As part of “The Qualification Season” – seminars and a series of blogs by CapeClarke aimed at trainee solicitors looking to qualify in September 2014 – we will give a brief overview of the market conditions affecting many of the core legal disciplines that trainee solicitors look to qualify into.
The next area of law for discussion is Construction
The Current Market: In respect of non-contentious construction work, departments are much busier since the recommencement of many developments and the recovery of the property market.
The contentious construction market has been busy for the last few years with the top law firms working on European and, in some cases, international matters, although since the conclusion of the Wembley dispute, many firms are again under-utilised and pitting against each other on the major tenders. There have not been many team reductions, but there has also been very little growth, although the past 6 months has seen some improvement.
Is this a good career option? Both areas represent a fairly stable career to move into, although in terms of transactional work, it is driven by the success of the commercial property market. Obviously, at present, that is great news for would-be construction lawyers and we have recently made a number of placements into firms actively looking to expand their construction teams.
September 2014 opportunities: If the increasing opportunities which have arisen in the past 12 months are an indicator as to how the NQ market will perform this year, we suspect that there will be a number of vacancies, particularly in non-contentious construction work.
If you would like to discuss this blog, have been thinking about a move or would just like some general advice about options in the market, please feel free to contact Terry Cape or Chris Clarke on 0113 2385965.
CapeClarke is a leading niche legal recruitment consultancy operating across Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool and London. Please feel free to check out our priority legal vacancies by clicking here. Please note these legal vacancies are only a small selection of those we have been instructed on, so please get in touch if you do not see a role which looks suitable.
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