Introduction

Shoosmiths has advised Centaur Media Plc on the sale of The Lawyer to the Legal Benchmarking Group (LBG) for £43 million, marking one of the most notable shifts in the UK’s legal media landscape in recent years. 

Why This Matters

The Lawyer has been a fixture in the legal industry for decades, shaping how firms measure success and how the market perceives itself. LBG’s acquisition marks a new phase in the legal media sphere, where influence is measured by data, not print runs, a transformation that mirrors the way the legal industry now values visibility, reputation, and reach.

The deal strengthens LBG’s position in legal benchmarking and performance analytics. These are areas where law firms now spend heavily to track profitability, diversity and market share. The Lawyer’s data is a big part of that value. Its research and rankings, including the UK 200 and Litigation Tracker, give LBG a rich source of insight to build deeper, subscription-based tools for law firms and in-house teams.

For Centaur, the sale is a strategic move away from niche publishing toward its primary focus on financial information and events. In short, this deal shows how information, not advertising or print reach, now drives both revenue and influence in the legal sector.

How Legal Teams Get Involved

For Shoosmiths, advising on the deal shows its growing strength in media, tech, and information-sector transactions, a sector that is increasingly relevant as traditional publishing continues to consolidate around digital analytics. This transaction called for corporate and commercial expertise, but also a niche understanding of intellectual property, data, and publishing rights.

  • Corporate Teams handled the core sale documentation, due diligence, and share transfer, ensuring compliance with Centaur’s disclosure obligations as a listed company.
  • IP and Data Teams assessed the ownership and transfer of The Lawyer’s vast editorial and analytics datasets, key intangible assets that determine the brand’s value.
  • Employment Lawyers advised on the transfer of The Lawyer’s editorial and operational staff under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations, maintaining continuity as the brand moves into LBG’s structure.
  • Commercial Contracts Lawyers oversaw ongoing content licensing and advertising partnerships that needed to survive the handover.

Future Outlook

With The Lawyer now under the Legal Benchmarking Group, expect to see the publication evolve beyond journalism toward data-driven insight products, integrating analytics with editorial coverage. Its brand equity in legal commentary, paired with LBG’s quantitative expertise, could create a new benchmark for how the profession measures itself.

For Shoosmiths, the mandate reinforces its position at the intersection of law, media, and data, advising not just on deals in the sector, but on the transformation of the industry’s informational backbone.

As consolidation continues across the UK’s professional press, one thing is clear: the future of legal media belongs to those who own the data behind the headlines.