Recruiting associates for leading law firms: Navigating a high-demand market

The associate recruitment market across US, Magic Circle and leading international law firms remains extremely active. As deal volumes rebound and partners continue to move between firms, the demand for mid-level and senior associates has surged. In addition, busy practice areas such as finance, tax and restructuring are also seeking junior associates, often driven by both increased workflow and recent partner hires.

The talent squeeze: Key challenges for law firms

1. High demand, limited supply
   There’s sustained demand across active practice areas such as funds, restructuring, infrastructure finance and leveraged finance, but not enough candidates in London to meet hiring needs.
2. Partner movement and retention
   Partner moves are causing ripple effects in teams, with associates either following those partners or being offered retention bonuses to stay put.
3. Shrinking associate pool
   The supply of qualified associates continues to tighten due to attrition and a steady stream of in-house moves.
4. Pay parity and long hours
   With salaries and hours at Magic Circle, Silver Circle and US firms reaching similar levels, many associates struggle to identify meaningful differences between firms beyond the headline pay.
5. ‘Plug-and-play’ expectations
   Many firms want associates who can lead on deals immediately to cope with rising workloads. However, those with the right level of experience are often well looked after where they are and therefore reluctant to move.

What Can Firms Do?

To stay competitive, firms should think more flexibly. Such as broaden “plug-and-play” criteria and be open to considering candidates from law firms they would not typically hire from assuming they have the basic experience. Other strategies which we have seen work well as being open to hiring lawyers from top law firms abroad, be more flexible on the pqe they are hiring for and being more open and accepting that lawyers may need time to ‘bed in’ and learn the specific way of work of the team they are joining which may well be different to the practice the lawyer has come from. This flexibility often works incredibly well and often these lawyers turn out to the superstars. Law firms can also improve their hiring processes by having a clearer framework for career development, more clarity on the specific work and detail on clients, team structure and how work is allocated as well as a focus on culture. All of this can help attract and keep talent when salaries and hours alone no longer differentiate.

At RedLaw, we help firms refine hiring strategies, benchmark the market and provide market mapping so clients can see the pool of talent available. We also go to market to provide a compelling story to the associates you want to hire.