Scotland to compete with Northern Ireland as low-cost law centre

The Scottish government’s economic development wing is courting London-based managing partners in a bid to emulate Northern Ireland’s success in enticing top firms to open low-cost bases in the country.

Scottish Development International (SDI), which is the international economic development arm of the country’s government, has been visiting managing partners at top 50 firms to urge them to open support service offices in Scotland in a bid to boost its economy.

The talks are part of SDI’s three-pronged plan, which started gathering steam in April this year, to bring more legal services work to Scotland. Under the plan, SDI is also targeting legal process outsourcing (LPO) providers, and corporates and banks with large in-house teams, as well as private practice firms.

SDI’s vice-president of financial services Philip Jones said the body was inspired by Invest Northern Ireland’s success attracting Allen & Overy and Herbert Smith to the country in return for public funding ...

Read the rest of this article on the Lawyer's website.