Legal Job Market Update
Key points from January 2017 as follows:
* The demand for staff generally has increased in line with the seasonal norm.
* Permanent recruitment has increased.
* Locum recruitment has increased.
* Wills and Probate locum and permanent roles have stayed relatively busy and private client solicitors remain in demand.
* Commercial Property roles remain elusive.
* Litigation picking up.
* London market is picking up.
You can read the full report here: https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/legal-job-market-report-february-2017/
Hourly Rates of Pay for Locum Solicitors and Legal Executives
Locum hourly rate payment varies widely according to the demand, length of assignment, level of experience and advance notice available. NB: These rates are intended as a guide only. Hourly rates can vary according to the location, duration and level of expertise.
January 2017 Private Practice Law Firm Locum Rates:
* Conveyancing Locum Solicitors – 1-3 years PQE, handling residential standard sale price only – £25-27 per hour (variation for central London – £26-30 per hour).
* Conveyancing Locum Solicitors & ILEX – 5-35 years PQE, handling all levels of conveyancing including managing a department – £28-£35 per hour, including central London.
* Commercial Property Solicitors – 1-40 years PQE – £32-45 per hour.
* Wills & Probate Solicitors and Executives – 3-35 years PQE – £35-50 per hour.
* Family Solicitors – 4-40 years PQE – £27-30 per hour. Occasionally this goes up to £35 per hour for short notice or a few days cover.
* Civil Litigation – 1-35 years PQE. £27-35 per hour. These rates cover mainstream litigation – eg county court and small claims matters.
* Corporate Commercial Locum Solicitors – 5-45 years PQE. £35-75 per hour. Usual rate in small-medium law firms is around £40-50 per hour.
* In House Locum Solicitors – 3-35 years PQE. £35-60 per hour. Usual rate in a larger sized blue chip company legal department is c.£50 per hour going up to c£100-£120.
NB all rates exclude agency fees. The rates are for self-employed locums billing firms directly on a weekly basis.
We have over 11,000 lawyers registered with us. To request CVs for a specific vacancy please register your vacancy using the link at the top of this email or simply reply.
In House Legal Departments – the Green Grass on the Other Side of the Fence?
Working in house for an organisation, limited company, trade body, educational institution or charity is often considered the holy grail of legal jobs. After all, what could be better than a job that has no external financial pressures, no requirement to put in long hours to generate fee income and no awkward clients?
(you can read the remainder of this article in full at https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/in-house-lawyers/)
25% of Students now graduate with a 1st class degree
The Times newspaper reported last week that 25% of all undergraduates finish up with a 1st class degree at the end of their time at University. This is compared with 17% in 2012 and (probably) considerably less than this as you go back over time.
Read more here – http://legalrecruitment.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/25-of-students-get-1st-class-degree.html
Charities Nominated for Donations 2017
Last week the trustees of the Ten Percent Foundation met to determine our donations for this year. We had a number of charities suggested to us by clients and candidates. Our decisions are below. To see our policy on donations please visit: https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/charitable-trust/
▪ LawCare – £500
▪ Ace of Clubs – £1,000
▪ Reprieve – £500
▪ Unlock – £500
▪ Flying High Trampolining Club – £1,000
▪ The Cure Parkinsons Trust – £1,000
▪ St Martins – £500
We have ongoing commitments to support the following charities:
▪ British Stammering Association – £2,000
▪ Kilimatinde Trust – £2,200
▪ Centre 63 – £2,500
▪ The First Step – £2,500.
I will include a bit about each donation in our next newsletter when I have established what the money is going to be used for. We usually restrict the donations to support specific activities within each charity.
Permanent Vacancies registered in the last 7 days
VAC-16908 A solicitors firm based in Romford, Essex have an opening for a part time family law solicitor on a permanent basis. The firm are looking for experienced candidates with a particular emphasis on Ancillary Relief. In addition if the candidate has any residential conveyancing experience and is interested in undertaking some extra property work that would be a bonus but not essential. Salary negotiable dependent on experience.
VAC-16907 A new vacancy has arisen with a small-medium sized solicitors firm looking for locum cover from 17th February to the 5th May. Can be either full or part time. The firm are based in Fareham, Hampshire and the work is 75% personal injury work and 25% general civil litigation and ToLaTA. The personal injury work is claimant. Locationwise, Fareham train station is virtually adjacent to this firm.
VAC-16904 A law firm based in Hammersmith, West London have an opening for a full time paralegal/administration assistant.
VAC-16901 A small, high street law firm situated in South West London (SW18) are looking for a legal cashier/legal billings clerk on a part-time, permanent basis.
VAC-16900 Enfield solicitors firm are currently looking to recruit an experienced solicitor, ideally a member of STEP, to join their private client department. Full time position. Work will include will preparation, estate administration, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Trusts, Tax advice and Court of Protection work. Salary levels negotiable. Permanent post.
VAC-16899 A new vacancy has arisen with a small-medium solicitors firm in Enfield. They seek an additional crime duty solicitor to join them on a salaried basis. They do not mind if you have already committed to a solicitors firm. The senior partner thinks it is perfectly possible to move at any time under the new contract provisions without any difficulties.
VAC-16898 A well established Suffolk firm are looking for a Wills & Probate Solicitor to assist to work at their busy Ipswich office.
VAC-16897 A well established Suffolk firm are looking for a Family Law Solicitor to assist with a privately funded caseload at their Ipswich office.
VAC-16896 Solicitors firm in North West Manchester – based in Walkden and easy access via the M60 and M61 – looking for a qualified solicitor able to handle a caseload of residential conveyancing. Salary dependant on experience and capability range £30,000 to £40,000 plus bonus on a target driven basis for full time. The firm offer 5 weeks holidays plus bank holidays.
VAC-16895 A well established Southampton firm are looking for a wills & probate lawyer to work at their Hedge End office.
VAC-16894 A well established Merseyside firm are looking for a property lawyer to work at their busy Rainhill office. Office located 2 mins off the M62 betweeen Liverpool and Warrington so potentially commutable from both Liverpool and Manchester and areas in between.
VAC-16893 A South West London law firm based in SW18 are urgently looking for a mental health solicitor for a permanent role. The firm are looking for a candidate with MHRT panel membership who has some experience and interest in Court of Protection work.
Using Company and Law Firm Logos on CVs – a good idea?
This link takes you to the article on our website.
https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/using-logos-and-images-on-cvs-a-good-idea/
Low Cost Recruitment for Solicitors – Ten Percent Unlimited
Ten-Percent Unlimited is a service offering unlimited recruitment for a set monthly fee. It was set up by us back in 2011 with the aim of making the use of a recruitment agency cost-effective in a time of great financial difficulties for all in the profession. It is still going strong – we have over 100 members – most of whom are sole practitioners or smaller sized law firms.
The Unlimited Recruitment service offers law firms the chance to recruit as many permanent or locum candidates as needed over a period of 5 years in return for a monthly payment. There are no restrictions on numbers (although vacancies have to exist and we do operate a fair usage policy – so far never used) and no other costs. No other similar services exist in the recruitment industry.
For example in a 5 year period you may recruit a few locums for cover each year, a replacement conveyancing solicitor, a couple of legal secretaries, possibly a paralegal or two and have a look to expand the firm into a new area of law with an additional fee earner. All of this would cost considerable amounts in advertising and/or recruitment agency fees. However with Ten Percent Unlimited you simply pay a monthly fee for 60 months.
One of our recruitment consultants works full time on our Ten Percent Unlimited member firms’ recruitment needs and is always happy to talk about the service. If you would like a chat with Clare Fagan, please give her a ring on 0207 127 4343 or email clare.fagan@ten-percent.co.uk. www.tenpercentunlimited.co.uk.
How to be a Locum – pdf guide
We have produced a guide on how to be a locum. This includes sections on getting work, realistic expectations, hourly rates, popular fields of law, payment, insurance, umbrella companies and much more. Available for download at no charge from www.interimlawyers.co.uk – click the link on the left hand side of the page.
About Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment
We are a specialist legal recruiter, covering both permanent and locum roles across the whole of the UK. Over 11,000 lawyers are registered with us and we have access to a range of external and internal job boards and websites where we do not have candidates available ourselves. We also assist with recruitment advice and assistance, regularly advising partners and practice managers on suitable salary and package levels.
Our company is unique for a number of reasons, including the fact that we are not shy to publish our fee structure and also donate a chunk of our profits to charity each year. We offer unlimited permanent and locum recruitment for a fixed monthly fee or one-off fees depending on the job. We donate 10% of our profits annually to charity, hence our name.
We have three recruitment consultants, Jonathan Fagan, Clare Fagan and Pete Gresty, together with our finance director Pearl McNamara. As a team we have over 40 years of experience in the legal profession.
Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment also owns Interim Lawyers, a specialist locum service. We operate an outsourced UK based typing service as well – www.tptranscription.co.uk and are preferred suppliers to a number of institutional clients and law firms across the UK and overseas.
The Ten-Percent Group of Legal Recruitment websites gives 10% of annual profits to charity. We have carried on with this tradition since we formed the company 15 years ago. So far over £90k has been donated to charities in the UK and Africa including LawCare, Unlock and Reprieve.
We hope you have enjoyed reading our newsletter and look forward to hearing from you if we can assist further.
Jonathan Fagan
Director
E: jbfagan@tenpercentgroup.com
T: 0207 127 4343
Ten-Percent.co.uk Limited
20-22 Wenlock Road
London
N1 7GU
Jonathan Fagan is a solicitor, qualified recruitment consultant and Managing Director of Ten-Percent.co.uk Limited. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed here – www.linkedin.com/in/jbfagan
Legal Recruitment News is produced by TP Legal Recruitment – you can view all versions of the e-newsletter at www.legal-recruitment.co.uk.
Ten Percent Group – www.tenpercentgroup.com
Interim Lawyers – www.interimlawyers.co.uk
Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment – www.ten-percent.co.uk
Legal Recruitment Newsletter – www.legal-recruitment.co.uk