Inside the Numbers: The UK Legal Market in 2025
The United Kingdom is home to a large population of law firms and lawyers, but are they all really concentrated in London and what practices do they work in?
Using publicly-available data tracked by
Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP), we’ve taken a look at the distribution of lawyers by region, the largest practice areas in London, and the leading UK firms by headcount.
Where are the UK's Lawyers Located?
94% of the UK's lawyers are based in England, followed by Scotland with 5%, while the remaining share is split between Wales and Northern Ireland.
As expected, London dominates the legal landscape and accounts for 57% of UK lawyers, with
23,800 calling it home. The next largest city is Manchester, with over
2,800 lawyers, followed by Bristol (2.1k) and Birmingham (2k). These numbers highlight London’s overwhelming scale compared to other regional centres, and its distinct appeal to global law firms as well as biggest British firms.
Scotland’s legal market, while much smaller in scale, has seen a recent trend of combinations. Mergers such as
Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie and Davidson Chalmers Stewart and
Macnabs with Thorntons, highlight a desire to strengthen regional presence in Scotland, and expand service offerings.
What Are the Largest Legal Practices in London?
In London, the heart of the UK legal market, Corporate remains the largest practice area with 3,218 lawyers, an 18% increase since 2020. This increased growth is likely driven by sustained M&A activity, which continues to fuel strong demand for specialist corporate lawyers in 2025.
Real Estate, while substantial with
3,158 lawyers, has grown by just
4% since 2020. Meanwhile, Dispute Resolution & Litigation has seen more notable growth, rising
15% to a total of
2,629 lawyers.
The Largest UK Law Firms by Partner Headcount
A breakdown of the Lawyer UK 100 firms reveals which British headquartered firms have the highest number of UK-based Partners.
CMS leads the way with 439 Partners, followed by Keystone Law (382) and Eversheds Sutherland (357). Knights PLC has now entered the top five, promoting nearly 30 new Partners in its latest round, bringing the firm's total to 344. Keystone Law takes a different approach to most of the market, most of its Partners are self-employed, enabling the firm to grow without the usual overheads of a traditional structure, explaining its higher ranking.
The Magic Circle have opted for a tighter structure than the firms at the top of the Partner headcount ranks. Collectively Magic Circle firms employ just over
4,700 lawyers in the UK. Linklaters accounts for the largest share of that group at
25%, followed by A&O Shearman at
21%.
Written using publicly-available data from Pirical Legal Professionals (PLP)
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