Great Britain: One in four legal firms suffered cyber-attack last year

According to the bank’s 2017 Legal Benchmarking Report, 24 per cent of firms were affected - of which 16 per cent were small firms, 31 per cent were large firms, and 28 per cent were very large firms.

The study also revealed significant regional differences, with 37 per cent of firms in North East England and North West England being affected, compared to just 9 per cent of firms in Scotland.

The report also covers research on fees, profit, finance and more, and highlights the best ways of increasing profitability.

It identified lock-up as a major issue for legal firms. At 113 days, it is now 4 days more than last year and longer than at any time over the last 5 years. The median lock-up for small firms was 84 days, for large firms 131 days and for very large firms 142 firms. Without a constant flow of new matter starts and paid fees, the results show that firms would on average run out of cash within 40 days.

Steve Arundale, head of commercial professional sectors at NatWest, said: “The legal sector is confronted by many challenges, from the rise in cyber related crime to the increasing difficulty in managing lock-up.

“However, year on year profits per equity partner (PEP) continues to improve and the 2016 performance is 33 per cent up from 2013. Fees have also grown 5 per cent which is still considerably above inflation.

“I hope this Legal Benchmarking Report provides valued insight comparing the financial performance of local and national peers.”