Will law jobs be affected during the credit crunch?

It is know internationally recognised that the world economy is in economic slowdown and the UK economy is under severe threat of dropping into recession, that is if it does not already find itself there. It is the uncertainty of where the economy actually stands that creates the problems, do we find ourselves in the grip of recession, a credit crunch if you will or are we merely enduring an economic downturn after a period of unprecedented yet unsustainable growth? It is this uncertainty that seems to be creeping its way into all industries and having a major effect upon recruitment. How has the credit crunch affected the legal profession, has there been a downturn in interest graduates possessing a degree that was certain to get them employed in previous years? What about already qualified solicitors, has the market become even more competitive as a result of there being fewer jobs available?

The availability of legal jobs or conversely the dearth of legal jobs is proportionate t how well each firm is doing within its relevant areas. For example many of Britain’s largest law firms have been only slightly if not completely unaffected by the credit crunch. For example in July, Legal Week reported a highly significant upturn in revenue for the top fifty law firms in the UK in the 2007-08 tax year. It would be prudent to note however, that such revenue was a result of these firms having an interest in foreign markets, companies with offices in France and Germany showing the most impressive results, as a result of having offices in the two European countries that have seen to be affected the least by the credit crunch. Conversely, those smaller to medium sized British firms with interests solely in the domestic markets have not been so fortunate. It is those firms with major interests or practice department concerned with property issues that have been most affected by the credit crunch. This is highly understandable considering that one of the major causes of the credit crunch was the bottom falling out of the housing market. For example several major construction businesses in the UK have announced job losses of up to 20% of their work forces, such news is not a good omen for small to medium sized domestic firms whose main resources are concentrated on property. For example Blackadders’ law firm have announced the redundancy of 60 members of staff working within their land law and conveyance department alone. It is clear to see that the credit crunch has adversely affected firms with large practicing interests in property, but how has the credit crunch affected recruitment in other practice areas?

There seems to be very little evidence to suggest that firms that concentrate on other practice areas have been adversely affected by the credit crunch. Leading legal recruitment firms have indicated that there has been very little reduction in the number of jobs that they carry. Alan Clarke a leading British recruitment firm highlighted this issue stating “There is certainly no recruitment freeze on although it would be fair to say that firms are displaying caution in terms of increasing their headcount until the situation becomes clearer. The oil and gas market remains lucrative and lawyers in this field have been less affected by the recent economic downturn. The bigger firms are still recruiting but are perhaps being more selective in terms of who they take on whereas the onus previously was simply on getting as many people on board as possible. Firms are being more strategic, recruiting in certain areas of the business but not others.” The credit crunch has resulted in a shift in dynamic in recruitment within British law firms. Instead of recruitment slowing down as a result of the credit crunch, it seems as though recruitment is becoming more selective and dispersing talent throughout several practice areas while there seems to be little if not a complete disregard for recruitment within property practice areas. The reason for this more selective recruitment is quite simple; there is more talent within the legal resource pool and not enough jobs to go around. The downturn in property practice areas has left a large number of qualified and experienced solicitors and paralegals out of work. This in turn has made the recruitment pool highly competitive, raising the standards and criteria needed for employment. This is a positive side effect of the credit crunch as far as human resource departments for law firms of all sizes, however it is not such good news for recent legal graduates.

The new found competitive and experienced nature of the legal recruitment pool is bad new for recent legal graduates. Graduates will find themselves at the bottom of the recruitment ladder after completing their degrees and LPC’s. Simply they do not possess the experience that is freely available within the legal recruitment pool, an unprecedented situation and one in which graduates are simply unlucky to find themselves in. In order to improve their situation, legal graduates will have to try very hard to distinguish themselves from the rest within the recruitment pool. There is a number of ways that this can be achieved; graduates should enquire about the possibility of added further qualifications to their resume, undertaking an LLM is a good way of distinguishing yourself. It allows a candidate to specialise within a given area of law, which will leave them more employable and familiar with certain practice areas and will push them up the ladder of employment ahead of other candidates without such qualifications. Graduates should also seriously examine the possibility of spending a little time within an internship or paralegal position, this will provide some much needed and much sought after experience and again push graduates with such experience a little further ahead than those who possess none. Due to the current situation it is the graduate’s responsibility to make themselves as employable as possible, or risk spending a lot of time out of work. The credit crunch has made legal recruitment more competitive, it is the responsibility of graduates to adapt themselves to the new recruitment landscape formed by the credit crunch.