The Birmingham Legal Market In Numbers
Birmingham is the UK's second largest city and one of the most significant legal markets, home to more than 600 Partners at Global 200 & The Lawyer UK 100 firms.
In recent years, major firms like TLT and Hill Dickinson have opened new offices in Brum, attracted by "one of the largest and most successful professional and financial centres in the UK" and by the prospect of building "a bridge between London offices and regional bases in the North".
Clearly Birmingham is still attracting growing firms, but what's really driving growth in the city and region at large? How have major infrastructure projects like HS2 and the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter affected recent demand in the local legal market? Using publicly-available data tracked by
Pirical, we've taken a look.
Partner Headcount Growth in the Midlands Has Fallen Behind Other UK Cities
Birmingham (+8%) and Nottingham (+3%) have increased Partner numbers over the last 3 years, but the rate of growth has lagged behind all other major UK markets.
Among Global 200 & The Lawyer UK 100 firms,
Edinburgh
(+32%)
has seen the sharpest growth in headcount, followed by
Manchester
(+19%),
Bristol
(+17%), and
Glasgow
(+16%).
"The reverse of the city's proximity to London being an advantage to get in and out easily to see clients, is that it is possible to live south of Birmingham and commute into London, where salaries are so much higher.
That process was accelerated during the covid pandemic, when working from home became common. That presents something of a challenge to Birmingham firms, meaning the market for talent is not what it was. And lawyers are well looked after by their firms, making the market even more inert."
Chris Hunt
Partner & Real Estate Practice Leader, Gowling WLG
Almost Twice as Many Partners Leave Birmingham for London, as Move From London to Birmingham
More than 70% of the lateral Partner moves between 2022-2025, moved from within Birmingham itself, leaving around 30% as intercity moves. The top destinations for Partner moves in and out of Birmingham were London and Manchester.
London recorded 12 Partner moves into Birmingham (17% of total moves in) and 22 moves out of the city (37% of total moves out), creating an imbalance in the flow of Partners between the capital and Brum. According to Chris Hunt (Partner & Real Estate Practice Leader at Gowling WLG), "Birmingham's proximity to London is not helpful in the context of recruitment. It presents candidates with a genuine choice in the way that no other major regional city does, with earnings so much higher in London."
Second to London, Manchester saw
8 moves into Birmingham (12% of total moves in) and
6 moves out of the city(10% of total moves out). This indicates a more balanced flow of Partner moves.
The Fastest Growing Firms in Birmingham Have Grown Through a Mixture of Lateral Hires and Promotions
Most of the top 10 firms with the highest increases to Partner headcount growth have favoured lateral hires. Irwin Mitchell and Mills & Reeve have taken a more balanced approach, while Browne Jacobson and Bevan Brittan have relied more heavily on Partner promotions.
Real Estate is the Fastest Growing Practice Area in Birmingham
Since 2022, Real Estate Partner headcount at Global 200 & The Lawyer UK 100 firms has risen by +13%. This ranks Real Estate as the fastest growing practice in Birmingham, alongside Corporate (+11%) and Insurance (+10%). Real Estate growth may be partly driven by the many "development and infrastructure projects going on in the city", such as HS2 and the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter. This "feeds professional services firms, such as lawyers", says Chris Hunt (Gowling WLG).
Looking deeper, the growth among Birmingham’s Real Estate practices has been primarily driven by Partners working in
Generalist Real Estate (67%). More specialised sub-sectors such as
Commercial Property (17%),
Residential Property (11%), and
Real Estate Planning (6%) make up the rest.
"Many of the larger law firms have moved all or parts of their real estate practice out of London to regional cities, often for profitability reasons. Birmingham is an obvious destination because it's close enough to London to make travelling in and out of the capital (where many of the mort prominent real estate developers and investors are based) straightforward and with a mature market for talent in the city.
The corollary of that is medium-sized and smaller firms have stayed focused on real estate as core to their businesses in cites like Birmingham, as some the larger firms leave behind certain types of real estate, such as residential."
Chris Hunt
Partner & Real Estate Practice Leader, Gowling WLG
Birmingham's Real Estate Growth Ranks it Highly Nationwide, But Edinburgh and Bristol Have Seen Greater Spikes in Headcount
Real Estate is clearly a key area of growth in cities other than Birmingham. The increase in Partner headcount in Edinburgh (+33%) and Bristol (+22%), surpasses that of Birmingham (+13%).
Five Law Firms Hold 50% of the Real Estate Market Share in Birmingham
In terms of Partner headcount,
Gowling (14%) holds the largest piece of the Real Estate market.
Gateley (12%),
Shakespeare Martineau (10%),
Eversheds Sutherland (8%) and
Knights PLC (6%) make up the rest of the top five.
Other Firms May Be Looking to Seize More of the Real Estate Market Share
Of the firms with significant market share in Real Estate, not all are actively growing. Knights PLC (+80%), Gateley (+13%), and Gowling (+13%) have increased Partner headcount in this practice area, but Shakespeare Marineau has flat growth (+0%) and Eversheds Sutherland headcount has decreased (-27%).
The firms with significant growth that may be looking to seize more Real Estate market share, are the likes of Browne Jacobson (+150%), Weightmans (+100%), and Freeths (+67%).
Note on methodology
Source: Publicly-available data tracked by Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP)
Timeframe: Dec 2022 - Dec 2025
Analysis powered by Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP)
Pirical Legal Professionals is the largest attorney database built with the most comprehensive data on the market. Specifically designed for legal recruitment and legal market research.
Pirical seamlessly aggregates data from a wide range of public sources, tracking over 700,000 attorney profiles worldwide. Our data helps law firms source lateral talent quicker, identify candidates with key client relationships, map competitor firm strategies & team structures, and much more.
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