The Lord Chancellor, David Lammy, has chaired the first meeting of a panel promoting English law, which will identify key opportunities to grow the UK’s £42.6bn legal services sector.
The English Law Promotion Panel, whose creation was first announced by Lammy in September, includes legal and business figures, with representatives from the CBI and TheCityUK alongside those from the Law Society, the Bar Council, senior and former judges, and key disputes institutions such as London International Disputes Week (LIDW), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and others.
The panel met at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in London, following the conclusion of last week’s London Arbitration Week.
The initiative was established under the UK government’s Industrial Strategy to reinforce English law as a leading choice for international business and to future-proof the UK legal services sector amid competition from other countries.
Northern Ireland and Scotland’s devolved governments are responsible for their own legal systems, distinct from English law, which also covers Wales.
Lammy said: “The UK’s legal services sector is a hidden super-power of our economy, generating more than £42.6bn a year and employing more than 364,000 people across the country.”
English law, he said, was “key to that success story”, particularly in encouraging businesses to select it when agreeing international contracts given England and Wales’s popularity as a jurisdiction of choice to resolve commercial disputes.
Lammy added that English law was a key part of what makes the UK an attractive place for businesses to locate and has helped London to become a leading global business hub, supporting the rule of law around the world and underpinning £250bn in global M&A deals.
Mark Evans, the president of the Law Society of England and Wales, noted: “English law governs around 40% of all global business and financial transactions, dominating international arbitration. Our legal sector powers the country’s global influence and fuels the economy, creating more jobs.”
Former Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer senior partner James Palmer CBE, chair of legal services for TheCityUK, said: “The UK’s leading law firms have for decades made significant long-term investments in building global businesses and, through those, promoting English law and the UK courts to international markets, so we are delighted that commercial expertise is being included on this panel.”
Other members include incoming Bar Council chair Kirsty Brimelow KC of Doughty Street, as well as serving and former judges. They include Dame Elizabeth Gloster DBE of One Essex Court, who chairs LegalUK, which promotes English law.
Also included are former High Court judge Dame Linda Dobbs of Red Lion Consulting; Lord Sales, the deputy president of the UK Supreme Court; Sir Colin Birss, who recently succeeded Sir Julian Flaux as chancellor of the High Court; and Chancery Division judge Mrs Justice Joanna Smith.
CMS’s Richard Bamforth, who is the founding chair of London International Disputes Week, is also a member, alongside RPC consultant and former partner Jonathan Wood, who chairs the London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation, and LCIA director general Kevin Nash.
Lucy Greenwood, of Greenwood Arbitration, represents the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, while Twenty Essex’s Clare Ambrose speaks for the London Maritime Arbitrators Association.
Former Law Society president Christina Blacklaws, who chairs the LawtechUK Panel, is joined by distinguished academic Professor Richard Susskind CBE KC (Hon), along with representatives from the CBI, the PR and advertising sectors and academia.
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