Lee Saunders, editor at Nishlis Legal Marketing, takes a closer look at Israel’s dynamic and robust legal market
With more lawyers per capita than any other country and with over 110 international law firms with an Israel Desk, Israel is home to one of the most dynamic and robust legal markets. The two largest law firms have a little over 400 lawyers, the eight largest law firms have more than 200 lawyers and the top 20 law firms have over 80 lawyers, all in all, Israel’s top-20 law firms contain 5% of all the lawyers in Israel.
Diversity
With respect to gender equality, Israel’s 70,000 lawyers are split almost equally between male and female. In fact, Israel has four female Supreme Court judges – surpassing the number in the UK, whose own first female president, Baroness Brenda Hale, was appointed only in 2017. By then, Israel was about to start on its third female president, with its first, Dorit Beinisch appointed in 2006. Furthermore, by this point, Israel had already appointed two female Ministers of Justice: Tzipi Livni – serving three times – and more recently, Ayelet Shaked in 2015.
Innovation in the Start-Up Nation
The country is an attractive destination, mostly due its principal export: the innovation of its hi-tech sector. Israeli start-ups raised a record monthly figure of over US$1.2bn in January 2021, according to press releases from the companies and their investors. Israeli tech companies raised a record US$10bn+ in 2020, according to IVC-ZAG, up from US$8.3bn raised in 2019, and US$6.4bn in 2018.
In many instances, financing rounds by tech companies that facilitate remote working and healthcare and cyber security, have been boosted rather than hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, organisations around the world had to quickly mobilise and move to remote work platforms. Israel is at the forefront, with respect to the cyber industry.
Opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa
It is technology that has been at the forefront of recent exciting developments with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Morocco. Last year’s landmark agreement formalising ties between Israel and the UAE has investors and entrepreneurs flush with genuine excitement and in October, Israel and the UAE announced the creation of a new trilateral fund – the Abraham Fund – with the US, potentially worth more than US$3bn. In addition to cyber, defense, healthcare, AI, while in the field of smart transportation, Israel’s Mobileye announced a strategic partnership with the UAE’s Al Habtoor Group (AHG) to begin setting up the infrastructure to test autonomous vehicles in Dubai. After the UAE, Morocco became the fourth country in recent months to normalise relations, opening up opportunities in food, agri-tech and desert agriculture, as well as solar and wind energy.
Israel Law Firm Rankings Table 2021*
* Disclaimer – the table was derived from size, quality of work (according to The Legal 500 rankings) and cross-border capabilities.