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May 24, 2008

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Graduate Market

• How does the graduate market for the legal sector compare to other industries?
• Well, firstly you won't be lonely since law hires a large portion of all graduates (7%).
• Hiring rates are very stable because law firms hire three years in advance of qualification.
  • They have to play safe unless they are willing to make a bet on the economy three years down the line.
  • Unlike banks which grow and shrink their workforce in line with market conditions.
• Salaries:
  • Secondly, you will be awarded one of the highest starting salaries for anyone your age.
  • On top of which, salaries for junior associates are being pushed up by the American firms in the UK.
• Given the desirability of a law career, whilst there are many applicants per place, the figure is not astronomical. This is probably explained by a degree of self-selection amongst applicants who know what is required to make the grade.
• This is perhaps unlike Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies (who make things like shampoos and toothpaste) which attract over 100 applicants per place. An applicant to a law firm is less likely to have speculatively written a cover letter and CV after seeing the brand name of a shampoo in the shower.

Sources include: AGR Summer Survey, Company Websites, The Lawyer, Legal Week, Topemployers, Legal 500, Hildebrandt, ALM Research, Legal Business, First Research, Legal Marketing News and The Economist.