T+O+M BLOG

As we welcome Katie Mitchell to the T+O+M team, she shares some mid-year insights on the legal world. 

It's a similar story to those shared in our T+O+M Talks mid-year videos - a candidate short market fuelled by border closures combined with high and rising demand for talent that exceeds pre-COVID levels as firms expand. 

These factors combined with the fact that lawyers missed out on pay reviews in 2020 means that salary and bonus expectations are on the rise and lawyers are on the move.  As such, clients wishing to hire need to be realistic about the offers they make to candidates, who will often have a number of offers in play, and consider paying sign-on bonuses. On the flip side, firms wishing to keep valued staff are starting to offer retention bonuses, as well as continue to support hybrid flexible working arrangements, which has been popular with lawyers. 

Areas of demand have been particularly in corporate law (where M&A activity is strong) and regulatory in the cyber, security and privacy space, as well as commercial law, finance, funds management, IT,  governance, property, litigation and insurance. Candidates with risk and governance experience are especially valued. The prediction is for consulting arms of law firms to continue to grow which will result in more opportunities for non-lawyers as well as lawyers.

If you'd like to find out more about hiring opportunities, then please get in touch with Katie.