Hundreds look to start law firm

Entrepreneurialism is thriving in the legal profession, a new study suggests, with more than 500 applications to start a new law firm made during 2017.

There were 514 applications to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) – the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales – to open legal businesses last year.

With some 10,400 solicitor firms recorded at the end of 2017, the number of applications for new firms represents about 5 per cent of the current market.

Hazlewoods, an accountancy and business advisory firm that specialises in the legal profession, said the number of applications was driven in part by the growing trend for lawyers setting up niche practices.

These boutique law firms are established to focus on a single service line of work, such as employment law, or to serve a particular sector.

Jon Cartwright, partner at Hazlewoods, said: “The legal profession is currently a hotbed of innovation and new business models – leading to awealthofstart-upfirmscoming to market.

“Many more partners realise the opportunities now available for them to create their own niche, sector-focused firm in a healthy market environment.

“Developments in IT over the past decade have made it easier to create a much wider variety of law firm structures.”