Associate Directors Gishan Abeyratne and Andre Kacperski discuss the London private practice market in 2025 and look ahead to 2026.
From Gishan Abeyratne and Andre Kacperski
London remains the UK’s largest and most diverse legal jobs market in 2025.
While the UK legal jobs market has grown overall, with opportunities across the regional markets, the diversity of firms and roles in London remains unmatched. From West End boutiques and specialist law firms to household name national practices, City heavyweights, international powerhouses, and the elite US, Magic, and Silver Circle, the capital offers a wealth of options.
Despite political grumbling and some economic uncertainty, its status as a cultural and financial epicentre of Europe, and indeed of the global legal profession, means London presents a dynamic and challenging environment for lawyers, clients and recruiters alike.
Growth practice areas
The usual suspects remain the busiest practice areas for growth: real estate, corporate, banking & finance, and employment. In 2025 we also saw exponential growth in construction, planning and environmental opportunities, largely driven by significant energy and infrastructure projects across the UK and foreign investment into the sector within the UK.
London’s wider commercial real estate dynamics have also contributed to movement in the legal jobs market in 2025.
In 2025 we saw exponential growth in construction, planning and environmental opportunities.
Strong demand for high-quality office space, especially in the City and near major transport hubs, has been supporting corporate and property practices that advise on occupier and landlord matters. It has also been helping fuel law firm growth, with a trend toward more time in the office while supporting and enabling hybrid working.
Continued salary growth
London continues to be at the forefront of wage growth within the legal sector, with average salaries continuing to increase. This has mainly been due to a continued tend for US firms to establish a presence into the London market, as well as mergers between UK and US firms, each looking to gain a stronger foothold either side of the Atlantic.
London continues to be at the forefront of wage growth within the legal sector.
In the maelstrom, UK firms are having to keep up, or risk falling behind, leading to increased salaries across the board. The effects of this are also being seen trickling down into the regions.
AI impact
The big news in 2025 has been (and will remain to be a talking point in 2026 and beyond) AI: adoption, how firms are adapting, and the career impact.
AI is now a mainstream factor shaping legal work in London. Recent industry surveys and reports indicate that a majority of UK lawyers are using generative-AI tools in some capacity, and an increasing number of top firms advertise AI capabilities to clients.
Firms are deploying AI for legal research, first-pass drafting, contract review and due diligence, and many larger firms have created dedicated AI teams, appointed AI leads or acquired legal-tech businesses to build proprietary tooling.
Only a minority of firms describe AI as fully embedded in their long-term strategy. Cultural, training and risk-management hurdles remain.
At the same time, only a minority of firms describe AI as fully embedded in their long-term strategy. Cultural, training and risk-management hurdles remain.
Practically, AI is changing the day-to-day. Routine, high-volume tasks are being automated or completed faster, which increases productivity and can free lawyers to spend more time on complex advice or business development.
Firms are testing new pricing approaches (blended or fixed fees that reflect AI-enabled efficiencies) and are investing in governance with model-risk, confidentiality, and regulatory compliance remaining to be priorities.
For lawyers, technical fluency with AI tools, strong quality-control skills and an emphasis on higher-value advisory work are now differentiators in hiring and promotion.
