Legal Services
The West Midlands has a rich Legal Services sector, home to the largest population of accounting and legal professionals of any combined authority in the UK.
The West Midlands boasts one of the deepest accounting and legal professional services talent pools in the UK. Despite the proximity to London, the region is significantly cost more cost-effective compared to the capital. As the thriving home of many global and infrastructure companies such as the National Grid, Birmingham and the surrounding areas are a location of choice for major legal services firms to grow their operations.
Legal companies in the West Midlands
The West Midlands has a significant corporate legal services sector. The strength of the corporate market has attracted new legal service providers and led to larger firms expanding their regional presence. Regionally, there are now over 900 partners and 550 Directors working at firms such as Gowling WLG, Pinsent Mason, Shoosmiths, Eversheds and DLA Piper.
- Hogan Lovells exemplifies the successes law firms have had in the West Midlands. Since 2014, they have been growing their expansion outside of London. They offer business legal services across real estate, construction, finance, intellectual property and litigation, offering services to clients such as HSBC, Grafton Capital, M&G Real Estate and Veolia Environmental.
- DLA Piper expanded their local operations in July 2021, opening a 40,000-square-foot office. DLA Piper has over 150 staff in Birmingham supporting its client base, notably in the industrial, financial services and real estate sectors. Clients served out of Birmingham include Dyson, 2 Sisters Food Group, National Grid, Santander and the Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy.
- GowlingWLG has a significant practice in Birmingham, with strengths in banking and financial services. Clients include BNP Paribas, State Bank of India and Deutsche Bank. The firm also has expertise in areas including M&A and Private Equity. Corporate clients managed out of Birmingham include Cummins, The Hut Group and Oxbotica.
Growing Legaltech Sector
The West Midlands is an ideal location for the development of tech due to our 96,500 people working in technology across the WMCA. Leamington Spa stands as the epicentre of software advancements that have helped local businesses grow and reach their next level.
As legal, accounting and professional services strive to modernise and offer the solutions of the future, West Midlands talent is a much-needed resource to be drawn on.
The importance of the local legal sector is attracting new businesses in the field of Lawtech. Headquartered in Leamington Spa, Clarilis, a leading documentation automation service for in-house legal functions and law firms, is one of the many companies that are taking advantage of our tech-forward economy.
Birmingham has 2,580 digital technology companies, the highest of any UK core city, and the West Midlands has the UK’s fastest-growing tech sector. With a talent pool this big, and with nine universities generating a pipeline of just under 10,000 ICT graduates, the West Midlands is an exciting place to grow your team.
Get help investing in the UK
Our sector experts are well-placed within the local economy to help foreign direct investment, SMEs and start-ups more easily set up in the West Midlands. We can introduce you to a network of business leaders, set you up with office spaces, locate funding routes and aid with PR and comms. Email our sector expert today and find out exactly how we can help you.
Free support services
We bring together a project team from relevant organisations across the region. This team includes property agents, recruitment consultants, public sector departments and universities. It delivers a comprehensive support package to quickly and easily help you establish and scale your business in the UK.
