Members of a new legal services taskforce want the UK to remain the jurisdiction of choice but know competing jurisdictions are vying to claim the top spot, the president of the Law Society has said.
The Society is one of several members of deputy prime minister David Lammy’s ‘English Law Promotion Panel’, which met for the first time last week.
Society president Mark Evans said last week's meeting was about 'setting out the framework of who is around the table and what skills and knowledge they bring'. On the Society's involvement, Evans said: ‘We represent over 200,000 members. What makes us different from other people around the table is we have got over 10,000 members based around the globe. We have direct links with our members in existing jurisdictions and potentially emerging or new jurisdictions.’
According to the Society's latest international data insights report, the London Commercial Court remains the leading international centre for the resolution of complex commercial litigation and English law is a preferred governing law for international commerce.
Evans said everyone at the table wants the UK to remain the jurisdiction of choice but 'we are all aware that there are competing jurisdictions around the world looking to take away our position in a global market. The competition is fierce'.
Asked if the panel discussed free trade agreements, including the UK-India deal that left out legal services, Evans said: ‘We did not get into the specifics at this meeting. What I can say in broad terms is the Law Society is still in an ongoing dialogue with our counterparts in India. We are optimistic that progress will be made.’
On the importance of domestic issues such as legal aid on the UK’s reputation, Evans said: ‘When we are promoting English law, we are promoting the strengths of our system… but you also need to appreciate that many people around the world are looking at what we are doing at a domestic level. Some will want to look at that and use that by way of criticism or to show weakness because they want to promote their own jurisdiction.’ However, ‘this is a panel to look at promoting our jurisdiction internationally’.
As for the panel’s name referring only to English law, Evans said: ‘It’s called English law but it’s the promotion of the jurisdiction of England and Wales. When people around the world think of the jurisdiction, most contracts are drafted under the doctrine of English law. M&A deals refer to English law.’
The panel will meet quarterly and the minutes will be published on gov.uk.
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