c) Other legal professions In addition to solicitors and barristers, several other regulated legal professions provide services in Wales including Licenced Conveyancers, Chartered Legal Executives, Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, Costs Lawyers, Chartered Accountants and Notaries. The Legal Services Act 2007 introduced the Alternative Business Structures (ABS), which allowed non- lawyers to become shareholders in law firms, to open up legal services and encourage innovation. They are regulated by the SRA just like traditional law firms and many offer other complementary services such as accounting and insurance. Examples of ABS operating in Wales include Admiral Law and NewLaw Solicitors. 1.2 Contribution to the Welsh economy Around 11,000 people were employed in legal services in Wales in 2020 28 , a sharp decrease from 16,000 in 2015. 29 However, during the same period, the Gross Value Added (GVA) contribution of legal services to the Welsh economy increased from 0.4 30 to over 0.5 billion GBP 31 , which corresponds to 0.8% of the total Welsh GVA in 2020. 32 While this is in line with the contribution of legal services to the Welsh economy in previous years 33 , it suggests that significant room for growth remains, as the GVA of Welsh legal services in 2020 was only 2.2 % of the UK total, surpassing only the GVA of legal services in Northern Ireland (1.5 %) and the North East of England (1.5 %). 34 As of 2022, the number of legal services enterprises in Wales was reported as 900 35 , an increase from 890 in 2018 36 , but still far from the 2015 peak of 955. 37 In this respect, as well as in relation to the number of 28 TheCityUK Legal excellence, internationally renowned – UK legal services 2022 (December 2022), at 31, available at https://www.thecityuk.com/media/5url4ni1/legal-excellence-internationally-renowned-uk-legal-services-2022.pdf 29 TheCityUK Legal Excellence Internationally Renowned: UK Legal Services 2017 (November 2017), as cited in The Commission on Justice in Wales, The role of Legal Services and the Legal Profession in the Welsh Economy (Welsh Government, 2018), at 2, available at https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2018-08/supplementary-evidence-welsh-government- commission-justice-in-wales-the-role-of-legal-services-and-legal-profession-in-welsh-economy.pdf. Other estimates suggest that the number of people employed in legal services in Wales in 2015 was lower, about 13,000, but evidence a similar declining trend (see Ifan (n 5), 11). 30 Ibid. 31 Ibid. 32 The total GVA in Wales in 2020 amounted to 66.6 billion GBP, according to the Office for National Statistics (see Welsh Government, “Regional gross domestic product and gross value added: 1998 to 2020”, (31 May 2022), available at https://www.gov.wales/regional-gross-domestic-product-and-gross-value-added-1998-2020) . 33 The Commission on Justice in Wales (n 1), para 9.27. 34 TheCityUK (n 28), 30. See also KPMG, Contribution of the UK legal services sector to the UK economy (January 2020), available at https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/uk/pdf/2020/10/kpmg-contributions-of-legal-services-sector-in-the-uk.pdf, at page 26, which confirms similar estimates for 2017. 35 Office for National Statistics, “UK business; activity, size and location: 2022” (28 September 2022), available at www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusinessactivitysizeandlocation/2022. 36 Ifan (n 5), 6. 37 Ibid.
8
Made with FlippingBook HTML5