The impact of the “credit crunch” on Legal Recruitment
“The Lawyer” today reported that the credit crunch does not seem to have had an effect on law firm’s trainee retention rates. In fact, the retention rates are reported to have had a 7% increase, with more than three-quarters of law firms keeping on more trainee solicitors than last year. At first glance these figures may seem like a surprise, but could this actually be a strategic move by law firms to safeguard their future, and what implications does this present for legal recruitment?
With many trainee Solicitors due to qualify this September, this announcement is sure to be welcomed with open arms, but perhaps not to legal recruitment agencies that thrive on a good staff turnover within law firms and In-House legal teams. In simple terms, Newly Qualified Solicitors present cheaper labour to law firms as; firstly, Newly Qualified Solicitors command a lower salary than more experienced solicitors; and secondly, filling vacancies internally by retaining Newly Qualified Solicitors is much more cost-effective than paying human resources costs, advertising fees and legal recruitment agency’s fees. Also, if the economy were to take a further turn for the worse, it would be easier and cheaper for legal practices to make redundancies at the Newly Qualified level.
The legal recruitment agency industry has also seen Legal Executives become increasingly sought after. Nowadays it is not unusual for a law firms to advertise a job as a “Solicitor/Legal Executive” vacancy. Again, this indicates another ripple effect of the credit crunch as just like Newly Qualified Solicitors, Legal Executives also present cheaper labour than experienced Solicitors. However, unlike Newly Qualified Solicitors, Legal Executives gain their title by clocking up five years experience of working within a Law Firm; this time will generally include two years of carrying their own caseload, and on average, four years studying. This means that quite often, Legal Executives will have more experience than Solicitors, so surely employing a Legal Executive rather than a Solicitor presents a no-brainer to law firms in a time of financial crisis.
Legal recruitment agencies have also seen a record number of Commercial Property Legal Secretaries registering since the beginning of the year. Last year, experienced Legal Secretaries were in high demand with an abundance of job opportunities being advertised - especially in the commercial property sector, so it was relatively easy to place an experienced Legal Secretary that came on to the books. However, in the current situation, with commercial property work diminishing, it is the support staff such as Legal Secretaries and Paralegals who are first to take the brunt of redundancies. Many law firms are able to redistribute Legal Secretaries into different departments, but from a legal recruitment perspective, it is increasingly difficult to find job opportunities for superfluous support staff. Recruitment is a job-driven marketplace after all!
Fortunately, the credit crunch hasn’t been all bad so far – despite having a huge impact on the property sector, other practice areas have been unaffected. Private Client legal vacancies, Personal Injury law jobs, Clinical Negligence job opportunities, Criminal positions and Commercial Litigation vacancies are still being advertised as these areas are still going strong. And perhaps not so unsurprisingly, practice areas such as Employment law, Civil Litigation / Insolvency law have actually picked up with a healthy number of jobs available. Sadly, the credit crunch has also seen Family law pick up as financial pressures are taking their toll on family life as has Insolvency law with many businesses struggling to stay afloat.
There remains a lot of uncertainty about how much more the credit crisis will affect the legal recruitment industry in the coming months. At present there are still jobs out there, but the pinch is beginning to be felt. My prediction is that if the current situation worsens, it will be the higher paid higher skilled legal staff that will be the most affected. Legal recruitment will see a higher volume of support staff, Newly Qualified and Legal Executives vacancies, but a smaller volume of experienced Solicitor positions. But at the end of the day, it is only time that will be able to tell.
About the Author: I am fairly new to the wonderful world of article writing, but have been a copywriter for 2 years. If anyone deems any of my articles good enough for them to add to their blog/website please put my name on it and a link to my website http://www.judicialreview.co.uk and use the anchor text ‘legal jobs’
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Print Article | Download PDF | 27 views | Jun 19 2008
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