Key Global Trends and Legal Market Developments
Chambers Global discusses the trends and developments across the global legal market, focusing on Cross-border M&A, Global M&A and Environmental, Social, and Governance.
Cross-boarder M&A and Global M&A
Our conversations with lawyers and users of legal services helped us add color to key global trends and legal market development seen in 2022, as well as unearthing more subtle developments.
Cross-border M&A, and Global M&A overall, declined in both volume and value in 2022.
The historic highs seen in 2021 were brought down by combination of factors – both clients and lawyers were quick to point to the challenges posed by higher interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty and continued supply chain disruptions.
Despite the overall downturn, many jurisdictions saw growth in M&A during the past year; the Middle East was one area that bucked the trend.
However, when it came to litigation and alternative dispute resolution, the macro trend was somewhat different.
Economic uncertainty and international conflict were two of the prime drivers of disputes and arbitrations; several arbitral institutions saw a notable increase in cases filled.
The Latin American region was particularly active, whilst practitioners were keen to highlight the increase in sector-specific disputes, including litigation around construction projects and climate change.
Focus on ESG across the global legal market
The focus on ESG continued in 2022, with clients demanding increased attention to a range of matters in the area.
We found that questions around decarbonization, cybersecurity and international supply chain management were some of the key issues raised by clients.
Our conversations with firms showed that law firms were acting accordingly – many firms increased their focus on ESG in 2022, including creating new practices and growing already established groups.
With ever expanding workloads, we found that law firms were increasingly using technology to help drive productivity and efficiency.
Artificial Intelligence and automation technology were two commonly cited examples of technology that firms utilized to streamline their processes.
This trend has seen consistent growth over recent years, and we anticipate that it will continue for the foreseeable future.
Despite 2022 being a rather tumultuous year, the Global Legal Market remained strong and is predicted to continue its growth in the next 12 months.
In this ever-expanding field, our International & Cross-Border, Global Market Leaders and Multi-jurisdictional tables remain a go-to source for clients looking for firms with international capabilities.
