LexisNexis gross legal product (GLP) index

LexisNexis introduces a new legal ‘GDP’ measure – tracking demand in the legal market and providing insight into the drivers of growth and impact of COVID-19 on different organisations and practice areas.

Our industry is facing its greatest operational and commercial challenges. The long-term impact is still hard to gauge. Real, rigorous data that provides insight into the nature of the crisis is hard to find. Yet, it is only with this visibility that we can start to plot a path to recovery.

The GLP Index model found that demand for legal services grew 5.1% on average between 2017 and 2019. This was driven by corporates (+11.7%) and smaller firms (+4.5%), which have grown faster than Top 100 (+0.6%) and GP & Consumer firms (+3.7%). Performance by Practice Area has also differed significantly – Employment (+25%) and Compliance (+23%) work has boomed, while Crime (-3%) and Litigation (-18%) specialists have struggled.

The data provides a benchmark against which we can quantify the impact of COVID-19. Some areas of the law have been very hard hit by lockdown and the economic challenges we face – Immigration and Property have declined by double-digit rates in Q1 2020. Yet it is far from a universally negative picture. Certain Practice Areas will either accelerate their recent strong growth (Employment, Commercial, Tax) or the crisis will give an opportunity to rebound in Financial Services and Restructuring and Insolvency.

We want to see our customers and colleagues succeed. The GLP index alone is not the answer, but the real value of this report will be in empowering the legal community to make the very difficult decisions needed over the coming weeks and months.

We hope you find it helpful and wish you, your family and friends, and your businesses or organisations health and success.