Advocating for you internationally: our recent achievements
We're committed to supporting lawyers and defending the independence of the legal profession around the world, as well as pushing hard for more support and opportunities to help our sector reach its full global commercial potential.
Discover what we’ve done to promote and protect the reputation and interests of solicitors working internationally over the last 12 months.
Lawyers at Risk
UK signs landmark treaty for the protection of lawyers
The Council of Europe adopted the Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer in March 2025, after years of negotiations and drafting process in response to growing concerns about the erosion of legal freedoms and independence. The UK was among the 17 states which were the first signatories to the convention in May.
We supported the development of the convention since its inception by:
- inputting into the report on feasibility and lobbying for a binding convention
- providing input into the substantive report on what such a convention should include
- successfully putting forward one of our committee members, Tony Fisher, as the UK representative to the international committee of 15 legal professionals tasked with drafting the convention
- directly inputting on the text of the convention and explanatory report, in particular strengthened text regarding the monitoring mechanism
liaising with the UK government on compliance with the provisions of the convention and its plans for signature, while also raising awareness of the convention among our members and key stakeholders at home and abroad
We’ll continue to work to make sure that the convention is ratified by the UK and the minimum eight states required for it to come into force, as swiftly as possible.
At that stage, it’ll be possible for states beyond the Council of Europe to join the convention, and we’ll promote its adoption worldwide.
United Kingdom
Legal services at the heart of the UK’s new trade strategy
Many of our recommendations were reflected in the UK government’s new approach to international trade in June 2025, including:
- the strategy places the UK’s services sector at the heart of trade policy, recognising its importance to the economy. Our work to reduce barriers in Japan through regulator-to-regulator dialogue was presented in the strategy as an example of how government and business can work together to address non-tariff barriers
- a new Ricardo Fund has been introduced to support UK regulators and trade teams in tackling regulatory barriers abroad, benefiting sectors like legal services. We’ve been awarded grants under the fund for two consecutive years, in 2025 and 2026, supporting our work in the US, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia
- the UK government is continuing to pursue the mutual recognition of professional qualifications with key countries to boost exports of professional services
Find out more about the UK government’s economic plans.
Europe
European Union – opening the door for UK lawyers to learn and work in the EU
The EU and UK agreed at a summit in May 2025 to work towards a Youth Experience Scheme to “facilitate the participation of young people from the European Union and the United Kingdom in various activities” including training and work.
We’ve long been arguing in favour of the scheme after hearing from firms that secondments of young lawyers to the EU have become more arduous since Brexit due to lengthy visa processing times. We’ll continue working to ensure the scheme benefits the legal sector.
Switzerland – business travel agreement extended to 2029
Lawyers from the UK can continue to travel to Switzerland for up to 90 days a year without having to apply for a work permit or visa, as both countries have agreed to extend the Services Mobility Agreement (SMA) again until the end of 2029.
We had pushed for the agreement to be extended and we’re now calling on government to secure these provisions permanently by including them in the Free Trade Agreement that it’s currently negotiating with Switzerland.
Americas
United States – rules for UK firms operating in Florida and Texas clarified
We’ve been engaging with an ever-growing number of US states to clarify and improve the rules for UK lawyers and law firms practising in the US, where legal services are regulated at state level.
Thanks to funding granted from the Department for Business and Trade under the Ricardo Programme, in 2025 we visited Texas and Florida to support members operating there. In early 2026, we’ll visit California and return to Florida.
This work has enabled us to provide detailed guidance on the rules in each key state – read our guides on doing legal business in:
South Asia and ASEAN
India – rules allowing establishment of foreign lawyers and law firms updated
The Bar Council of India published amended rules in May 2025 allowing for the first time UK and other foreign lawyers and law firms to establish a presence in the country.
We continue to liaise with our Indian counterparts and stakeholders to push for improvements to, and implementation of, the new rules.
Read our updated guide on doing legal business in India.
North Asia and the Pacific
Japan – improvement to how foreign lawyers register in Japan
We’ve been active in encouraging the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) to digitalise their registration process, as the current system requires foreign lawyers to submit hard copy documents with wet ink signatures to register.
The JFBA have taken the first step towards digitalisation, by allowing foreign lawyers moving from one firm to another to submit their new documents electronically. They’re currently considering the next phase of their digitalisation plan.
Read our updated guide on doing legal business in Japan.
China – shortening approval times to register in China
During our visit to China in May 2025, the Shanghai Pudong Bureau of Justice, which manages the regulatory framework for the legal services market in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, informed us that they will implement measures to speed up the approval process for foreign lawyers to practise in China.
However, they have since not confirmed the specifics of these plans.
The length of time taken to gain approval currently stands at around 12 months.
Read our guide on doing legal business in China.
Africa and the Middle East
Saudi Arabia – clarifying practice rules for foreign lawyers
We’ve been directly engaging the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Investments of Saudi Arabia (MISA) on the clarification of practice rules for foreign lawyers, as well as helping to facilitate members seeking to register and to set up a regional headquarters.
We’re aware registration times have been shortened by a reduction to the application process from three to two steps, making it faster for members to secure a licence to practise.
Read our guide on doing legal business in Saudi Arabia.