Legal Job Market Report

Key points from 5th April to 10th May 2017 as follows:
* The demand for staff generally has stayed the same.
* Permanent recruitment has decreased slightly.
* Locum recruitment has increased and hourly rates have gone up slightly.
* Wills and Probate locum and permanent roles quieter but candidates remain in demand. Vacancies remain unfilled.
* Conveyancing remains busy – both locum and permanent.
* Commercial Property roles have picked up. Permanent vacancies remain unfilled.
* Litigation is quiet.
* Family law roles are steady.
* London market is still busier than it was in 2016.

To read the full article please visit https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/legal-job-market-report-may-10th-2017/

 Hourly Rates of Pay for Locum Solicitors and Legal Executives

Conveyancing rates have crept up a bit over the last four weeks, as we enter the busy period, but they are still down generally. Locums looking for £35 an hour and above will find higher levels of competition still exist with experienced conveyancers still available for around £30-32 per hour. For some firms this is almost certainly going to be the maximum level paid and this needs to be borne in mind still…

April 2017 Locum Rates:
Residential Conveyancing Locum Solicitors – 1-5 years PQE, £25-30 per hour (no variation for central London).
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 – £30-45 per hour.
Wills & Probate Solicitors and Legal Executives – 3-35 years PQE – £30-45 per hour – the minimum is usually £35.
Family Solicitors – 4-40 years PQE – £24-32 per hour. Occasionally this goes up to £35 per hour for short notice or a few days cover.
Civil Litigation Solicitors and ILEX– 1-35 years PQE. £25-35 per hour. These rates cover mainstream litigation – eg county court and small claims matters.
Commercial Litigation Solicitors – 3+ years PQE – £35-50 per hour. Occasionally this is higher.
Company Commercial Solicitors – 3+ years PQE – £35-70 per hour.
Employment Solicitors – 3+ years PQE – difficult to give a range this year due to the lack of work generally in this field.
Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence – 3+ years PQE – £18-£30 per hour. Work very sporadic.
In House Legal Department Rates: 0-3 years PQE – £22-32 per hour (wide range due to variables in legal department work), 3+ years PQE – £30-75 per hour (very wide range due to the nature of in house work).
Local authority rates: get a dartboard, put a blindfold on, throw three darts and add up the total. Quite how local authority rates are calculated is beyond me, but they are one of the wonders of the recruitment world…

NB all rates exclude agency fees (we charge 18%). 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.

Etiquette Guide for Locums

Occasionally we get queries from law firms and locums as to what constitutes good practice by a locum when on assignment. Here are our answers to recent queries:

Should locums take phone calls during the day from their own clients?

No definitely not. Why would they? They are paid by the hour to do work for a company.

To read the full article please visit: https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/etiquette-for-locums/

CV Blooper of the Month

Minimum Wage and the Legal Profession

Over the last few months we have posted fairly junior job vacancies for a couple of our member law firms (ie firms who have signed up to TenPercentUnlimited – google for further info). One was for a receptionist at a salary of £13,000 and the other a paralegal for £14,000. We received a couple of responses, one of which is below (and quite fair I thought!):

“I [have] reported you for offering a low salary of £13000 which is under [the] minimum wage. A person who needs to pay rent, transport, food and try to save, will never be able to live a decent human life with that salary. Shame on you for offering slavery! You are disgusting.”

North, Scotland and Wales

VAC-17058 Head of Legal Collections – a company based in Bromley, Greater London and Kilmarnock, Ayrshire are looking for a permanent lawyer to join them at either location as Head of Legal Collections. The company are one of the largest consumer debt buyers in the USA and UK. You will need to have worked in or for the debt recovery industry, whether in private practice or in house, and have experience of managing a legal and collections team, along with strong knowledge of civil litigation procedures including Pre-Action Protocols, and good knowledge of rules and regulations relating to the Collections industry, particularly FCA regulations.
Salary levels £70-80k range, negotiable.

VAC-17100 General Practice Solicitor – a Conveyancing Solicitor, or Wills & Probate Solicitor (or someone able to do both) is sought by a small solicitors firm in Hay on Wye, Herefordshire. The firm are looking to replace a departing member of staff and are flexible as to whether you will actually need to undertake a mix of work or just one area. Hay on Wye is a beautiful area, with extensive opportunities for outdoor pursuits including kayaking, walking and climbing, to name a few. Famous for its bookstores rather than a multitude of solicitors firms, the practice naturally has strong links to the agricultural community. This is a very rural area and the post would suit someone looking to enjoy life in the countryside. Salary levels negotiable. The partners are quite senior in age and there are definite partnership prospects available. Permanent full time vacancy. There may be some options for part time work if wanted.

VAC-17093 Personal Injury Litigator – medium sized North West firm are looking for a Personal Injury litigator to work at their St Helens office. The successful candidate will be dealing with a mixed caseload of clinical negligence, industrial disease and general non portal personal injury work. The post is full-time, permanent and salary will be neogtiable depending on experience.

VAC-17064 Commercial Property Lawyer – small, high street practice based in Gainsborough, South Yorkshire have an opening for a commercial property lawyer on a permanent basis. The caseload will mainly consist of light commercial property mattes, small business buying and selling plus some agricultural land etc. Applications are invited from candidates looking for either full or part time work. Salary: market rates and dependent on experience.

VAC-17063 Family Lawyer – small, high street practice based in Gainsborough near Doncaster are looking to recruit a family solicitor or legal executive on a permanent basis. Applications are welcomed from candidates looking for full or part time roles. The caseload will mostly consist of private family matrimonial and ancillary relief, TOLATA matters etc with some private child care law but no care work or legal aid work. Salary: market rates and dependent on experience.

South and Midlands

VAC-17107 Wills & probate Solicitor – medium sized, specialist wills & probate firm are looking for an NQ-3 years’ PQE private client solicitor. Their head office is in Market Drayton but because most of what they do is through an online case management system there would be an opportunity for the right candidate to work from home but initial training would need to be done at the head office and there would be regular monitoring. The firm are happy to consider full-time or part-time applicants or locum to perm.

VAC-17104 Residential Conveyancer – specialist property law firm are looking for a conveyancer to manage a residential caseload at their Sawbridgeworth office. The firm are happy to consider solicitors, legal executives or licensed conveyancers who have a minimum of 3 years’ PQE and are able to manage a high volume caseload of conveyancing files from inception to completion. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.

VAC-17098 Costs Draftsperson – a new vacancy has arisen with a larger size crime solicitors firm in London – looking for a costs draftsperson with criminal legal aid billing experience. The firm may consider someone working from home or from their offices. Permanent salaried role, although possible that they will consider a self-employed arrangement.

VAC-17095 Admin Assistant – a law firm based in Bromley, Kent are looking for an administrator to join their established Recovery Department The firm are looking for reliable and enthusiastic applicants with previous experience of working in a similar area such as the insurance industry and Uninsured Loss/Recovery Departments. The role will involve setting up new cases, answering phones, drafting letters, filing, liaising with instructing insurer, liaising with third party insurer, communicating with the policyholder/client, keeping up to date on daily tasks and dairy entries, collating evidence and chasing payments. This is a full-time, permanent role starting ASAP. Starting salary: up to £20K per annum depending on experience.

VAC-17085 Private Client Solicitor – a medium sized, multi-office law practices with offices along the Sussex Coast have openings to join their well established private client department. The firm are looking for one Senior wills & probate solicitor to replace a member of staff who is retiring. In addition the firm are looking to recruit 2 further private client solicitors to expand their team. All roles are full time, permanent positions involving general wills & probate and LPA work. Vacancies will be at their offices in Bexhill, Eastbourne or Rye. Highly competitive salaries on offer depending on experience.

VAC-17084 Crime Lawyer – a well established Cambridgeshire firm are looking for a crime lawyer to work out of their Central Peterborough office. The firm are happy to consider applications from either criminal law solicitors with Duty Status and Higher Rights of Audience or criminal law barristers. The post will be full-time, permament and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.

VAC-17082 Property Litigation Executive – medium sized Hertfordshire firm are looking for a property litigation lawyer to work at their Elstree office. The successful candidate will be assisting with a broad ranging caseload of property disputes. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.

VAC-17079 Residential Conveyancer – medium-large firm based in SW London – Battersea area – are looking for a conveyancer to work at their office situated a 2 minute walk away from Clapham Junction Station. The firm are happy to consider solicitors or legal executives with a minimum of 3 years PQE in residential conveyancing.

VAC-17075 Legal Cashier – high street solicitors practice based in Bromley, Kent have an opening for a full time, permanent legal cashier. The firm are looking for candidates with knowledge of Solicitors Accounts Rules and good prior legal cashier experience to take on a role involving: daily posting of debits/credits/bill posting and costs transfers, cheque production, ability to deal with bank reconciliations and Client & Office payments and dealing/checking account queries. Salary: up to £28K per annum depending on experience.

VAC-17073 Residential Conveyancer – niche specialist property law firm looking for a conveyancer to manage a residential caseload at their Ascot office. The firm are happy to consider qualified solicitors, licensed conveyancers or legal executives with between 2 and 6 years’ conveyancing experience. The post is full-time, permanent and salary will be 30-50k depending on experience plus a significant and acheivable target related bonus scheme.

VAC-17068 Litigation Solicitor – well established Essex firm are looking for an experienced litigation solicitor to manage their litigation department at their Billericay office. This is a full time, permanent role. Caseload will be mainly civil litigation with some commercial litigation but also a small amount of company commercial and commercial property work depending on candidate. Good career prospects including future partnership prospects and competitive salary with bonus scheme on offer to the right candidate.

VAC-17067 Residential Conveyancing Solicitor – small to medium sized established practice based in the Kingston upon Thames area is looking to recruit a residential conveyancing solicitor. They will be looking to do this at one of two levels – either at 5 years PQE and upwards or 3 years PQE and upwards.
Salary levels are going to be £50,000 – £60,000 p.a. An offer of Partnership is anticipated in about 2-3 years’ time after joining.

VAC-17062 Residential Conveyancing – well established Oxfordshire firm are looking for a conveyancing lawyer to work at their Abingdon office. The caseload will be purely residential and candidates will be dealing with transactions from initial client contact right through to completion. The firm are happy to consider solicitors, licensed conveyancers or legal executives but applicants should ideally have a minimum of 4 years’ experience in residential conveyancing. The post is full-time, permanent and salary levels will be up to £45K plus access to a bonus scheme, pension scheme, childcare voucher scheme and parking space. Full job description and person specification available on request.

VAC-17061 Family Solicitor – West London law firm based in Hammersmith have an opening for an experienced family law solicitor. The firm have an established and rapidly growing family law department consisting of 3 solicitors and deal with a mix of legal aid and privately funded matters. Ideally candidates should have experience of both with a firm knowledge of matrimonial and ancillary relief work. This is a full time, permanent role. Starting salary: around £30K per annum depending on experience plus performance based bonus scheme.

VAC-17058 Head of Legal Collections – company based in Bromley, Greater London and Kilmarnock, Ayrshire are looking for a permanent lawyer to join them at either location as Head of Legal Collections. The company are one of the largest consumer debt buyers in the USA and UK. You will need to have worked in or for the debt recovery industry, whether in private practice or in house, and have experience of managing a legal and collections team, along with strong knowledge of civil litigation procedures including Pre-Action Protocols, and good knowledge of rules and regulations relating to the Collections industry, particularly FCA regulations.
Salary levels £70-80k range, negotiable.

VAC-17055 Wills & Probate Lawyer – large firm with offices across the South West of England are looking for a wills & probate lawyer to work at their Weston-Super-Mare office. The successful candidate will be taking on an established caseload of Wills, Administration of Estates, Court of Protection, and Administration of Trusts work and assisting with the development of the department. The firm are happy to consider solicitors or legal executives with a minimum of 3 years’ PQE in private client work. The post is full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.

VAC-17052 Wills & Probate Solicitor – an incredibly well established Essex law firm are looking for a wills & probate solicitor to work at their Witham office. Ideally candidates should have 1-2 years’ PQE in Wills & Probate work. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.

VAC-17050 Commercial Property – very well respected Herefordshire firm are looking for a Commercial Property Solicitor to work at their Ledbury office. Ideally candidates will have a minimum of 3 years’ PQE in commercial conveyancing work and be able to manage a caseload without supervision. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.

Ask a Recruitment Consultant – questions this month on our chat bot

Questions sent to us via our new Chat service online, together with general career questions emailed across. We do our best to answer all queries, sometimes after a fairly lengthy delay if we are busy!

Why is there a shortage of private client solicitors and so many vacancies?

Are Locum Rates cheaper for Maternity Leave Cover?

I want to expand my law firm and get consultants working on a fee share. Have you got any?

Is there any point taking on LPC graduates after the larger firms have creamed off the top students?

When I graduate what career route would I do if I am wanting to become a paralegal?

I am a conveyancing solicitor earning £28k and I am billing in the region of £3k per month. What should I get paid?

Full answers available at https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/questions-to-our-recruitment-consultants-via-our-chat-service/

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.

Warm regards

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

Welcome to the Legal Recruitment News for April 2017

Legal Job Market Update

Key points from 1st March to 4th April 2017 as follows:
* The demand for staff generally has increased.
* Permanent recruitment has increased.
* Locum recruitment has increased but hourly rates are still lower in some areas.
* Wills and Probate locum and permanent roles have dropped off but private client solicitors remain in demand. Vacancies remain unfilled.
* Conveyancing has picked up – both locum and permanent.
* Commercial Property roles have started to pick up. Vacancies remain unfilled.
* Litigation is still quiet.
* Family law roles are steady.
* London market is busier than it was in 2016.

The full article can be found at https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/legal-job-market-report-5th-april-2017/

Hourly Rates of Pay for Locum Solicitors and Legal Executives

As indicated above we are still noticing a change in locum rates for conveyancing, although as we have got busier the rates seem to be creeping up a bit. Although locum hourly rate payment vary widely according to the demand, length of assignment, level of experience and advance notice available, we have seen movement downwards in 2017 and a number of locums not getting work if their rate is too high.

Residential conveyancing rates are now settling at around the £28-32 per hour mark in most areas of the UK for any assignments longer than a few weeks. I suspect that the days of firms paying £40-45 per hour have probably ended (it has been quite a brief interlude from the norm!) and we think £35 per hour is going to be the maximum level seen generally. This was the case for residential conveyancing until 2016 when the hourly rates seemed to spike.

March 2017 Locum Rates:
Residential Conveyancing Locum Solicitors – 1-5 years PQE, £25-30 per hour (no variation for central London).
Conveyancing Locum Solicitors & ILEX – 5-35 years PQE, handling all levels of conveyancing including managing a department – £25-£35 per hour, including central London.
Commercial Property Solicitors – 1-40 years PQE – £30-45 per hour.
Wills & Probate Solicitors and Legal Executives – 3-35 years PQE – £30-45 per hour – usually the minimum is £35.
Family Solicitors – 4-40 years PQE – £24-32 per hour. Occasionally this goes up to £35 per hour for short notice or a few days cover.
Civil Litigation Solicitors and ILEX– 1-35 years PQE. £25-35 per hour. These rates cover mainstream litigation – eg county court and small claims matters.
Commercial Litigation Solicitors – 3+ years PQE – £35-50 per hour. Occasionally this is higher.
Company Commercial Solicitors – 3+ years PQE – £35-70 per hour.
Employment Solicitors – 3+ years PQE – difficult to give a range this year due to the lack of work generally in this field.
Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence – 3+ years PQE – £18-£30 per hour. Work very sporadic.
In House Legal Department Rates: 0-3 years PQE – £22-32 per hour (wide range due to variables in legal department work), 3+ years PQE – £30-75 per hour (very wide range due to the nature of in house work).
Local authority rates: get a dartboard, throw three darts and add up the total. Quite how local authority rates are calculated is beyond me, but they are one of the wonders of the recruitment world…

NB all rates exclude agency fees (we charge 18%). 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.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Dilemna for Newly Qualified Solicitors

In April every year we are regularly contacted by newly qualified and 1 year PQE (post-qualification experience) solicitors who ask the following questions:

1. Should I stay with my training law firm for at least 2 years when I qualify?
2. How much should I get paid?
3. What other options do I have?
4. Does it harm my career if I move when I qualify?
5. Does it harm my career if I stay where I am when I qualify?
6. If I move will I get a higher salary?

Our response is usually:

1. No, not necessarily.
2. Depends on the field of law, the firm and the geographical location.
3. Usually plenty.
4. No
5. No
6. Probably.

Full article at https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/should-i-leave-when-i-qualify-the-dilemna-for-newly-qualified-1-year-pqe-solicitors/

What is a QBE lawyer?

The term QBE comes from the financial sector and is increasingly applied to lawyers as well. A number of conveyancers are QBE and so are in house Counsel. It is rare for anyone to practice in law without at least an LLB or LLM, but they do exist, particularly in the property fields.

QBE Accountants are those accountants who have no formal qualifications and the definition of QBE is Qualified By Experience. So a QBE lawyer is someone who works within the legal profession as a fee earner (ie generates fees for their employer) but who is not formally qualified.

Full article available here – https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/what-does-qbe-stand-for/

Permanent Vacancies registered in the last 7 days

North, Scotland and Wales
VAC-17041 Residential Conveyancing Solicitor sought in Monmouth by very well established medium sized law firm. This is a full time permanent post.

VAC-17031 A new vacancy has arisen with a small to medium sized solicitors firm situated in central Manchester. They seek a commercial property solicitor locum to join them as soon as possible – likely to be for about 6-8 weeks cover needed. Fairly small niche practice. The firm are recruiting permanently so there is the option for permanent or locum to permanent as well.

VAC-17021 A well established firm with offices across the East of England are looking for an immigration & asylum lawyer with Supervisor Status and a family lawyer with supervisor status to work at either their Hull or Nottingham office. The firm are happy to consider candidates of varying experience/qualification levels but the Supervisor Accreditation is essential. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.

VAC-17016 Large, well established Newcastle firm are looking for a Family Law Solicitor to work at their City Centre office. Ideally the firm are looking for a qualified family solicitor with 5+ years PQE to undertake financial and private children work. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience but should be competitive and the firm offer excellent benefits to all employees. Further info available on request.

VAC-17010 Specialist Personal Injury firm with offices in Liverpool and Manchester are looking for a claimant PI fee earner to deal with a caseload of fast track work. The caseload will be nearly all E/L ,P/L.and O/L with a very small amount of RTA work. Most of the work is for Trade Union members and funded by the Trade Union concerned. The post is full-time , permanent and salary levels will be around 27-28k. Successful candidate can work at either the Liverpool or Cheadle office.

South
VAC-17040 Law firm in Hammersmith, West London are interested in speaking to any duty solicitor wishing to sign up with a firm by the April deadline to comply with at least the minimum requirements for the July 2017 rota in return for a monthly retainer.

VAC-17039 A well established East Sussex firm are looking for a senior commercial property fee earner to work at their Brighton office. The successful candidate will need to have excellent client facing skills and be an effective communicator. Marketing ability, organisation skills and computer literacy are a must. The role will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience but competitive.

VAC-17038 A fairly small but well established South West London firm are looking for a wills & probate solicitor to work at their office situated within a five minute walk of Fulham Broadway Station. Ideally candidates will have a minimum of 2 years’ PQE in wills & probate work. The post is full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.

VAC-17034 A law firm based in Canvey Island, Essex have an opening for a full time, permanent legal cashier due to restructuring within the firm. The firm are looking for experienced legal cashier able to manager the Solicitors Account, business accounts and monthly payroll. The firm use LEAP legal accounting software with Xero for the business accounts, online banking and a separate software package for payroll. Competitive salary on offer. Start date: ASAP.

VAC-17030 Prison Law Supervisor sought urgently by Croydon firm of smaller size. Happy to consider all options.

VAC-17028 Wills and Probate Solicitor sought for Buckingham firm. Very well regarded and established pracitice in the town centre of small to medium size. The firm have a private client fee earner departing and need to recruit someone to take over. They will consider 4 or 5 day weeks. Work is the usual mix of wills, probate, LPAs, inheritance tax and trusts.

VAC-17027 A specialist family law solicitors practice with branches in Northampton, Bedford and Milton Keynes have an opening in their administration department for a full time, permanent role. The successful candidate can be based at either Northampton or Milton Keynes depending on preference but would be traveling between all 3 offices as required. Role will involve: taking calls from client, arranging meetings, marketing and general legal admin.

VAC-17026 Legal cashier locum sought by Leicester law firm for July annual leave cover.

VAC-17025 A North London firm of solicitors have an opening for an experienced family law solicitor/executive at their branch in Enfield. This is a full time, permanent post and the firm are looking for candidates with ideally at least 5 years experience to manage their own caseload and support the family law partner. Candidates should be willing to undertake their own advocacy. On offer is a competitive salary and workplace pension.

VAC-17024 A well established Kent law firm are looking for an administration assistant to work in the Recovery Department at their Bromley office. The firm are looking for reliable and enthusiastic applicants with 5 GCSEs (grade C or above) but no previous legal experience required as full training will be given. The role will involve setting up new cases, answering phones, drafting letters, filing, liaising with instructing insurer, liaising with third party insurer, communicating with the policyholder/client, keeping up to date on daily tasks and dairy entries , collating evidence and chasing payments. This is a full-time, permanent role starting ASAP and a starting salary of £13,000 per annum.

VAC-17023 A law firm based in Central Oxford have an opening in their residential conveyancing department for a full time, permanent property solicitor/legal executive. The firm are looking for candidates with ideally at least 3 years experience for a fee earning role involving managing their own caseload and supervision of fee earning work undertaken by junior colleagues. Any commercial property or wills & probate experience would be a bonus. Good career prospects on offer and a competitive salary.

VAC-17002 Extremely well established East London firm are looking for a conveyancer to work at their office situated within a 5 minute walk of Walthamstow Central Station. Ideally the firm are looking for a Solicitor, Legal Executive or Licensed Conveyancer with a minimum of 2 years’ experience who can manage a residential caseload but will also consider a conveyancing paralegal who can assist with a caseload. Salary for the more senior role likely to be 30k-40k, salary for the paralegal role likely to be 21k-26k. The post will be permanent and full-time.

VAC-17017 Family Solicitor or ILEX sought by very well regarded and established Buckingham firm of small to medium size. 3 days a week.

VAC-17015 A small to medium sized solicitors firm based in West London (Marble Arch) have a vacancy for a full time, permanent residential conveyancing solicitor to work at Head of Department level. The firm are looking for candidates with at least 4 years general property experience.

VAC-17014 A medium sized solicitors firm based in West London have a vacancy for a full time, permanent litigation solicitor to work at Head of Department level. The firm are looking for candidates with at least 5 years experience in a range of litigation matters to take on a caseload including the following: contract and commercial disputes, professional negligence, IP, defamation, employment law, landlord & tenant and mediation.

VAC-17012 Residential Conveyancing Solicitor or Legal Executive sought by Egham firm. Situated on the high street in the town centre, about 200 metres from the train station and 1km from Junction 13 of the M25, the firm are looking to make a long term appointment. One of their solicitors is relocating and they would like to recruit a residential conveyancer to replace her. Anyone with additional light commercial conveyancing experience would be welcome. There are partnership prospects for the right person. This is a medium sized practice and well established in the town. All levels of PQE considered for this role – the firm simply want someone who has good experience and is able to contribute to their firm in the longer term. Salary levels similarly negotiable. A rare long term permanent role.

VAC-17011 Niche conveyancing firm based in Middlesex is looking for a conveyancing legal secretary to work at their office situated within a 2 minute walk of Pinner Tube Station. Ideally candidates should have a minimum of 3 years’ experience working as a residential conveyancing secretary.

VAC-17008 A well established Surrey firm are looking for a property solicitor who can manage a predominantly commercial property caseload (with a small amount of residential work) at their Farnham office. The firm are ideally looking for commercial property solicitors with a minimum of 2 years’ PQE. The role is full-time (although they are happy to consider part-time at 4 days per week), permanent and salary will be circa 50k-55k.

VAC-17003 Firm based a three minute walk of Ilford Train Station looking for a Duty Solicitor for a July 2017 start. The successful candidate will cover Police Stations and Magistrates Court Rota (and if desired casework) and will receive support, briefing and backup at all times and in all matters. The firm are happy to work on a 65/35 percentage split with the successful candidate taking 65%.

The Cure Parkinsons Trust – charity supported by the Ten Percent Foundation 2016-2017

Our criteria and policies for donating to charities can be found here – https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/charitable-trust/

This year we have written a piece about each charity we have considered and explained why and what we are funding. We have also included any information the charity have sent us including updates from last year on our ongoing donations.

We discovered the existence of The Cure Parkinson’s Trust whilst researching alternatives to Parkinsons UK. The cure or treatment of Parkinson’s is of particular interest to us as we have lost a family member (and former trustee) to the disease.

.
▪ Grants to research institutes were £672k.
▪ Salaries at the charity were £425k.
▪ No members of staff earned more than £60k.

Full article here: http://legalrecruitment.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/the-cure-parkinsons-trust-charity.html

For further details about the Ten Percent Foundation please visit https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/charitable-trust/

To sign a petition to Parliament limiting the executive pay in the charity sector – please click here.

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.

Warm regards

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

Legal Job Market Update

Key points from February 2017 as follows:
* The demand for staff generally has increased in line with the seasonal norm.
* Permanent recruitment has increased.
* Locum recruitment has increased but hourly rates have dropped in some areas.
* Wills and Probate locum and permanent roles have dropped off a bit and private client solicitors remain in demand.
* Conveyancing has picked up – both locum and permanent.
* Commercial Property roles remain at low levels.
* Litigation quiet.
* London market getting busier.

Summary

For the full report please visit: https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/legal-job-market-report-march-8th-2017/

Hourly Rates of Pay for Locum Solicitors and Legal Executives

We have noticed a change in locum rates for conveyancing and I suspect this is a general adjustment in the market. Although locum hourly rate payment vary widely according to the demand, length of assignment, level of experience and advance notice available, we have seen movement downwards and a number of locums not getting work if their rate is too high.

Residential conveyancing rates are now settling at around the £28-32 per hour mark in most areas of the UK for any assignments longer than a few weeks. I suspect that the days of firms paying £40-45 per hour have probably ended (it has been quite a brief interlude from the norm!) and we think £35 per hour is going to be the maximum level seen generally. This was the case for residential conveyancing until 2016 when the hourly rates seemed to spike.

For the full report please visit: https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/locum-solicitors-hourly-rates-for-march-2017/

 Top Quality Summary Sections/Personal Statements on CVs

The summary at the top of a CV is one of the key areas of a CV that so often gets ignored by candidates or filled with meaningless waffle. A good number of CVs we see every day actually miss them off completely, which is an opportunity missed if you are someone who fits a job description perfectly. We have recently had sight of possibly the best (and worst) personal statement ever seen on a CV. It read:

1. VERY HARD WORKING,DECENT LOOKING,ALWAYS WELL DRESSED BLOKE.
2. Honest, hard working and reliable person with a strong work ethic and commitment to exceed expectations.
3. I have an excellent communication and interpersonal ability, this enables me to be interactive when working as part of a team.

To read the full article please visit: https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/personal-statements-on-cvs-top-quality-examples/

 Permanent Vacancies registered in the last 7 days

North
VAC-16966 Legal Cashier Small but well established Cheshire firm with an excellent reputation looking for a legal cashier to work at their Widnes office. The firm are happy to consider full-time or part-time candidates but experience using Proclaim software is essential. The post will be permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.
VAC-16965 Legal Cashier A well established Lancashire law firm are looking for an experienced legal cashier to work at their Blackburn office. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.
VAC-16964 Personal Injury Paralegal A well established firm with offices in Lancashire and Yorkshire are looking for a personal injury paralegal to work at their Blackburn office. Candidates should have experience of using the MOJ portal and of claimant RTA work. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary levels likely to be 13k-17k depending on experience.
VAC-16963 Conveyancing Fee Earner A well established firm with branches in Yorkshire and Lancashire are looking for a conveyancer to work at their busy Blackburn and Bradford offices. The firm are happy to consider Solicitors, Licensed Conveyancers and Legal Executives who can manage a caseload of predominantly residential conveyancing with a small amount of light commercial conveyancing (approximately an 85% to 15% split). The post is full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience. Part-time candidates may also be considered.
VAC-16960 Commercial & Employment Solicitor A well established Lincolnshire firm are looking for a a solicitor with around 2-5 years’ PQE in commercial law and employment law to work at their Scunthorpe office. The post is full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience but should be competitive.
VAC-16958 Conveyancing x 2 in Wakefield A very well established West Yorkshire firm are looking for two residential conveyancers to work at their Wakefield office. The first role is Conveyancing Team Leader. Ideally candidates for this role will be a 3+ year PQE conveyancing solicitor or legal executive with experience of managing a residential caseload and some managerial exposure. The second role is for a conveyancing solicitor with around 3 years PQE to manage their own residential caseload. The salary for team leader role is 30k-35k and for the solicitor role 25k-30k. This firm offer flexible working hours, 35 days’ holiday per year and private health insurance amongst other employee benefits.
VAC-16957 Immigration Solicitor sought by Manchester law firm of small to medium size. The practice is located outside Manchester City Centre and the firm specialise in litigation work. They need an immigration solicitor on a locum or permanent basis to assist. Salary range indicated of £25-40k depending on experience.
VAC-16940 In House Commercial Locum Commercial Contracts Locum sought by university in Merseyside. Assignment ideally starting in Mid March and running for 6 months but the role could well become a permanent one in the longer term. The role will mainly focus on drafting, reviewing and negotiating contracts for the University’s research and consultancy activities, as well as providing commercial contracts support to wider University functions.

South
VAC-16956 Conveyancing Secretary A North London law firm have an opening for a full time, permanent conveyancing secretary at their branch office in Edmonton. The firm are looking for a candidate with experience in residential conveyancing, with excellent typing skills and proficient IT skills. Job description available on request. Salary range: £22K to £24K per annum.
VAC-16955 Civil Litigation Solicitor A North London law firm have an opening for a full time, permanent civil litigation solicitor at their branch in Enfield. The firm are looking for candidates with approximately 1 year PQE upwards to manage their own caseload under supervision. Caseload will consist of: property litigation, debt recovery, contract disputes, contentious probate, professional negligence and IP. Full job description available on request. Salary around £35K per annum depending on experience.
VAC-16954 Conveyancing Locum sought in Cheltenham by medium sized law firm – residential conveyancing work.
VAC-16952 Senior Private Client Solicitor A large firm with offices across the South West of England are looking for a private client solicitor to work at their Central Cheltenham office. Ideally candidates should have a minimum of 7 years’ PQE and be able to manage a broad wills & probate caseload. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable dependning on experience but should be competitive.
VAC-16947 Company Commercial Solicitor A well established London firm are looking for a company commercial solicitor with 3+ years’ PQE to work at their office, situated within a 5 minute walk of Tottenham Court Road Station. The firm say that they are happy to consider full-time and part-time applicants and the successful candidate will be able to carry out a significant proportion of the work from home, if desired. Caseload will be a broad range of commercial work. The post will be permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.
VAC-16946 Law Firm Buyer Law Firm with 2 existing offices based in the South East looking to acquire Immigration, Family and/or Crime Solicitors Firms located nationally. All options considered.
VAC-16945 Crime Solicitor A high street law firm based in Hammersmith, West London have an opening to take on a full time crime solicitor on a permanent basis. The firm are looking for experienced candidates ideally with duty status and are looking to recruit as soon as possible. Salary negotiable and dependent on experience.
VAC-16944 Conveyancing Solicitor A South West London firm are looking for a Conveyancer to manage a caseload at their office within a 5 minute walk of Earlsfield Station. Ideally the firm are looking for a solicitor with a minimum of 5 years’ PQE with a broad range of experience including equity release, transfer of equity and if possible landlord/tenant issues. The post is full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience but the 40k-50k range has been mentioned by the firm.
VAC-16943 NQ- 1 Year PQE Property Solicitor A medium sized Hertfordshire firm are looking for a property solicitor to work at their Elstree office. Ideally the firm are looking for an NQ-1 year PQE solicitor with experience in both residential and commercial conveyancing. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be 25k-30k depending on experience.
VAC-16942 Admin Assistant x2 A well established Kent law firm are looking for two admin assistants to work in the Recovery Department at their Bromley office. The firm are looking for reliable and enthusiastic applicants with 5 GCSEs (grade C or above) no previous experience required full training will be given. The role will involve setting new cases up, answering phones, drafting letters, filing, liaising with instructing insurer, liaising with third party insurer, communicating with the policyholder/client, keeping up to date on daily tasks and dairy entries , collating evidence and chasing payments. The role will start ASAP, will be full-time, permanent and salary will be 13k per annum.
VAC-16937 Prison Law Supervisor A well established Oxfordshire firm are looking for a Prison Lawyer with Supervisor Status to work at their Wheatley office. The firm are happy to consider full-time or part-time candidates and the role will begin ASAP. The post is permament and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.
VAC-16936 Head of Private Client A very well established Surrey firm are looking for a senior Wills & Probate solicitor to head their busy Private Client Department at their Weybridge office. Ideally the firm are looking for someone with 7+ years’ PQE who has built up contacts over their career and so can continue to develop the department. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience but around the £70k per annum mark. Office situated close to M25 and a 10 minute walk from Weybridge station which is on the Waterloo to Woking/ Basingstoke line and the Waterloo via Staines line.
VAC-16935 Property Litigation A medium sized Hertfordshire firm are looking for a litigation solicitor with property litigation experience to work at their Elstree office. Ideally the firm are looking for an NQ-2 year PQE solicitor but may also consider experienced paralegals. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience.
VAC-16934 Commercial Property Lawyer A well established firm with offices across Greater London are looking for a Commercial Property lawyer to work at their Edgware office. Ideally the firm are looking for an NQ-2 year PQE solicitor or a fairly experienced commercial property paralegal. The post will be full-time, permanent and salary will be negotiable depending on experience but the salary range 30k-40k has been mentioned.
VAC-16933 Family Law Paralegal/NQ Solicitor A small Hertfordshire firm are looking for a Family Lawyer to work at their Watford office on a fixed term 6 month contract. The firm deal with publicly funded family law work and need either an NQ-2 year PQE solicitor or paralegal with family law experience. The post will start ASAP, will run for an initial 6 months (with the possibility of being extended) and salary levels will be negotiable depending on experience but we suspect they are looking to pay 18k-23k per annum equivalent.
VAC-16932 Crime Locum Solicitor Crime Duty Solicitor sought to cover slots of departed duty solicitor. Arrangement not clear at this stage.

Locums – how to ensure you get paid

This link takes you to the article on our website.
https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/how-to-get-paid-a-guide-for-locums-chasing-payment/

The Kilimatinde Trust – charity supported by the Ten Percent Foundation 2016-2020

We thought it might be of interest to outline where the Ten Percent Foundation spends some of its money. The first charity is the Kilimatinde Trust. This is a UK charity linked to a specific area of Tanzania. One of our trustees knows one of the teachers at the school we support; St John’s Seminary in Tanzania.

For further details about the Ten Percent Foundation please visit https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/charitable-trust/

To sign a petition to Parliament limiting the executive pay in the charity sector – please click here.

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.

Warm regards

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