Understand the trends affecting the legal profession and law firms in London.

Brexit could or will put impact on the laws leading literally numbers of areas from environment and immigration to intellectual property and finance. Law firms in London are in great demand to explain to clients in all these areas what's going on; indeed some have said wryly that the only people who will benefit from Brexit are lawyers and consultants.

At the moment there is one superseding theme to the guidance lawyers are giving – “the real challenge Brexit presents is simply the uncertainty.” The training partner of a national firm added: “Brexit is creating opportunities for lawyers in the short term because businesses are seeking advice on what it will look like.” This need for advice will intensify as Brexit negotiations continue and the shape of Britain's future relationship with the EU crystallizes.

A key area of the economy – and legal practice – affected by Brexit is financial services. The biggest issue is whether UK-based firms will retain their 'passport' rights to trade in the EU post-Brexit. At the time of writing in summer 2017 the answer to this question is no clearer than a year ago, but a trend has already begun for banks moving jobs abroad to places like Dublin and Paris.

So has the Brexit vote been bad news for the economy as predicted? The signs are mixed. One managing partner told us of “an initial dip in work after the referendum results when businesses and investors sat on their hands for a long time and thought 'I have to process this and work out what it means'.” The training partner of a City firm was more upbeat: “After the result, lots of people had prophesied doom and gloom, but actually the markets and our clients adjusted very quickly to the reality that we are going to leave the EU and want to focus on making sure there are no significant hiccups in deal activity.” The economic indicators are mixed too: GDP was up 0.2% in the first quarter of 2017 and 0.3% in the second, but growth is slower than expected, slower than in 2016, and slower than in the rest of the EU. The construction and manufacturing sectors are particularly jittery while services and tech are doing better.

Some law firms in London have optimism emerges from a growing presence overseas which they feel will help shore up any stumbles in the UK – that's great for the firms, but not much comfort to trainees and other employees in Britain if jobs are moved abroad. National firm Pinsent Masons has already set up shop in Dublin explicitly because of Brexit, and notoriously conservative US firm Sullivan & Cromwell has opened an office in Brussels to complement its London presence.

Since the recession law firms in London have learnt to do more with less. With tighter budgets, clients are demanding greater value for money. They are no longer ready to pay for a junior lawyer to sit in a room photocopying if a temp can do the same for peanuts. New technology and outsourcing are also hitting demand for trainees, with roles outsourced abroad or to low-cost parts of the UK and AI being used to do mundane tasks. Expect to hear more about the role of AI in the profession: the prognosis is that the lawyer's role will be less about drafting and more about their judgement, experience and business advice.