Marketplace Update: May 2023

Despite the slowdown in the corporate deals market, there’s no sounding of alarm bells yet and there’s a feeling of resoluteness in the air. It’s partner promotions season for many and also year end approaching for UK law firms, with an expectation that the huge profits made by many in the previous year will be more muted this year.

• Interestingly, the lateral partner corporate market in the US remains active and firms in the UK have not paused in their interest in bolstering the ranks ready for the sluggish market to pick up pace. Corporate remains the most sought-after area for partners in 2023;
• Class actions are growing; where the US led the way, the UK is following suit;
• Competition and antitrust work is building;
• The development of the legal market is continuing to thrive with firms ever keen to capitalise on the developing regulatory regimes and also to link up their international offerings to capture global work and embed it within their firms;
• National firms with a range of offices continue to spread their domestic weight and the appetite for non-London hires remains strong;
• Private wealth and related areas have seen continued recruitment and interest from a variety of firms keen to capture clients and offer them a full suite of services.

All of this leads to an interesting legal playing field as firms seek to consolidate their platforms and achieve growth despite a more subdued transactional appetite.