Net exports generated by the largest law firms fell slightly to 1.35 billion in 2002, the first dip since 1998, latest figures have revealed.

International Financial Services London (IFSL) found this still accounted for 10% of the overall business services sector's exports.

However, in 2001 the figure was 1.4 billion.

Duncan McKenzie, IFSL's director of economics, suggested the dip reflected the recession in financial services market last year.

Between 1993/94 and 2001/02, it said the number of solicitors employed by the largest 100 firms in London grew by more than two-thirds to top 16,000.

The income of the largest 100 UK firms more than doubled to reach 8.4 billion.