High street practices may be crumbling before our eyes and intervention costs about to cripple the profession, but the legal services scene is not all doom and gloom.

Indeed, according to a report published today by lobbyists TheCityUK, legal services contributed £20.9bn to UK gross domestic product in 2011. The law is one of our greatest assets and the profession is in great health.

And TheCityUK is keen to point out that the capital is not the only beneficiary. Page seven of the report lists the largest law firms outside London – and in the North category number four is Cobbetts. Obiter thinks someone should have told TheCityUK that the firm went into administration last month.