The legal sector has been revealed as a major UK success story by new government figures which show exports of legal services are rocketing.
According to figures just released by the Office for National Statistics, exports of UK legal services rose by 17% to £893m in 1997 from the previous year. The UK bought in legal services of £177m.
Trade minister Brian Wilson said: "The service sectors including legal services are making a major contribution to the UK economy, securing thousands of jobs. We should all be proud of their achievement."
Anthony Salz, senior partner at Freshfields, said the figures proved that UK firms had the lead over their foreign counterparts in the race to dominate the international market for legal services.
He said one reason for the success was that the UK was a favourite base for dispute resolution from abroad.
Helen Potts, international relations officer at the Law Society, said: "The trend in the last few years shows an increase in the value of legal services going abroad."
The figures showed a huge growth in the services industry generally, with the UK becoming the world's second-biggest exporter of services after the US.