US cities accounted for 69% of overall legal leasing activity in the world’s largest legal markets, reflecting the dominance of American firms in the sector overall, as well as the tendency for US legal offices to have a lower occupancy density. New York accounted for a third of all leasing deals across the same markets, reflecting its position as the world’s biggest legal hub.

Domestic firms drove leasing activity in Asia Pacific in the first half, accounting for 87% of all deals transacted in the largest legal markets in the region. In Shanghai, domestic incumbents accounted for over half over the overall transaction volume in H1.