The movement of the Big Four accounting firms into the legal space continues strongly and none moreso than EY who are planning rapid expansion of their legal division.
Bloomberg Big Law report that EY’s John Knox, Singapore-based and who became EY’s new global legal managed services leader in July, is working to grow the legal division fast.
“Our plan is to double, triple, quadruple the size of our business pretty quickly,” Knox said. That starts with doubling legal managed services revenues over the next 12 months, he said.
Knox’s plan is the latest sign that the Big Four—including Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC—and other alternative legal service providers are making a play for a larger piece of a market traditionally dominated by law firms.
The moves are of particular interest in the US market where some states are now looking at changing the law firm ownership rules, which will intensify the move into the legal space by the Big Four and others, including alternative legal providers.
Deloitte last month unveiled a new U.S. Legal Business Services practice, which will work with in-house legal offices to streamline functions that track client contracts, invoices, eDiscovery, and other functions.
Knox said EY’s legal managed services unit is focusing on many of the same services, including by offering a range of contract lifecycle management tools. The U.S. remains a key area of growth for EY as a result of its being the largest legal market in the world by a significant margin.
As a proportion of EY’s general business the legal services business is relatively tiny. That leaves a lot of room for growth.
Last September, EY announced record combined global revenues of $36.4 billion for the financial year that ended in June of 2019. It has continued to expand with new alliances in China and elsewhere.
Read More on LawFuel
- MinterEllison Slashing Graduate Jobs: Is AI Replacing Junior Lawyers?
- $230bn in Five Days, Two Partners Out the Door – Wachtell’s High-Stakes Reckoning
The firm that pays its partners $12 million a year just can’t stop losing them. Here’s why that paradox may be the most important story in Big Law right now. Wachtell Lipton broke every profitability record in Am Law 100 history in 2026 — and watched nine partners walk out the door to rivals offering something the numbers alone couldn’t match. What’s really driving the exodus from Wall Street’s most envied firm, whether the lockstep model can survive the age of the $80 million guarantee, and what it all means for the future of elite legal practice: it’s all inside. Log in to read the breaking Big Law story . . - Jude Law, Aaron Judge, and the Legal AI Arms Race: Why Legora Is Betting Big on Star Power
- The “Law Firm in a Box” Just Got a Brain Graft
- Paul Weiss Sheds Litigation Associates Citing Performance Reviews as Firm Navigates Litigation Slowdown
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison has parted ways with several litigation associates following its annual performance review cycle, possibly marking a structural change from the relatively recently annointed firm chair Scott Barshay (pictured). According to reporting by The American Lawyer, the New York-based firm, which has long prided itself on avoiding public layoffs, including during the 2008 financial crisis and the 2022 financial correction . . Log in to read more . . . - Class of 2025 Law Grads Hit 87.7% Employment in Top-Tier Jobs But the Details Are More Mixed
Smaller class, sustained demand, and a notable dip in BigLaw and government hiring: what the latest ABA numbers actually mean for law firm recruiting and your next career move. The legal job market held firm for the Class of 2025, but the full picture is more nuanced than the headline rate suggests. According to employment data released April 22, 2026 by the Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, 87.7% of 2025 graduates from Council-accredited law schools were employed in full-time, long-term Bar Admission Required/Anticipated or J.D. Advantage positions as of March 16, 2026 — roughly ten months after graduation. Log in to read more . . - Doing the Mahi on Maiki: How TVNZ Tried to Bury Its Own Scandal
- Average Lawyer Salary 2026: BLS Data by State, Practice Area & Experience
If you are a lawyer reviewing your options in 2026, the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and major legal compensation surveys makes one thing clear: location, specialty, and experience still dictate everything. The national median lawyer salary stands at $151,160 as of the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey for May 2024 — the most recent official release — with approximately 747,750 lawyers in paid employment across the country. The national mean wage for lawyers is $182,760, reflecting how strongly the top earners pull the average upward. Log in for the full report . .
