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Sydney is positioned to establish itself as the next major legal hub on a global scale, according to the Committee for Sydney and the Law Society of NSW.
The report, Making the Case: Sydney as a global legal hub, emphasised Sydney’s legal sector as a treasure in the economy, with over 35,000 practising solicitors and two law schools in the global top 20.
The report examined Sydney’s potential to become a global legal hub by expanding its existing strengths and minimising the gap between its actual performance and international reputation.
It benchmarked Sydney against established global legal centres and proposed six ideas to attract more international legal activity, with the ultimate aim of boosting NSW’s economy and strengthening Sydney’s position on an international level from a legal perspective.
Sydney’s legal sector could play a pivotal role in driving NSW’s economic growth and supporting the next generation of advanced industries, according to Jeremy Gill, head of policy at the Committee for Sydney.
“Sydney is home to industries that will shape the coming decades – quantum technology, bio-medical specialisations, cutting-edge renewable energy research,” Gill said.
“But these can’t scale without an ecosystem of supporting sectors – particularly law – to help navigate regulation, international trade, investment and dispute resolution.
“The challenge is we haven’t historically included these sectors in industry and innovation policy, and we haven’t done the work to market these strengths on the world stage.
“It takes a village to raise a child. If we want to translate Sydney’s ranking as the southern hemisphere’s number one city for startups into being a global city for advanced industries, we need to make sure the rest of the village is part of that journey.
“A capable, specialised and well supported legal sector will be crucial.”
Ronan MacSweeney, president of the Law Society of NSW, noted the report supports the priority of promoting NSW as a jurisdiction of choice for legal services in the Asia-Pacific region, highlighting Sydney’s concentration of legal talent and strong rule of law.
“This report demonstrates that Sydney has the potential to bring a significant portion of international legal work to our shores and provide a sound basis for the government to continue to invest in improved court infrastructure,” MacSweeney said.
“This can be driven by highlighting the strengths of the legal market here: the heavy concentration of legal talent in Sydney, the efficiency and speed of the NSW Supreme Court in delivering speedy, well-reasoned decisions, our common law system, and our high ranking in the Global Rule of Law Index. All these factors make NSW an attractive jurisdiction of choice.
“Building on this opportunity will require a combined effort from the government, the legal profession and the wider business sector.
“I trust that the light this report now shines on NSW’s enormous potential will propel these sectors to work together to make Sydney a key global legal hub.”
Put NSW front of mind, at home and abroad
The first idea noted in the report is to aim to increase awareness of Sydney’s legal and arbitration capabilities.
The report highlighted that NSW and Sydney were often overlooked when companies selected governing law and arbitration venues, as international counsel tended to favour established alternatives such as Singapore, Hong Kong and the ICC.
As a result, the report recognised the necessity of promoting NSW’s common law system, strong legal sector, reliable judiciary, geopolitical neutrality, and cost advantages to strengthen its international competitiveness.
The report recommended that businesses adopt NSW law and the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA) rules, in order to engage international counsel, and host major international legal and arbitration events to raise global awareness.
Build sector relationships
The report highlighted Sydney’s advantages in sectors such as fintech, software, biomedical and quantum technologies, with such areas presenting opportunities to expand specialised legal services.
Furthermore, it was recommended that Sydney engage key industry representatives, implement standard contract clauses specifying NSW law and ACICA arbitration rules, map practitioners in NSW firms with expertise in each priority sector, and embed legal specialisation into NSW government industry policies.
Build the coalition to tell Sydney’s story
The report accentuated the need for a coordinated, cross-sector approach to promote Sydney as a global centre for legal services, as government agencies, universities, industry bodies and businesses often communicated separate or inconsistent messages to international audiences.
It was highlighted that businesses – and legal professionals – would benefit significantly from greater recognition of Sydney’s legal capabilities in supporting international trade, investment and dispute resolution.
The report recommended developing consistent messaging across organisations, providing shared evidence and key messages for international promotion, and work with retired NSW Supreme Court and Federal Court of Australia judges who sit on international courts or work as international arbitrators to become advocates for NSW’s legal capabilities.
Back ACICA to compete
The report identified ACICA as central to Sydney’s goal of becoming a global legal hub, but noted that its caseload remained significantly smaller compared to major centres like Singapore.
It highlighted that ACICA’s self-funded model limited its capacity to invest in domestic and international promotion, despite administering matters valued at $5.4 billion in 2025.
The report recommended increasing government and industry funding, bolstering collaboration with key sectors to promote ACICA’s services, and providing a dedicated Sydney venue for arbitrations and events to enhance its visibility and generate additional revenue, like Singapore’s Maxwell Chambers.
Connect the courts to international parties and to arbitration
As NSW courts are the fastest in Australia and were among the country’s earliest adopters of court technology, the report highlighted the opportunity to make these features more visible and accessible to the world.
It recommended establishing and publicising service standards for arbitration-adjacent matters, along with reinforcing the need to build digital access so international parties are able to file, appear and provide evidence without having to travel.
Compete for legal functions and legal talent
The report highlighted that companies often elect governing law based on the location of their in-house legal teams, with many Asia-Pacific teams concentrated in Singapore.
It noted that while NSW produces around 2,900 law graduates annually, Sydney undergoes challenges when it comes to retaining local talent and attracting overseas-qualified lawyers due to regulatory and recognition barriers.
The report recommended engaging companies already running Asia-Pacific legal teams from Sydney to understand what brought them and what constrains them.
It also highlighted a need to develop a targeted attraction program to position Sydney as a preferred in-house counsel based in the Asia-Pacific region, and proposed a reduction in the experience requirement for foreign lawyers seeking admission to NSW from seven to five years.
