What are the Hot Jobs for Lawyers in Melbourne in 2016?

At Legal People we are proud to be one of the leading specialist recruitment agencies in Melbourne. The below infographic features the "Hot Jobs" for Lawyers in Melbourne. This reflects our local experience and demand over the last 12-18 months.

For further insights into these trends, we asked our Legal People Director, Sharon Henderson for her thoughts. Here is what she had to say.

We see that Mergers and Acquisition specialisation demand is strong in 2015/2016. This seems to be a favourable environment for companies to merge. Do you expect this to continue in the future?

Demand last financial year was particularly strong for private merger and acquisition experience. This has been primarily at senior associate level. Firms have been looking for highly experienced, highly qualified candidates. Demand in this area is still consistent in Q3 of 2016. We are particularly seeing strong demand for corporate and commercial lawyers with 3-5 years’ experience.

We see that there has been an increase in demand for Property Lawyers. Why do you think this is?

Since the beginning of 2015 demand for property lawyers has increased exponentially on previous years. We are seeing this strong demand from both mid and top tier law firms. They are actively seeking candidates with 2 years + property development experience. Mandarin speaking property lawyers are highly sought after.

Do you see pressure on Lawyers to be more productive than ever? How?

Definitely. Firms have been conscious of keeping costs down over the last 3-4 years. They have been putting pressure on lawyers to be more accountable for fees they generate. This has also flowed down to lower levels. We are seeing that junior lawyers are expected to be more involved in business development and networking activities.

Are you recruiting more for Big, Middle Sized or Boutique sized firms in 2016?

We are recruiting solidly across the board – firms of all sizes have been more active over the last 18 months. We have particularly seen specialised boutique firms looking for candidates for transactional activity. Lawyers in the right fields, those “hot jobs” we have identified in our infographic, have been in great demand at firms of all sizes.

Are you finding demand for legal talent particularly competitive in 2016? How are firms currently winning this battle?

The demand for legal talent is competitive for those areas we have identified as hot jobs. It is a candidate short market in those areas and Melbourne Legal Firms are aware of this. To win the battle for legal talent, there has been an increase in the use of sign-on bonuses. We are also seeing that firms are spending more time educating candidates around career pathways, career development opportunities and bonus structures. We really are seeing that candidates with the right experience in these areas of speciality often have multiple job offers to consider. It’s a good time to be in these fields!

Lawyer’s Weekly spoke to Sharon earlier this month about the gap in the market for Lawyers with 3-6 years’ experience. ( You can read the full article here ). This gap in supply of Lawyers with post qualification experience is mostly due to cuts in graduate programs on the back of the Global Financial Crisis.

Sharon advised that she also seeing an increase in efforts to retain and engage their mid-level experienced legal talent. This includes offers of higher salaries, increased flexibility and career progression opportunities. These Lawyers are likely to be getting approached regularly by recruiters, competitor firms and their own networks.

Are you a Property Lawyer? A Corporate or Commercial Lawyer specialising in private mergers and acquisitions? Get in touch. We have clients who want to talk to you!

In the meantime, we would love you to connect with our LinkedIn Company Page. Follow us to stay informed about local trends, current opportunities and industry news. You can do so here.