Thirty-one percent of lawyers plan to hire legal staff in the first quarter of 2012, but another 4 percent expect to cut staff, according to the a quarterly legal hiring survey by Robert Half Legal, a legal staffing firm.
The net 27 percent growth in anticipated hiring is up from last quarter's estimation at a net 24 percent, and respondents expect to hire an average of two full-time employees. Law firms are expected to do the Lawyers, paralegals and legal secretaries are the top positions.
The survey also finds that 51 percent of respondents say finding skilled legal professionals is difficult, which is up from 49 percent from the previous quarter, and 73 percent of respondents are somewhat or very confident in their companies' growth outlooks in the next three months; marking a nine-point drop from the fourth quarter of 2011.
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"Although law firms continue to have a cautious hiring outlook, they're optimistic enough about their prospects to want to add full-time staff in key legal and support positions that bolster growth," says Charles Volkert, executive director of Robert Half Legal. "They continue to focus on hiring senior- and partner-level lawyers with substantial books of business and expertise in high-demand practice areas, such as bankruptcy and foreclosure, litigation, and labor and employment law."
Of the respondents, 29 percent say bankruptcy and foreclosure are areas of law that will see the most growth over the next three months, followed by litigation at 23 percent and labor and employment law at 12 percent.
"Corporations are hiring full-time legal staff and project professionals in an ongoing effort to bring more work in-house and reduce outside legal spending," Volkert says. "General counsel are handling more matters internally in areas such as corporate transactional, labor and employment, intellectual property, litigation and regulatory law."
Respondents say they plan to bring on an average of two full-time positions in the first quarter of 2012, with 88 percent saying they are most likely hire lawyers. Thirty-nine percent of respondents say they would hire paralegals, and 35 percent say they would add legal secretaries.
"Law firms and corporate legal departments place a premium on candidates with proven skills and relevant experience who can fill gaps in expertise and make immediate contributions," Volkert says. "Experienced lawyers continue to have a hiring edge while employers also value seasoned paralegals and legal secretaries."
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