Using evidence gathered directly from City law firms, the Law Society is responding to a call from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) for evidence on how to reduce skilled worker migration to the UK. According to its statement on the matter, the ability to recruit internationally is crucial to law firms gaining footholds in emerging global markets. Furthermore, international employees bring expertise that is ‘by definition not available’ in the UK labour market, but is needed in firms advising on complex deals across multiple jurisdictions.

‘Economically vital’

Jonathan Smithers, president of the Law Society, notes that the legal services sector generated 1.6 per cent of UK GDP in 2013, and that much of that value is generated by international firms operating in a global competitive market. It is, therefore, ‘economically vital’ that the UK remains a global leading centre for international legal services. Rules that inhibit the ability of firms to recruit from outside the EEA ‘risk that work being relocated by international firms to an office outside the UK or, worse, the loss of that work completely to a competitor jurisdiction.’ Source: The Law Society