Legal services

Leeds is the UK’s most important legal centre outside London. Six of the UK’s largest 25 law firms have a significant presence in Leeds: DLA Piper, Eversheds, Pinsent Masons, Addleshaw Goddard, Irwin Mitchell and Hammonds, which has its headquarters in Leeds.

According to The UK Legal 500: “Leeds has a sophisticated and highly competitive legal market, second only to London.”

Expansions and mergers have resulted in a spate of relocations to new and larger offices within the city. Eversheds, one of the UK’s biggest law practices, now occupies 121,000 sq ft of prime office space at Bridgewater Place.

There are around 150 law firms operating in Leeds. Employment in the sector, excluding self-employment, grew from 7050 in 2003 to 8,400 in 2007.

The success of Leeds as a centre for financial and business services has been underpinned by the development of its corporate legal sector, which offers an extensive range of specialist services.

These include corporate finance, corporate restructuring and insolvency, global project financing, trade and investment, commercial litigation, competition, construction, Private Finance Initiatives and Public Private Partnerships, tax, derivatives, IT, employment, pensions, intellectual property, sport and entertainment.

According to the Law Society of England and Wales there are just under 7,512 solicitors in 735 firms in the Yorkshire and Humber region. There are 16 barristers' chambers in Leeds with a total of 860 practising barristers in Leeds and 30 chambers in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The School of Law at the University of Leeds has over 800 undergraduate students and receives over 3,000 applications for less than 300 places available each year. The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise awarded the school an 'outstanding' rating.

The school is set to move into a new £12 million building in 2011. It aims to become one of the top 50 law schools in the world by 2015 and one of the top five law schools in the UK.

The world’s first virtual courtroom has been developed in a collaboration between the University of Leeds and the city of Hangzhou in China. Legal Grid Online has been set up to help resolve legal disputes and provide mediation for businesses operating in one of the world’s fastest growing markets.

Leeds Law School at Leeds Metropolitan University has over 1,000 students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Nine universities in Yorkshire and the Humber offer degree courses in law.

Over 600 students are enrolled at the BPP Law School in Leeds, which provides continuing professional development and training to individuals entering the profession.

The establishment of an Administrative Court in Leeds in April 2009 reinforced Leeds’ position as one of the UK’s key legal centres. The court, which specialises in disputes relating to decisions made by public bodies, previously sat only in London.

Leeds Legal has been set up by leading members of the legal profession and organisations in Leeds to promote the high levels of service, expertise, no-nonsense advice and value for money service provided by the city’s law firms.

As the range, expertise and competitiveness of Leeds law firms has grown, many have expanded nationally and internationally and several now rank among the top ten firms in the UK, with offices in Europe and Asia.

Visit: www.leedslegal.co.uk

[Last updated 13/7/10]