Law firms are just starting to hire again, and in the words of Chadwick Nott managing director Simon Chadwick: “Managing partners have stopped looking down at their shoes and are looking at the horizon.”

Both in-house resourcers and external recruiters are seeing a degree of greater mobility in the recruitment market, particularly in senior positions where senior associates and partners may move for a number of reasons, as Jeffrey Marlow, director of HR and training at law firm Stephenson Harwood, explained. “The firm may ask a number of partners to leave or maybe the firm is not dealing very well with its economic problems.”

Marlow added that there had been a “steady flow” of recruitment activity as a result, and he suggested that it was a “good market” at the moment in terms of people looking for employment.

Amy Bullock, manager of the legal team at Sellick Partnership, concurred with this view. She told Recruiter: “It is getting positive. Our clients are telling us that it is getting busier and they are hoping that the worst of the downturn is behind us.

“People have not been confident for the last 12 months. They are seeing a pattern of increased work and seeing things moving in the right direction to give them confidence so they can start forward-thinking rather than consolidating.”

Jamie McGregor, recruitment advertising manager at industry magazine The Lawyer, said that large-scale cutbacks among law firms had resulted in them now needing to fill vacancies.

“Some people have panicked and they are now looking to recruit,” he said. “Some are already getting their name out there, trying to be a bit forward-thinking, so that they can benefit when things pick up. They are trying to get ahead.”

He added that the in-house sector was relatively buoyant, and there was a trickle of vacancies in the banking and finance sector, and a number of dispute resolution positions.

Interestingly, a high-profile court case has contributed to a rise in public sector placements, said Bullock, adding that there was significant demand for childcare and adult social care lawyers.

Some people have panicked and are now looking to recruit. Some are already getting their name out there, being a bit forward-thinking, so they can benefit when things pick up. They are trying to get ahead

“Other busy areas are employment lawyers for local authorities, equal pay specialists and civil litigation and prosecution lawyers,” she said. As far as salary was concerned, people recruiting in the sector had heard that there was evidence of pay cuts, with others suggesting that pay was not necessarily the key driver in legal professionals changing jobs.

“Very often the salaries aren’t published but I’ve heard anecdotally of partners who have been willing to take pay cuts just to get out of the job market,” said McGregor.

Chadwick told Recruiter that pay was not the key factor for movements in the market.

“The evidence we produced back in August shows that salary isn’t the main factor [for moving]. Especially in the case of partners, the overall deciding factor on whether they move can be profitability.”

Chadwick explained that, as partners may take a share of the profits in a law firm, that firm’s ability to make a profit could be key in somebody deciding their next career move.

Overall, the picture is looking slightly more positive than usual. Recruiters and in-house resourcers will be hoping the curve continues upwards.

Jeff Marlow, director of HR and training, Stephenson Harwood
“Although in other sectors people tend to worry about hanging on to their jobs, it’s slightly different in the legal sector. Maybe the partner is doing well but the firm is not, so the partner could look to move. Or maybe the firm is just not dealing effectively with its problems.”

Amy Bullock, manager of the legal team, Sellick Partnership
“The next 12 months are going to be really interesting. We are doing more legal recruitment in the private sector which is hopefully going to continue moving forward. Legal recruitment in the public sector is going to be interesting around the election. Whichever party wins, they are going to have to address public sector debt and it will be interesting to see how that filters down to recruitment in the sector.”

Simon Chadwick, managing director, Chadwick Nott
“We always thought September would be a watershed month as it falls in the middle of the tax year. Firms will soon be moving into the new financial year and they will be rebudgeting in April, which will create some opportunities.”