Legal Recruitment

The legal sector has been experiencing good opportunities for its young law graduates even amidst the economic slowdown. The global financial crisis has done little to adversely affect the job opportunities available to the law graduates. Instead, it has resulted into new avenues for them.

Economic slowdown has its worst effect on property; extensive redundancies are made in this specific sector. The residential property market is almost closed. But in commercial property, new sales and acquisitions and finance and development have kept the market alive. Solicitors could find jobs in commercial property sector.

Caseload of general insolvencies has created a huge demand for solicitors having experience in insolvency and contentious property litigation. However, the demand is much higher for solicitors, who have commercial insolvency or corporate recovery experience rather than personal insolvency. According to recruitment agencies and legal firms, there are a number of jobs available for contentious construction solicitors. A candidate with arbitration experience is especially sought after these days.

Another area offering legal jobs in these turbulent times is employment law. As commercial firms are continuously making redundancies and new employment legislation is being considered by the government, job opportunities in the field of employment law service are surging. It is certainly difficult to believe that current demand in employment legal service is so high that a single recruitment agency can never fulfill it on its own.

Personal injury sector has also remained steady throughout the economic downturn. This particular sector has moved ahead to take advantage of those law and LPC graduates, who are looking for training contracts. These graduates can work like case handlers for the small and fast track work. Areas such as wills and probate, family and crime seek paralegal graduates.

A law student in the UK typically has to study for up to 3 years to get his or her law degree and one year for completing the LPC. It is a quite expensive and time consuming process. After going through this expensive academic process, the prospective solicitors start their hunt for the training contract. For this they rely on various recruitment agencies and legal vacancies published in newspapers and magazines. But at present scenario a 2:1 at degree makes solicitors eligible for training contracts. Law graduates, who do not fulfill this condition, may find it difficult to get a training contract.

Training contracts are now mostly awarded to prospective solicitors two years in advance. Moreover, legal firms have more options and they can now pick the best. In this scenario, it has become mandatory for solicitors to get work as paralegal. It means that it will take a solicitor another 2 to 4 years after graduating to actually start a training contract. A paralegal job outside London can get anything between £15-20000 per annum. But it will take you a number of years to get £20-30000 per annum and that too depends on the area of law he or she is practising.

So what does a prospective law student should analyze in this situation? One can say for certain that to study and make a striking career in law is not for those, who are faint hearted. You have to expend a lot of money in law colleges and put in tremendous effort to complete with fellow graduates. It is better to look for other areas in law, which pay better and have plenty of vacancies. Corporate and commercial law and commercial litigation are such areas. A recruitment agency can better tell which area you should choose after going through your credentials.

When a door is closed another opens. This phrase stands quite true with regard to the legal sector. Although currently in the throws of economic recession, law graduates are still in good demand in certain areas.

Economic slowdown has its worst effect on property; extensive redundancies are made in this specific sector. The residential property market is almost closed. But in commercial property, new sales and acquisitions and finance and development have kept the market alive. Solicitors can find jobs in commercial property sector, as landlord and tenant work is holding out.

Caseload of general insolvencies has created a huge demand for solicitors with insolvency and contentious property litigation experience. However, the demand is much higher for solicitors, who have commercial insolvency or corporate recovery experience rather than personal insolvency. Recruitment agencies and legal firms are also reporting that there are a number of jobs available for contentious construction solicitors. A candidate with arbitration experience is especially sought after these days.

Another area with legal jobs in these turbulent times is employment law. As commercial firms are continuously making redundancies and a new employment legislation is being considered by the government, jobs in the field of employment law service are surging. It is certainly difficult to believe that current demand in employment legal service is so high that a single recruitment agency can never fulfill it on its own.

Personal injury sector has remained steady throughout the economic downturn. Yet, this particular sector has moved ahead to take advantage of those law and LPC graduates, who are looking for training contracts. These graduates can work like case handlers for the small and fast track work. Areas such as wills and probate, family and crime seek more paralegal graduates than there are today.