Legal Questions

Southern law firms have always faced more of a challenge than other regions, and the legal jobs market has often been acknowledged as one of the most disjointed legal markets within the UK. Unlike other regions, the South does not have one dominant legal practice outside of London, but a group of regional players throughout. Despite the region’s close reach of London there is still much difficulty in finding a strategy to promote financial growth.

A number of factors have to be taken into consideration when tackling this problem. Firstly, is organic growth possible? Is a London office required to benefit from the thriving legal jobs market in London? Would multi-site offices boost the firm’s Southern legal presence? Legal Recruitment agencies have also reported that some law firms have even merged. Along with the current credit crisis, competition for legal jobs is getting stiffer, forcing law firms to become more adaptable to the demands of their clients. Each option has its pros and cons; for some law firms, opening new offices have allowed them to reap the rewards of increased growth and brand awareness. However, for other law firms, the option of expanding a single site with the strategic recruitment of key legal staff is more attractive thus allowing them to maintain their culture and quality.

Whichever route law firms wish to take, one factor that is crucial is the recruitment of high quality legal staff. For law firms wanting to expand a single office, emphasis needs to be shifted towards recruiting quality legal staff with ample experience within a London or well-known regional law firm who will be able to take the firm forward and even attract better talent. Perhaps one of the most time and cost effective methods for finding staff of this caliber would be to invest money in head hunting exercises (many Legal Recruitment Agencies offer this option) or finding a well reputed specialist Legal Recruitment Agency and allowing them to advertise your vacancies. Law firms looking to open multiple offices will want to recruit good fee-earners that have the ability to bit the ground running with just a few years experience (for cost-effectiveness). They will also want to employ a higher ratio of support staff to fee earning legal staff than single practices. In most cases, it should be relatively easy for law firms to be able to attract a wealth of eager law graduates, but for more experienced legal jobs support staff and fee-earners it may be advisable to call upon a Legal Recruitment Agency should your Human Resources budget be limited and staff are needed quickly.

In order to attract valuable legal staff and compete with the London legal practices, law firms must also think about the pay and benefits that they offer. Many law firms have an “Investors in People” accreditation which reassures current and potential legal staff that they are committed to helping their staff progress and develop. Amount of holiday tends to vary between 21 and 25 days depending on the size of the firm, and in some law firms, this amount increases depending on the individual’s length of service. Other benefits offered by law firms include bonus schemes (although nowadays these tend to be based on company/team billings rather than the individuals), season ticket loans, paid parking/parking loans, contributory pension schemes, healthcare etc. Potential top quality legal staff will often want to know about the company’s business models, infrastructure, financial success, the caliber of the law firm’s clients, and staff retention rates. The difficulty in a regional law firm is finding the right balance between salary and benefits, which may need to be negotiable or adapted to suit the caliber of legal staff that they are trying to attract.

In conclusion, although the South of England is often considered to have one of the slowest developing legal jobs markets, there is potential for law firms to attract jobs from the London legal market without actually having a London office. Whether this is achieved through law firms increasing their presence with more offices or developing their current reputation, in all instances the strategic recruitment of valuable legal staff is crucial.

With regard to the present financial climate, regional law firms are actually in a better position than ever before to take advantage of the London legal jobs market. Businesses are constantly looking at ways to cut costs, and if a regional law firm can offer as good a service as a London one but at a fraction of a cost, regional law firms will only see their amount of London clients increase. There is no reason why the South can’t see smaller law firms becoming more recognized and having a greater share in the national and international legal jobs market.

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