Hays Legal - October 2007

Hotspots

The legal market is still experiencing candidate shortages across the board and the likelihood of a decrease in demand is slim. Any decrease however would be the result of a reduction in workflow or a strategic decision not to hire, rather than an increase in candidate volumes.

Current recruitment 'hotspots' exist within corporate/M&A for corporate lawyers at all levels. The greatest demand has been in the two to five years post admission experience level, largely due to the departure of a large number of Australian lawyers to the overseas markets at this stage in their career.

Property lawyers are another hotspot as law firms and organisations compete for the rarely available experienced candidate. The huge demand for lawyers with property law experience has seen fierce competition from competing firms/organisations, sometimes resulting in a 'bidding war' for a candidate.

Within taxation demand is high for candidates with taxation law experience, both direct and indirect. As a result firms will consider candidates that have come from a large accounting practice, not just a law firm.

Demand also exists for lawyers with banking and finance experience and a quality candidate will have a variety of options to consider.

The coming quarter

Consistent demand in corporate, property, taxation and banking and finance is dominating vacancy activity over this quarter and will continue into the early months of 2008. Larger firms in particular are still hiring in virtually all practice areas, and this activity is not expected to abate.

Overall, the trend remains one of high demand of experienced candidates. New graduates will commence with firms in late January and early February 2008, which may place a short hold on intermediate hiring. However, the senior end of the market will remain extremely busy, and 2008 will see a continued candidate short environment.

High demand for Australian lawyers overseas continues, particularly from the London, New York and Dubai markets. Overseas firms are offering large salaries and exposure to top deals and clients to attract our skills, which has augmented the shortage of lawyers at the two to five year PAE level, particularly for corporate and banking lawyers.

As a result of local shortages, some firms have begun to source candidates from the UK and New Zealand, and are also looking at candidates from Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, South Africa and Hong Kong, offering sponsorship, relocation assistance and top salaries to attract them.

Executive

Partner level recruitment remains active and a number of major practices continue to expand, creating new partnership opportunities as a result.

Salaries

Following the steady increase across skill sets over the past 12 months, we do not expect any major salary movements over this quarter. While rates have levelled across Australia and become increasingly aligned with Sydney salaries, Perth lawyers have been the main salary beneficiaries overall.

With firms recruiting more aggressively, the use of sign-on bonuses has increased significantly. Flexibility in working hours, part time arrangements and work/life balance options are also increasing. The Hays Salary Survey is available at www.hays.com.au/salary

Other trends

With employers seeking to differentiate their offer, staff development programs have become a highly utilised tool and are usually discussed in first and second interviews to help candidates distinguish between multiple employers. The firm or organisation's culture is a vital component in the interview process and firms are therefore ensuring candidates meet a variety of staff members during the process to allow them to feel comfortable in the workplace.