The rise of platform firms: What the latest data tells us about the future of legal practice

The legal profession is undergoing a structural shift, and the latest Platform Firms Report 2025 by Codex Edge provides one of the clearest snapshots yet of how quickly that change is unfolding.

For many years, the “platform law firm” or consultant model was viewed as a niche alternative to traditional partnership structures.

Today, that perception has shifted dramatically.

The report highlights that more than 4,000 lawyers in the UK are now practising within platform firms, with the largest operators continuing to expand rapidly.

For firms already operating in this space like Jurit LLP, the findings simply confirm what many practitioners have been seeing firsthand for some time.

As Robert Marcus, Senior Partner at Jurit, puts it:

“The platform model isn’t just a structural change in law firms. It reflects a broader shift in how experienced lawyers want to practise and how clients increasingly want to access legal advice. The report shows that what was once considered an alternative model is now a mainstream part of the legal market.”

A model reaching maturity

One of the most striking themes in the report is the scale now achieved by the largest platform firms.

Several organisations have grown to hundreds of consultant lawyers operating under fee-share structures, demonstrating that the model can support substantial and diverse practices.

That scale is significant but not without risk. It suggests that platform firms are no longer experimental ventures but established businesses capable of delivering complex legal services across multiple practice areas.

For clients, this evolution can translate into a more streamlined relationship with their advisers. Without the layers of hierarchy common in traditional firms, clients often work directly with senior lawyers responsible for their matters.

However, at smaller firms such as Jurit, the focus is on creating an environment where experienced lawyers can operate independently while remaining part of a collaborative professional network, without losing the sense of brand and the focus on quality which can erode as some firms get bigger.

Robert explains: “A key strength of the platform model is that it allows senior lawyers to retain independence while still benefiting from the infrastructure, governance and collective expertise of a firm. That balance is what makes the model attractive both to lawyers and to clients.”

Why lawyers are moving

The Codex Edge report also sheds light on the drivers behind the continued growth of platform firms.

“From what we see on the ground here at Jurit, flexibility and autonomy remain central to the appeal. Lawyers are increasingly attracted to a model that allows them to shape their own practices, develop their client relationships and structure their working lives more flexibly, and this is reflected in the report.”

Retention figures illustrate the strength of that appeal. According to the report, the top ten platform firms record retention rates between 90% and 97%, with some smaller firms achieving complete retention among consultant lawyers.

For Jurit, these figures reflect a deeper shift within the profession.

“For many experienced lawyers, the traditional partnership track no longer reflects how they want to practise. The platform model gives them the freedom to focus on their clients and their expertise, rather than internal firm structures,” adds Robert.

By combining independence with operational support, including compliance, billing and administrative infrastructure, platform firms aim to enable lawyers to concentrate on delivering legal advice.

The experience “sweet spot”

Another insight highlighted in the report is the profile of lawyers who tend to succeed within the platform environment.

The research identifies a post-qualification experience “sweet spot” between roughly nine and eighteen years PQE. These are typically lawyers who have developed strong professional reputations and client relationships but may be looking for greater control over how they practise.

As Anthony Garrod, Partner at Jurit LLP notes, this reflects the natural evolution of many legal careers.

“Firms like us tend to attract lawyers who have reached a stage where they already have strong client relationships and a clear sense of how they want to practise. The model allows them to build on that foundation while remaining part of a collaborative legal community.”

Within Jurit, that collaborative element remains central to the firm’s structure. Although lawyers operate with significant autonomy, they are also able to work alongside colleagues across different specialisms when matters require broader expertise.

The broader implications for the profession

The continued growth of platform firms inevitably raises questions about the future structure of the legal profession.

One issue identified in the report was whether the movement of experienced lawyers into consultancy models could eventually place pressure on traditional training pipelines. If fewer mid-level lawyers remain within conventional firms, questions may arise about how the next generation of lawyers will be trained.

However, this development may simply reflect a profession that is diversifying its organisational structures rather than abandoning traditional ones. Robert believes that different models will continue to coexist:

“Traditional firms will always play a vital role in training and developing lawyers. What platform firms offer is a different stage in the professional lifecycle – a model that supports experienced practitioners who want to practise with greater independence.”

A different way of practising law

Perhaps the most significant takeaway from the Codex Edge report is that the organisation of legal work is evolving alongside technological and cultural change.

Advances in technology, combined with more flexible working patterns, mean that the traditional office-centric firm is no longer the only way to structure legal services.

Platform firms leverage these developments by providing the infrastructure and compliance framework that allow lawyers to operate independently within a regulated firm.

For clients, this often means working directly with highly experienced advisers who can assemble the right expertise around a matter when required.

As Robert summarises:

“What clients increasingly value is access to experienced lawyers who can provide clear, commercially focused advice. Platform firms are well placed to deliver that because they allow senior practitioners to build practices around their clients’ needs rather than around internal firm structures.”

If the past decade has been about demonstrating that the platform model works, the next decade will likely focus on how it evolves.

Competition between platform firms will intensify, technology will continue to reshape how distributed legal teams collaborate, and the expectations of both lawyers and clients will continue to change.

What appears increasingly clear, however, is that platform firms are no longer an outlier within the legal market. They are becoming an established and influential part of the profession’s landscape.

Robert concludes: “The growth highlighted in the report shows that the profession is not just experimenting with new ways of working, it is actively redefining them.”

For Jurit and firms operating in the same space, that evolution represents an opportunity to continue refining a model built around flexibility, collaboration and senior expertise.