23.1bn or 1.8% of the country’s gross domestic product in 2009, and constituted £3.2bn in exports.

Publishing the action plan, justice secretary Kenneth Clarke said: ‘As Britain’s economy emerges from a difficult period, it is vitally important that the country builds on its strengths to support the recovery.

'There are few areas where Britain is stronger than in the law.’

He said: ‘Whether it’s in the provision of legal services, the use of our courts for the resolution of disputes, or the application of English law for contracting, the UK is truly a global centre of excellence.’

Minister for Trade and Investment Lord Green added: ‘The UK’s stable legal and regulatory environment is one of the main reasons that so many overseas firms choose to invest here.

'It is an area in which we truly are world-leading.’

‘In recognition of this, the recent UKTI Strategy has committed us to working more closely with the accountancy and legal professions, especially in the role they have to play in supporting SMEs looking to export overseas,’ he said.

Bar chairman Peter Lodder QC said: ‘The MoJ and BIS [the Department for Business, Enterprise and Skills] are to be congratulated for taking an active interest in how the potential of the legal services sector can be unlocked as part of the government’s wider growth strategy.’

Read the action plan.