What candidates are assessing about your firm before they accept

For Melbourne law firms planning to grow their lawyer headcount through 2026 and into 2027, understanding how experienced candidates make career decisions has become an important part of successful hiring.

In our experience by Associate level and above, lawyers tend to approach a move with considerable care. They have built technical expertise, internal credibility, professional networks and trusted relationships with partners and clients. Senior Associates and Special Counsel may also have developed a degree of autonomy over their matters, clients and working arrangements.

Moving firms means weighing up what they have built against what the next opportunity could offer. That makes recruitment a two-way assessment from the outset.

While the firm is considering technical capability, experience, cultural fit and future potential, the lawyer is building an equally detailed picture of the opportunity. They are assessing the firm's reputation, the partners they will work with, the quality of matters, workload, flexibility, progression, remuneration and what the recruitment process itself tells them about the organisation.

For Melbourne firms competing for experienced lawyers, understanding that assessment can make a significant difference to whether a strong candidate ultimately accepts an offer.

The competition for experienced lawyers remains significant. More than one in five Australian lawyers intend to look for a new job in 2026, according to Lawyers Weekly's latest Legal Firm of Choice Survey of 612 legal professionals.

At the same time, recruitment commentary continues to point to challenges in securing experienced lawyers, particularly across specialist and mid-to-senior levels.

Melbourne candidates can also have a broad range of alternatives. An experienced lawyer may be considering a major Australian firm, an international firm with a significant Melbourne presence, a strong independent or specialist practice, and an in-house opportunity at the same time.

Each offers something different.

The challenge for employers is being able to clearly demonstrate what makes their particular opportunity worth moving for.

Reputation starts shaping the decision before the first interview

Melbourne's senior legal market is highly interconnected. Experienced lawyers often know former colleagues who have worked at competing firms.

They may have worked opposite your team on transactions or disputes, instructed your lawyers while on secondment or in-house, or know people who have worked directly with the partner who is hiring.

Before attending an interview, many will already have started forming a view of the firm and practice. They will want to understand what the partners are like to work with, why the vacancy exists, whether the team retains its lawyers, what the hours are genuinely like and whether people are progressing.

They may also quietly test what they hear during the interview against what their network has told them. This makes reputation particularly powerful in legal recruitment.

A firm's careers page can explain its culture, values and benefits, but candidates will place considerable weight on the experiences of lawyers who have actually worked there.

For hiring firms, there is an important connection between retention and recruitment here.

Strong leadership, development and culture create advocates in the market. Over time, those experiences become part of the firm's employer reputation and can make future recruitment considerably easier.

The Partner relationship can determine the attractiveness of the opportunity

For Associates, Senior Associates and Special Counsel, the partner they will work with can be one of the most important factors in deciding whether to move.

Experienced candidates increasingly want to understand the working relationship behind the job description. They will be asking:

• How accessible is the partner?
• How is feedback given?
• How much direct client contact will the lawyer have?
• Will they attend important meetings and negotiations?
• How much autonomy will they have over matters?
• How does the partner develop senior lawyers?
• How are workloads managed when the practice becomes particularly busy?

These questions are important because the quality of the partner relationship can have a significant impact on both a lawyer's day-to-day experience and their longer-term career development. It can also become an important point of differentiation between firms.

An international firm may offer access to major global clients, cross-border matters, overseas networks and potential mobility opportunities. A leading Australian firm may offer substantial domestic matters, institutional clients and a strong national platform.

A Melbourne independent or specialist firm may be able to offer closer partner access, earlier client ownership, greater autonomy or a more visible pathway towards leadership.

There is no single proposition that will appeal to every lawyer. And different opportunities will appeal to individuals at different life stages.

The advantage comes from understanding what your practice genuinely offers and communicating it clearly.

Workload is assessed in context

Billable expectations remain an important part of a lawyer's assessment of a prospective firm, but candidates tend to look beyond the target itself.

• They want to understand what achieving it looks like in practice.
• How are exceptionally busy periods managed?
• How evenly is work distributed?
• What happens when someone has been working sustained long hours?
• How are business development, mentoring and internal contributions recognised?

Experienced lawyers understand that demanding clients can involve long days, changing deadlines and periods of intense work. For many ambitious lawyers, challenging work is part of the attraction.

What counts is whether the overall environment feels sustainable. This is particularly relevant when firms compete with in-house opportunities.

An experienced Senior Associate considering an in-house role may be weighing remuneration and progression against commercial exposure, working patterns, proximity to the business and greater control over their time.

Law firms therefore benefit from being transparent about workload while also explaining what the lawyer receives in return: sophisticated matters, career development, client exposure, progression, remuneration, leadership opportunities or specialist expertise.

Flexibility needs to work at Practice Group level

Hybrid working is now firmly embedded in the expectations of many experienced Melbourne lawyers. Candidates are therefore interested in how flexibility operates within the particular team they are considering.

They may ask which days people normally attend the office, how often partners are present, whether client demands affect working arrangements and whether senior lawyers genuinely use the firm's flexible working policy.

One of the more important considerations is whether flexibility and progression can comfortably coexist.

Candidates will notice if a firm promotes hybrid working while the lawyers receiving the best matters or strongest progression opportunities are consistently those who are most visible in the office. Clarity is valuable here.

A firm with an established expectation of three days in the office can still have an attractive proposition if that expectation is communicated consistently and reflects how the team genuinely operates.

Experienced candidates are often looking for a working model they can understand and rely on.

Progression becomes increasingly important as seniority increases

For a Senior Associate or Special Counsel, the next move can materially influence the direction of their career. Progression therefore deserves a substantive conversation during the recruitment process.

Candidates may want to understand how lawyers move from Senior Associate to Special Counsel, what partnership criteria might look like, how business cases are developed, when partnership conversations begin and how the firm supports lawyers in building client relationships.

Examples are particularly powerful.

• Who has recently progressed within the practice and what did their pathway look like?
• Have lateral hires progressed?
• What opportunities are there to lead client relationships or build a practice?
• How does the firm help senior lawyers develop business?

For international firms, there can be another layer to this conversation. Melbourne candidates may want to understand how local lawyers fit within global promotion structures, who influences partnership decisions and how an Australian business case is viewed within the wider firm.

For independent and specialist Melbourne firms, the opportunity may be very different. There may be scope to inherit relationships, develop a new service line, work closely with a senior partner approaching succession or become a significant figure within a growing practice.

These can be compelling reasons to move when they are articulated properly.

Candidates respond well to evidence because it allows them to picture what their own career could look like inside the firm.

The quality of the work is about more than the firm's matter list

Experienced lawyers will naturally be interested in the calibre of the firm's clients and matters. They will also want to understand their personal role within that work.

A practice may advise on major transactions, complex litigation or significant infrastructure projects, but an Associate or Senior Associate considering a move will want to know what responsibility they will actually have day to day.

• Will they run matters?
• Lead negotiations?
• Draft key documents?
• Appear in court?
• Manage client relationships?
• Supervise junior lawyers?
• Participate in pitches?
• Develop expertise in an emerging area?

At more senior levels, quality of work increasingly becomes connected to quality of responsibility.

The changing nature of legal work adds another dimension. Australian firms are investing in AI, legal technology and new approaches to service delivery, while clients continue to place pressure on efficiency and value.

For ambitious lawyers, this creates an important career consideration: will this environment develop the skills and experience that will make me more valuable over the next five years?

Firms that can demonstrate how their lawyers are being developed for the changing legal market have a stronger story to tell.

The recruitment process IS part of the candidate experience

Experienced lawyers pay close attention to how they are treated throughout the recruitment process. An organised, responsive process can reinforce the impression of a well-run practice.

Partners who have read the candidate's CV and ask thoughtful questions demonstrate genuine interest. Clear explanations about the role, remuneration, flexibility and next steps create confidence. Prompt feedback keeps momentum in the process.

The reverse can also influence a candidate's perception. Repeatedly rescheduled interviews, lengthy periods without communication or an unnecessarily complicated interview structure can cause candidates to question how decisions are made internally.

This becomes particularly important when strong candidates are involved in more than one process at competing firms.

Moving quickly does not mean compromising hiring standards. It means removing avoidable delays once the firm has enough information to make the next decision.

If a second meeting is required, arrange it promptly.

If internal approvals are taking longer than expected, keep the candidate informed.

If the partners have decided they want the lawyer, move decisively towards an offer.

A strong recruitment process should leave the candidate with a positive impression of the firm regardless of the eventual outcome.

One of the most powerful questions is why good lawyers stay

Firms spend considerable time thinking about why someone should join them. It is equally useful to understand why their strongest lawyers have chosen to stay!

• Perhaps they have exceptional access to partners.
• Perhaps the clients and matters remain interesting.
• Perhaps lawyers are given genuine autonomy.
• Perhaps the practice supports people through different stages of their lives and careers.
• Perhaps Senior Associates can see a credible route to partnership.
• Perhaps the culture is ambitious without being unnecessarily hierarchical.

These are often the strongest elements of an employer proposition because they are grounded in the lived experience of existing lawyers. They also provide hiring managers and partners with authentic stories to use during interviews.

The strongest hiring proposition is a specific one

Melbourne's legal market includes international firms, leading Australian firms, large independents, mid-tier practices, specialist boutiques and sophisticated in-house teams.

They should not all sound the same when recruiting lawyers.

Different platforms offer different advantages, and experienced candidates have different career priorities.

• One Senior Associate may want international matters and mobility.
• Another may be looking for a realistic partnership pathway.
• Another wants greater client ownership.
• Another wants to build a specialist practice.
• Another is happy to work in an intensive environment because access to market-leading work is their priority.
• Another wants sophisticated work alongside greater flexibility.

Successful legal industry recruitment comes from understanding which lawyers are most likely to thrive in your environment and being able to explain, with specificity, what they can build there.

Before taking your next lawyer role to market

Before briefing a specialist legal recruiter (like us at Legal People!) or commencing a search for an Associate, Senior Associate, Special Counsel or Partner, consider the opportunity through the candidate's eyes.

Ask:

• What will an experienced lawyer hear about this practice when they speak to their network?
• What makes this opportunity strong enough for someone to leave a secure position?
• What will their relationship with the partner genuinely look like?
• Can we explain workload and billable expectations clearly?
• How does flexibility actually operate within this team?
• Can we demonstrate progression through real examples?
• What responsibility and client exposure will this lawyer receive?
• How will this role strengthen their career over the next three to five years?
• Can we run a responsive recruitment process when we identify the right person?
• Why have our strongest lawyers chosen to stay?

For firms adding lawyer headcount through 2026 and into 2027, these questions deserve as much attention as the position description itself.

The strongest Associates, Senior Associates and Special Counsel are making considered career decisions. They are assessing the firm, the partner, the work, the platform and where the opportunity could take them.

A successful hiring strategy starts well before the interview. It starts with being able to articulate, credibly and specifically, why an experienced Melbourne lawyer should choose to build the next stage of their career with your firm.



If you would like tailored insights or support navigating your next legal hire, our team at Legal People would love to assist.  You can contact us at info@legalpeople.com.au. 

Further reading:

• Hiring managers: writing a compelling position description
• Recruiting for your corporate culture
• The hidden cost of taking too long to hire lawyers in a tight market
• Selecting the best candidate for your role