The Legal Jobs Slowdown Begins To Bite
www.LawFuel.co.nz - The Law Jobs and News Wire
The economic turnaround has already been felt in the legal market with lawyers being made redundant by some smaller law
practices, according to sources spoken to by LawFuel.co.nz.
A survey of recruiters in the legal arena shows that lawyers, particularly in the property sectors, are already being
made redundant in recent weeks. Further, the subprime mortgage crisis has also created a slowdown in international
markets, places like London and New York, where New Zealand lawyers frequently head for work. This has resulted in fewer
local lawyers being able to find work abroad – or at least work is not as readily accessible as it has been in recent
years when international law firms have enjoyed boom times.
LawFuel’s survey of recruiters, for its forthcoming “Law Report” (due in April) has shown a clear increase in work in
areas like property litigaton, construction litigation, resource management and employment law. Competition law has also
been a standout area for increased work.
Recruiters are clearly preparing for a legal downturn, but are not necessarily pessimistic about the opportunities
ahead, which will be substantially reflected in a change of legal work, rather than an overall reduction.
“Small practices will find it difficult in some areas,” one recruiter said. “Their property work will seriously diminish
and they are not necessarily well placed to restructure their practices into the new growth areas like insolvency and
litigation.”
The legal market has generally been a buyers market – or a candidate-friendly market – but that is almost certainly
changing with employers better able to choose their legal staff from a growing pool, assisted by the local and the
international slowdown and the distinct threat of recession.
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