The number of self-employed consultant lawyers within alternative legal service provider (ALSP) platforms has topped 5,000 – a 25% increase in just 12 months.
The numbers have been revealed in the fourth Platform Firms Report from Codex Edge. Last year, the report’s authors described ALSPs as “a fundamental part of the UK legal fabric” and the growth shows no sign of abating, with four of the top 10 hiring firms in the legal market now platform firms.
In 2024, Setfords, Taylor Rose, gunnercooke and Keystone Law dominated the legal platform market. This year, the big four have become five thanks to what the report terms the “exceptional” growth of Lawhive, which now holds the fifth place in the market in terms of lawyers, with a total headcount of 421. Of those, 229 were gained over the course of 2025 alone.
Setfords, which is reported to be exploring sale options, remains the largest ALSP, with a headcount of 653. Keystone Law comes in second (586), followed by Taylor Rose (513). However, the report acknowledges the latter is an estimate as Taylor Rose operates a hybrid model. Gunnercooke, the “most diverse and strategically diverse firm in the sector” according to the report, makes up the top five with 480 lawyers.
The growth is driven by recruitment from traditional private practice, with sub-Legal 500 firms accounting for over a third of all moves (34.7%) and Legal 500 firms contributing 16.4% of the new consultants. Movement between platforms remains limited at around 13% of total activity, much of which can be attributed to Lawhive’s “more aggressive hiring from other platforms”, the report notes.
One emerging point from this year’s data is the number of lawyers (14%) holding positions at more than one platform. “Lawyers aren’t just switching; they’re stacking, building portfolios across multiple platforms in a way that would be impossible in a conventional firm structure,” the report explains.
“The growth of the sector over this period has been quite remarkable,” said Codex Edge CEO Chris Hume. “What these innovative firms have demonstrated clearly is that the core model is robust and continues to attract significant numbers of lawyers from traditional firms.
“In 2021/2 there was a question as to whether the growth was a short-lived ‘Covid era’ phenomenon. Well, as you can see within the pages of this year’s report, that question has been resoundingly answered.”
The post-qualified experience (PQE) profile of lawyers moving into platform work in 2025 was 16, broadly consistent with previous years, which the report says reinforces the view of a “sweet spot” of mid to senior career practitioners with the client following, reputation and professional confidence to thrive in a self-directed environment.
However, the report warns this may result in an important long-term implication for the wider legal market. “If the platform model continues to draw disproportionately from the 15–20 PQE bracket, there is a risk, as highlighted in previous editions of this report, that traditional firms face a growing shortage of experienced lawyers at the stage of career when they are most capable of mentoring and developing the next generation.
“This remains one of the more significant structural questions facing the UK legal sector as platform firms continue to grow.”
Property remains the most popular area of practice, but the report indicates that a growing breadth of practice areas now covered by the consultant firms will see the next phase of the market defined by differentiation.
Commenting in the report, gunnercooke chief of staff Hayden Cooke said: “This report clearly shows that the credibility question is settled. The differentiation question is therefore key. Over the next five years, headcount and growth rates will matter less than the quality of the work, the calibre of the people doing it, and the culture holding it together. That’s what our experience has already shown us to date, but becomes even more critical as the space becomes noisier.”
Ahmed Shahin, director of technology and analytics at Codex Edge, concluded: “Crossing 5,000 lawyers is the headline, but the real story is what sits behind it. We now have a ‘Big Five’ rather than a ‘Big Four’; four of the 10 highest-hiring law firms in the UK in 2025 were platform firms; and the lawyers who make the move are staying. The model is now structural.”
