Commercial roles increase 300 per cent in last year

The demand for corporate and commercial lawyers over the last 12 months has increased by 300 per cent as the UK industry continues to recover according to legal recruiter, Douglas Scott.

The recruitment consultancy reports that is has 90 per cent more corporate and commercial candidates on its books than it did have during the same period 12 months ago; more than ever before in the company's 10 year history.

Jon-Paul Hanrahan, head of commercial at Douglas Scott, said: "With the rising costs of recruitment, staff retention is now more important than ever. There is no quick fix, but to keep the best staff, firms must offer industry standard salary and benefits at the very least, where possible seeking to improve on these - otherwise they could get outbid."

'Golden Hello'

The demand in the industry has resulted in the rise of what Douglas Scott describes as the 'Golden Hello', in which some candidates are being offered in excess of £10,000 to join a firm over a rival. Hanrahan also advised that some contracts are being recalibrated in favour of the applicant through skewed notice periods and counter offers are now at an all-time high.

Douglas Scott's annual salary survey revealed that corporate and commercial lawyers were the highest paid in London and were only matched by in-house roles. The survey also revealed that commercial and corporate salaries in the Northwest matched London and that in the Yorkshire and north east region were also the highest areas for remuneration.

Hanrahan continued: "This is not just good news for those candidates at the top of their profession; those that would have previously been overlooked for the top jobs are now in contention too. A number of firms have begun looking at candidates that are outside of the usual academic requirements and applicants are being assessed less on their level of PQE and more on a competency based model."

He concluded: "We now have a market in which it has never been better for commercial solicitors to move jobs, and where it has never been more important for firms to keep them."

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