The North West Legal Market in Numbers
The North West of England has seen a burst of investment and activity in the local legal market over the last few years. Manchester has seen a spur of office openings from firms like Lewis Silkin, Foot Anstey, Aberdein Considine, Keystone Law, and Harrison Drury. While Liverpool firm Hill Dickinson, recently became the official naming rights partner of Everton FC's new stadium.
Using publicly available data tracked by
Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP), we've taken a look at some of the trends driving growth in the North West legal market.
Partner Headcount in Manchester has Grown by 22%, Outpacing London
The North West is a key focus of growth among The Lawyer UK 100 & Global 200 law firms.
Manchester (+22%) has had some of the highest Partner headcount growth of any major UK legal market since Oct 2022, second only to Edinburgh (+30%). While Liverpool (+13%) has also seen a significant increase in Partner numbers, growing at a similar rate to Leeds (+13%).
London remains the dominant market in the UK, but the Partner headcount growth of Manchester and Liverpool highlight the region as key legal hub outside of the capital.
The Fastest Growing Firms in the Region are Private-Equity Backed
According to Hazelwoods, "Private equity firms entered the legal sector both for the industry’s relatively stable revenue streams and because the relatively fragmented legal sector gives PE funds plenty of opportunity to “buy and build” bigger law firms."
The growth rate of PE-backed firms indicates that the tactic is showing signs of success. In the North West, the firms with the highest Partner headcount growth have private equity backing, boasting an average growth rate of 57%. The average for firms without PE funding is 23%.
Some of the fastest growing PE-backed firms since 2022 are Horwich Farrelly (+83%), Express Solicitors (+80%), Slater Heelis (+50%), and Farleys Solicitors (+43%).
Lateral Partner Hiring Has Been on the Rise, Increasing by +73%
The volume of lateral Partner hires made in Manchester & Liverpool increased by +73% between 2022-2024. That momentum seems to have continued into 2025, with 156 lateral hires made so far this year.
The firms that have made the most lateral hires have been JMW, Horwich Farrelly, Weightmans, and Express Solicitors. As the fastest growing firms in the North West, Horwich Farrelly and Express Solicitors have clearly expanded by tapping into the lateral market.
The Volume of Partner Promotions Has Also Been Increasing
Partner promotions among The Lawyer UK 100 firms increased by +81% between 2022-2025.
While lower in absolute numbers than the lateral hires, the steady growth of promotions mirrors the trend seen in lateral recruitment. The 35 promotions tracked in 2025 so far, already surpasses 2024.
Firms in the North West Have Been Growing Across a Number of Practice Areas
The biggest spike in Manchester has been in Private Client practices (+86%), driven by a number of firms increasing Partner headcount, including JMW, Irwin Mitchell, and Gateley. Employment (+34%) and Insurance (+24%) practices have also seen strong growth, likely tied to the city's presence of big national insurers.
In Liverpool, Corporate practices have seen the highest increase in headcount (+39%).
Note on methodology
Source: Pirical Legal Professionals, using publicly available data
Timeframe: 2022 - 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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