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Where The Legal Jobs Are
TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2013, 2013 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) --
Corporate Law to Offer Greatest Opportunities in 2013; Challenges
Finding Top Talent Reported
Which specialty areas are predicted to
yield the most prospects for legal job seekers in the year ahead
Almost one-third (31 per cent) of lawyers recently interviewed by Robert Half Legal expect general business/corporate law will generate the greatest number
of job opportunities in 2013. Litigation ranked second, receiving 29 per cent of the response. Legal professionals with expertise in high-demand
practice areas may have employers vying for their attention: More than
six in 10 (67 per cent) survey respondents cited at least some challenge in finding legal
talent.
The survey was developed by Robert Half Legal, a legal staffing firm specialising in lawyers, law clerks, paralegals and other highly
skilled legal professionals. It was conducted by an independent
research firm and is based on 150 telephone interviews with lawyers in
Canada: 75 of the respondents are employed at law firms with 20 or more
employees and 75 are employed at companies with 1,000 or more
employees. All of the respondents have hiring authority within their
organisations.
Lawyers were asked, "Which one of the following practice areas, in your opinion, will offer
the greatest number of job opportunities in 2013 " Their responses:
General business/corporate law.............. 31%
Litigation...................................................... 29%
Labour and employment................................ 8%
Intellectual property....................................... 7%
Restructuring/insolvency............................... 4%
Family law...................................................... 2%
International law .......................................... 1%
Other............................................................. 4%
Don't know/no answer................................... 15%
101%*
*Total does not equal 100 per cent due to rounding.
Lawyers also were asked, "How challenging is it for your law firm/company to find skilled legal
professionals today " Their responses:
Very challenging.......................................... 23%
Somewhat challenging................................ 44%
Not challenging............................................... 24%
Not applicable/not looking............................... 9%
100%
"Competition for top legal talent is rising as law firms strive to meet
client requests and augment their teams to expand service offerings,"
said John Ohnjec, division director with Robert Half Legal. "Lawyers
with five-plus years of experience, solid business development skills
and client contacts in high-demand specialties, will likely see lateral
opportunities increase at small and midsize firms in 2013. Conversely,
the market for entry-level associates and articling students should
remain conservative."
Ohnjec added that corporate legal departments also are hiring
experienced lawyers and law clerks to bring more commercial
transactions, litigation and employment-related matters in-house, and
to reduce their spending on outside counsel. "With many law firms and
companies hiring from the same talent pool, employers are revising
their retention programs to avoid losing valued staff members to other
organisations," said Ohnjec.
About Robert Half Legal
Robert Half Legal is the legal staffing division of Robert Half
International. The company provides law firms and corporate legal
departments with highly skilled professionals, including lawyers, law
clerks, paralegals and legal support personnel, on a project and
full-time basis. With North American and global locations, Robert Half
Legal also offers managed review and e-discovery services. More information, including online job search services, can be found
at www.roberthalflegal.com.
SOURCE: Robert Half Legal
To view this news release in HTML formatting, please use the following URL: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2013/10/c4922.html
SOURCE: Robert Half Legal
ROBERT HALF LEGAL 181 Bay St., Suite 820 Toronto, ON M5J 2T3 Contact: Nadia Santoli
nadia.santoli@rhi.com
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