The hot law jobs market has been felt particularly hard in London where law firms are struggling to fill legal roles as firms compete for the same people.

Reports from the UK indicate that job vacancies are rising rapidly and law firms have advertised for 2300 jobs for law associates in London alone (that is, those below partner level) but every firm is seeking the same people and the result is a shortage of permanent legal staff.

According to data from recruiter BCL Legal and labour market analytics group Vacancysoft, the numbers have shown a 131 per cent increase on 2020 numbers.

But Matthew Porter, a director at BCL, said firms were “struggling to fill their vacancies because they are competing for the same people . . . There is a huge shortage of talent in the market right now.”

“There was a huge increase in the need for [temporary] lawyers last year driven by the inability to hire [permanent] candidates quickly,” said Daniel Harris, associate director at recruiter Robert Walters.

The number of fixed-term contract vacancies advertised by law firms in London rose to 183 last year, up from 81 in 2020. Many of those vacancies were posted by contract lawyering units within law firms that serve companies seeking to bolster their in-house legal teams.

Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance lead the charge on law job listings advertising 103 jobs in London between January and November, up from 63 in 2019, most of which were permanent roles. The firm said it was seeking to boost its headcount, particularly in areas such as private equity, to keep pace with its workload.

Chris Sullivan, head of Clifford Chance’s London private equity division, said: “The hires we are making are about growing our business to meet client demand . . . The aim is to grow our headcount and given the demand we’re seeing I wouldn’t put a cap on that. It is certainly a very competitive market for talent, there’s no question.”

Stress Leave Departures

Stress and overwork has lead to more departures than usual as well - which is the downside of the massive law associate shortage.

Law firms including Clifford Chance have also experienced higher attrition during the pandemic as more lawyers have quit due to reasons including exhaustion.

Meanwhile, fewer lawyers travelling to the UK from countries such as Australia during the pandemic has reduced the candidate pool.

According to Leopard Solutions, a data intelligence firm, departures of associates from London-based law firms outpaced hires from other law firms by 46 per cent between December 2020 and 2021. Between December 2019 and December 2021, those law firms lost 44 per cent more associates than they hired from other firms.

Firms are responding to the shortage of talent by increasing salaries and bonuses, including “retention” bonuses paid to people threatening to leave for a rival firm. Harris said associates could “name their price” in some instances.

Sarah Thompson, head of contract lawyering business Adaptive, part of Simmons & Simmons, said: “The contractor market was quite hot pre-pandemic but the pandemic really accelerated it. Clients have really been struggling with reduced headcount and resourcing . . . and have been dealing with staff on mental health leave, sick leave and maternity cover too.”

Law is not the only sector to be experiencing a skills shortage. Vacancies are rising steeply across the wider UK jobs market, with companies struggling to find staff in areas such as hospitality. Britain’s labour market reached its tightest point in more than four decades towards the end of last year.