The legal field is expected to see steady hiring with litigation projected to yield the greatest job prospects. One-quarter of lawyers interviewed by Robert Half Legal predict that their law firms or companies will add legal jobs in the first half of 2017. This compares to 31 percent six months ago and 24 percent one year ago. Fifty-nine percent of lawyers said they plan to only fill vacant posts in the next six months, while 11 percent said they would neither fill vacant positions nor create new ones. No respondents anticipate staff reductions.
| *Some responses do not total 100 percent due to rounding. | |||
| Legal Hiring Environment in the United States* | Jan.-June 2017 |
July-Dec. 2016 |
Jan.-June 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expanding/adding new positions | 25% | 31% | 24% |
| Maintaining/filling vacated positions | 59% | 51% | 54% |
| Freezing/not filling vacated positions or creating new ones | 11% | 12% | 15% |
| Reducing/eliminating positions | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| Don’t know/no answer | 5% | 7% | 6% |
| 100% | 101% | 100% | |
Other Key Findings
- Sixty-three percent of lawyers said finding skilled legal professionals is somewhat or very challenging, while 38 percent of survey respondents expressed concern about losing legal personnel to other job opportunities in the next six months.
- Thirty-five percent of lawyers said that, aside from compensation or bonus, flexible work arrangements provide the greatest incentive for legal professionals to remain with an employer. Challenging work or variety of assignments ranked second, receiving 33 percent of the survey response, followed by professional development opportunities, at 15 percent.
“Law firms in particular are recruiting highly skilled experts with backgrounds in commercial litigation, insurance defense, and eDiscovery to help them manage rising caseloads and meet client needs,” said Charles Volkert, senior district president of Robert Half Legal. “As a result, legal professionals with five-plus years of litigation experience are in strong demand and many are receiving multiple job offers.”
Volkert added that as employers increasingly compete for highly skilled legal professionals, retention remains a top priority. “The loss of a tenured attorney not only adversely impacts client service, it also can affect a firm’s profitability,” said Volkert.
Litigation Expertise in Demand
Litigation is expected to yield the most job opportunities from January through June of 2017, according to 40 percent of attorneys surveyed. Within the litigation practice area, commercial litigation was identified as the leading driver of job growth, receiving 39 percent of the survey response.
Lawyers were asked, “Which one of the following practice areas will offer the greatest number of job opportunities in the first half of 2017?” Their responses:**
| **Responses do not total 100 percent due to rounding. | |
| Litigation | 40% |
|---|---|
| General business/commercial law | 16% |
| Real estate | 7% |
| Family law | 7% |
| Regulatory or compliance | 5% |
| Labor and employment | 4% |
| Intellectual property | 3% |
| Healthcare | 2% |
| Other | 6% |
| None/don’t know/no answer | 11% |
| 101% | |
Lawyers who cited “litigation” as a response were also asked, “Which of the following areas of litigation, if any, will offer the greatest job opportunities in the first half of 2017?” Their responses:***
| ***Multiple responses were permitted. | |
| Commercial litigation | 39 |
|---|---|
| Insurance defense | 31% |
| Employment | 14% |
| Personal injury | 7% |
| Securities and corporate governance | 4% |
| Intellectual property | 3% |
| Other | 12% |
| Don’t know | 1% |
Survey Methodology
The survey was developed by Robert Half Legal and conducted by an independent research firm. It is based on 200 telephone interviews with lawyers in the United States: 100 of the respondents are employed at law firms with 20 or more employees and 100 are employed at companies with 1,000 or more employees. All of the respondents have hiring authority within their organizations.
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