The Legal Employment Reality Check
If you believed the louder corners of LinkedIn, the legal jobs market is either collapsing or booming. But it can’t be both. So what is happening in the legal jobs arena?
According to Reuters, the truth is far less dramatic and far more interesting.
The annual report states that the legal industry is experiencing a tectonic shift that has helped many law firms thrive during this transformative era, driving unprecedented demand growth and profits per lawyer of Am Law 100 firms increasing 53.7% since 2019. Reuters ‘State of US Law Market Report’
Law firms are still hiring. They’re just being choosier about how they go about hiring and who they hire.
What the data actually shows
The post-pandemic hiring binge is over. That doesn’t mean the market has crashed. It means firms have stopped panic-recruiting and started asking awkward questions again.
- Do we need this role now?
- Does this practice actually grow?
- Will this hire still make sense in 18 months?
For candidates, this feels like a slowdown. For firms, it may just show some sanity returning to the law jobs market at last.
Winners, losers, and awkward middle ground
The Reuters picture is clear as to what is happening in different legal sectors, noting:
Still in demand legal work
- Litigation
- Regulatory
- Restructuring
- High-end corporate specialists
Cooling off legal work
- Generalist corporate roles
- Overstaffed transactional teams
- “Nice-to-have” lateral moves
The days of getting multiple offers simply for existing are gone. Skills, track record, and fit matter again. Tragic, really.
Why this is healthier than it sounds
Boom-time hiring creates bad habits. So does boom-time quitting. What we are now seeing is a more selective market that places emphasis upon training quality, reducing attrition churn among lawyers, thinking longer term and rewarding lawyers who actually develop expertise.
