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UK law firm statistics 2026

Updated

44 statistics on solicitors and law firms in England and Wales, each linked to the regulator, ombudsman or official statistics that published it. Free to cite.

How many law firms are there in England and Wales?

As of September 2026, the SRA regulated 8,899 solicitor firms in England and Wales, down from 9,026 a year earlier, while the number of solicitors holding a practising certificate rose to 181,481. 1,306 of the firms were sole practitioners. Counting every business classed as legal activities, the ONS found 31,585 in England and Wales in 2026.

Key takeaways

  • More solicitors, fewer firms: practising certificates rose about 2.9% in a year to September 2026, while the number of SRA-regulated firms fell by 127.
  • More firms close than open: 514 closed in the 12 months to June 2026, and 386 opened in the 12 months to August 2026.
  • Sole practitioners and partnerships are shrinking fastest; incorporated companies are 59% of firms.
  • The SQE is now the main route in, at 51% of admissions.
  • Residential conveyancing draws more Legal Ombudsman complaints than any other area, and almost half of all complaints are about communication or delay.

Solicitors

  1. 217,550 solicitors were on the roll in England and Wales in September 2026. Source: SRA: Population of solicitors in England and Wales
  2. 181,481 solicitors held a practising certificate in September 2026, up from 176,360 in September 2025. Source: SRA: Population of solicitors in England and Wales
  3. 7,791 registered foreign lawyers were on the SRA's register in September 2026. Source: SRA: Population of solicitors in England and Wales
  4. 97,084 solicitors worked in private practice in July 2024. Source: Law Society: Annual statistics report 2024 (PDF)
  5. 37,035 solicitors worked in-house in July 2024, up 4% on the year before. Source: Law Society: Annual statistics report 2024 (PDF)
  6. There were 28,256 partner equivalents in private practice in July 2024, down 2%. Source: Law Society: Annual statistics report 2024 (PDF)
  7. 7,142 practising solicitors held higher rights of audience in September 2026. Source: SRA: Higher rights of audience

Firms

  1. The SRA regulated 8,899 solicitor firms in September 2026, against 9,026 in September 2025. Source: SRA: Breakdown of solicitor firms
  2. 5,267 firms (59.2%) were incorporated companies in September 2026. Source: SRA: Breakdown of solicitor firms
  3. 1,416 firms (15.9%) were limited liability partnerships in September 2026. Source: SRA: Breakdown of solicitor firms
  4. 1,306 firms (14.7%) were sole practitioners in September 2026, down from 1,382 a year earlier. Source: SRA: Breakdown of solicitor firms
  5. 883 firms (9.9%) were partnerships in September 2026, down from 952. Source: SRA: Breakdown of solicitor firms
  6. 1,257 firms (14%) held an alternative business structure (ABS) licence in 2023/24, up from 1,202. Source: SRA: Authorisation annual report 2023/24
  7. 374 firms had their head office in Wales in 2023/24, with a combined turnover of £534 million. Source: SRA: Authorisation annual report 2023/24
  8. 34,255 VAT or PAYE-registered businesses in the UK were classed as legal activities (SIC 6910) in 2026, 31,585 of them in England and Wales. Source: ONS: UK business: activity, size and location, 2026 (workbook)
  9. 13,885 legal-activity businesses, about 41%, were in London in 2026. Source: ONS: UK business: activity, size and location, 2026 (workbook)
  10. 26,745 legal-activity businesses, about 78%, had 0 to 4 employees in 2026; 200 had 250 or more. Source: ONS: UK business: activity, size and location, 2026 (workbook)

Openings, closures and new solicitors

  1. 386 firms opened in the 12 months to August 2026. Source: SRA: Firms opening and closing
  2. 514 firms closed in the 12 months to June 2026. Source: SRA: Breakdown of firm closures by reason
  3. 319 of those closures (62.1%) were firms that stopped practising, and 95 (18.5%) merged or amalgamated. Source: SRA: Breakdown of firm closures by reason
  4. The SRA granted 356 new firm authorisations in 2023/24. Source: SRA: Authorisation annual report 2023/24
  5. The SRA intervened into and closed 42 firms in 2024/25, down from 59 the year before. Source: SRA: Financial statements 2024–2025
  6. 9,615 people were admitted as solicitors between October 2025 and September 2026. Source: SRA: Breakdown of routes to admission
  7. 4,941 of those admissions (51%) came through the SQE, now the most common route. Source: SRA: Breakdown of routes to admission
  8. 4,143 admissions (43%) came through the LPC and recognised training. Source: SRA: Breakdown of routes to admission

Regulation and insurance

  1. A “relevant” recognised body or “relevant” licensed body must carry at least £3 million of professional indemnity cover for each claim. Source: SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules, Annex 1
  2. In all other cases the minimum is £2 million for each claim. Source: SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules, Annex 1
  3. The SRA Compensation Fund paid out £47.4 million in 2024/25, up from £27.9 million. Source: SRA: Financial statements 2024–2025
  4. The SRA received an average of 1,375 concerns a month in 2024/25, up 34%. Source: SRA: Financial statements 2024–2025

Diversity

  1. Women were 55% of lawyers in law firms in 2025, up from 48% in 2015. Source: SRA: Diversity in law firms' workforce
  2. Women were 35% of full-equity partners in 2025, and 31% in firms with 50 or more partners. Source: SRA: Diversity in law firms' workforce
  3. 20% of lawyers in law firms were Black, Asian or minority ethnic in 2025, up from 14% in 2015. Source: SRA: Diversity in law firms' workforce
  4. 9% of partners in firms with 50 or more partners were Black, Asian or minority ethnic in 2025. Source: SRA: Diversity in law firms' workforce
  5. 8% of lawyers declared a disability in 2025, against 17% of the UK workforce. Source: SRA: Diversity in law firms' workforce
  6. The 2025 diversity data covered 8,876 firms (99.5% of those asked) and more than 225,000 people. Source: SRA: Diversity in law firms' workforce

Complaints

  1. The Legal Ombudsman received 14,259 complaints in 2025/26, up 37% from 10,447. Source: Legal Ombudsman: 2025/26 annual complaints data and insight
  2. It accepted 8,412 complaints and resolved 8,199 in 2025/26. Source: Legal Ombudsman: 2025/26 annual complaints data and insight
  3. Residential conveyancing was the largest area of law, at 36% (3,039) of accepted complaints in 2025/26. Source: Legal Ombudsman: 2025/26 annual complaints data and insight
  4. Poor communication (24%) and delay (22%) were the most common complaint types in 2025/26. Source: Legal Ombudsman: 2025/26 annual complaints data and insight
  5. The Ombudsman awarded £3,700,986 in remedies in 2025/26. Source: Legal Ombudsman: 2025/26 annual complaints data and insight
  6. 25% of consumers who complained said they got no final response from their provider in 2025/26. Source: Legal Ombudsman: 2025/26 annual complaints data and insight

Conveyancing and property

  1. The Council for Licensed Conveyancers regulated 200 practices at 5 April 2025, 16 of them sole practitioners. Source: Council for Licensed Conveyancers: AML report 2025 (PDF)
  2. HM Land Registry processed 2,008,867 applications in September 2026, including 100,742 transactions for value. Source: HM Land Registry: September 2026 transaction data
  3. UK residential property transactions were 95,220 (seasonally adjusted) in August 2026, down 2% on a year earlier. Source: HMRC: UK monthly property transactions commentary

Methodology

Every figure is taken from the source it links to: the SRA, the Law Society, the Legal Ombudsman, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, HM Land Registry, HMRC and the ONS. We read each one on 23 October 2026 and report it as published, with the period it covers. None of these numbers are ours.

  • The SRA's monthly tables (solicitors, firms, openings, admissions, higher rights) run to September 2026. Its firm counts are by firm type; it doesn't publish counts by number of partners.
  • The SRA authorisation report covers November 2023 to October 2024 and was published in February 2026; the SRA's financial statements cover the year to 31 October 2025.
  • The SRA diversity data was collected in summer 2025 and published in March 2026. The latest Law Society annual statistics report we could read is the 2024 edition (data to July 2024).
  • Legal Ombudsman figures are for 2025/26. The 36% conveyancing figure is a share of accepted complaints, not all complaints received.
  • The ONS counts VAT or PAYE-registered businesses classed as legal activities, rounded to the nearest 5. That includes barristers' chambers and other legal businesses, so it is larger than the SRA's firm count.
  • Figures from different sources measure different things on different dates, so they won't always add up. Where the same source gives two periods, the change shown is between those two.

We check the sources each quarter and when a regulator publishes new figures, and change the Updated date when a figure changes. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@instrukt.co.uk.

Cite this page

Instrukt, “UK law firm statistics 2026”, updated 23 October 2026, https://instrukt.co.uk/for-solicitors/statistics/law-firms. Please cite the original source for any single figure.

Sources

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