The Centre for Policy Studies reports today that top London lawyers are expensive.  It says that "those seeking to comply with UK legal procedure are forced to pay extremely high costs to do so". 

It might well have said that those who chose to shop on Bond Street are forced to pay more, or that housing in London is a touch pricey. 

The UK legal market is diverse, with corporate law firms to meet all budgets.  A global corporate is likely to want peace of mind and be prepared to pay for it. 

A smaller business, such as mine, will find a lawyer to suit a more modest budget. 

That doesn't mean that more transparency in fees and more efficient ways to bill clients are not needed - and this is at the front of mind for many marketing and BD teams - but when a business needs urgent advice , discussion on fees tends to become irrelevant.