Latest official figures show that legal services are continuing to defy the UK’s wider economic gloom. The UK legal sector’s turnover in December 2022 was £3.5bn - up 8.6% on the same month in 2021, the Office for National Statistics reported today. 

The figures are for a month in which the UK narrowly avoided entering a technical recession, with GDP falling by 0.5%, following growth of 0.1% in November.  The overall UK services sector (including legal) had a turnover of £223bn in December, down 7.5% from the previous month.

Commenting on the figures, Julie Norris, regulatory partner, legal services at London firm Kingsley Napley said the sector has remained 'incredibly resilient' despite the wider UK economy struggling. 'This is probably due to demand in areas like litigation, insolvency and employment, given the economic context,' she added. 

Meanwhile the Professional Services Sector Trends Tracker, organised by industry body the Managing Partners’ Forum since 2011, shows professional services leaders’ confidence in future activity levels, new workflow and headcount growth has rebounded following a slump in mid to late 2022.

The forum’s 'confidence index' is calculated from the net of firms projecting expansion with those projecting contraction. This month the index shows a positive score of 71%, up from 45% last October. 

Richard Chaplin, founder and chief executive of the forum said: 'Whilst sector confidence has markedly picked up in the last quarter, government must not rest on its laurels in policy making to support this vital sector. With firms increasingly under pressure from resource constraints, the time is right for government to address skills shortages through prioritising education in digital and interpersonal skills; clarifying pathways into the sector; and encouraging collaboration between sector firms, education providers, and local government.’