Here is our summary of the current state of the legal job market:

Locum Recruitment - Busy
The locum market still remains busy for this time of year than ever before, with a 100% increase in the number of assignments last month compared with the same time last year. We are starting to see availability for just about every assignment coming our way which remains a huge improvement on the summer season.

Conveyancing locums are available in most areas now. Other fields of law are generally not too bad at all, although family locums are a little scarce at the moment. Most corporate and commercial areas still attract a lot of interest, whether in private practice or in house.

Locum assignment updates here: https://www.interimlawyers.co.uk/category/locum-solicitor-updates/

Permanent Recruitment - Busy
There remains a shortage of good candidates for most jobs and we are now into the traditional dip in the market prior to the Christmas break. Most people have better things to do than apply for new jobs and usually the market drops completely until mid-January, which is good news for recruiters with Christmas shopping to do! However as most job interviews are still being undertaken via Zoom and Teams we anticipate interviews taking place right up until Christmas Eve, which does not usually happen. The decrease in new lawyers registering with us remains acute - we are 100% down this month again in new candidate registrations.

Vacancies can be viewed here: https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/vacancies/

Law Firms for Sale - Busy
Quieter this month than last, but a new national client seeking to purchase a number of firms quickly has pushed our workload up a bit from the usual dip in our workloads. There has been a noticeable change in potential values of firms downwards, courtesy we think of the hostile PII market in recent months.

Full list at https://www.jonathanfagan.co.uk/law-accountancy-firms-for-sale/. For a confidential discussion about a potential sale or purchase please ring 01824 780937 and speak to Jonathan Fagan or email [email protected].

Ten Percent Legal Recruitment Statistics

General Statistics for November 2021 (bracketed number is for November 2020)
New permanent vacancies added: 46 (25)
New locum vacancies added: 50 (20)
New candidates registering: 34 (88)

IHS Markit / CIPS UK Services PMI Report December 2021

Headlines
New business growth hits five-month high despite surging price inflation
Strongest increase in new work since June
Output growth eases slightly from October's three-month high
Input costs and prices charged rise at record rates in November

Summary:

A strong recovery in UK service sector activity continued during November, helped by the fastest rise in new business intakes for five months. Export sales were a key factor supporting growth across the service economy in November, with looser travel restrictions contributing to the steepest upturn in new business from abroad since March 2017. The latest survey data highlighted another round of rapid cost inflation, driven by higher fuel prices, wages and utility bills. Prices charged by service providers also increased at the fastest rate since the survey began in July 1996.