Lawtech

The home of English law

The UK's offer

  • Home to almost half of all lawtech startups headquartered in Europe
  • The Financial Times’ top 5 most innovative law firms in Europe are all UK firms
  • A growing sector - investment in UK lawtech is projected to reach £2.2 billion per year by 2026
  • Access to a wide pool of top talent with a legal sector that employs 368,000 people, almost two thirds of whom are based outside of London

Lawtech in the UK

The UK is host to the largest legal services market in Europe – second only to the US globally - and is supported by world-renowned talent and dispute resolution facilities.

The ability of English law to provide predictable and fair dispute resolution outcomes is essential to business-confidence and plays a key role in supporting the UK as an international financial centre.

Legal services also provide strategic advice during many stages of a business’ lifecycle, the breadth of which makes the UK an attractive place to start, run and scale a business.

$22bn

estimated annual demand for lawtech in the UK

£2.2bn

projected investment per year in UK lawtech by 2026

61%

of UK solicitors said that they intended to use lawtech more frequently in the next five years

Employing 368,000 people, the legal sector is constantly developing new client support and innovation roles as well as alternative business structures to meet changing client needs. The UK legal sector is also using technology to provide tailored services to global businesses.

UK law firms feature prominently in the FT's list of most innovative law firms in Europe in a 2023 ranking by the Financial Times. Law firms are heavily invested in the sector, with some launching incubator tech hubs and others partnering with software developers to create custom products.

The Ministry of Justice has identified lawtech as a strategic opportunity to build on the UK’s competitive advantage in the legal and tech sectors. In 2023, it invested £3 million for the ‘digital transformation of the UK legal sector’, through its innovative UK lawtech programme - LawtechUK.

There is also tremendous growth in lawtech start-ups, with the UK hosting almost half of those headquartered in the EU. The end effect is a legal services offering that is inherently more competitive because it is transparent, efficient and client centric.

This widespread development has put UK legal services at the cutting-edge of innovation. Lawtech attracts top talent in new roles such as data science and analytics, as well as knowledge management and information technology. This brings with it new perspectives and new ways of working. It also drives the advancement of digital infrastructure, improving productivity, resilience, and security.

Lawtech enables businesses to access the advice they need to compete globally. In doing so, it builds a collaborative environment and helps the UK to be fit for the future.

Partner story

Nakhoda

Nakhoda

Partner Story

Simmons Wavelength

Simmons Wavelength

Partner story

Clarilis

Clarilis

Partner story

Hunit

Hunit

The Legal Geek startup map

The Legal Geek startup map

Lawtech at The Law Society

Lawtech at The Law Society

Solicitors Regulation Authority

Solicitors Regulation Authority

Innovation Ambassadors

Innovation Ambassadors

"London is a global leader in legal innovation: Our vibrant ecosystem of start-ups, tech companies, and forward-looking, innovative law firms are powering the global revolution in law."

Sophia Adams Bhatti (Head of Strategy and Policy), Erika Pagano (Head of Legal Innovation and Design) Simmons Wavelength

"London is hard to beat as a launchpad for legaltech startups. Built on legal traditions, there is now a concentration of people in the City actively building the future of legal services using cloud-based technologies."

Paul Massey, CEO Tabled