The Qualification Season: A Focus on… Commercial and Financial Litigation

As part of The Qualification Season, a series of blogs by CapeClarke aimed at trainee solicitors looking to qualify in September 2019, 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 Commercial and Financial Litigation.

The Current Market

Commercial litigation solicitors are benefiting from a stable market with teams generally quite active.  There was not quite the explosion of litigation throughout the recession that legal professionals believed would happen – perhaps due to a lack of money to pursue claims, making litigation an expensive act of principle. That said, commercial litigation solicitors are certainly busy and most departments report heightened activity across a range of sectors and there have been a number of high-profile contentious matters over recent years.  There have been a few opportunities in the market, but not a vast amount compared to transactional disciplines.

Is this a good career option? 

We consider commercial litigation to be a very good area to qualify into – there have been various jobs for lawyers once they have 1 or 2 years PQE under their belt at firms of all sizes.  There are a number of niche litigation firms who operate at the highest level. Due to the growing popularity of trainee solicitors qualifying into commercial litigation, such roles could be more competitive in a few years’ time, but you should still have a number of options open to you should you wish to move law firms.

September 2019 opportunities

Looking at last year’s opportunities, it is still true to say that a lot of roles will be taken by internal applications. However, we did see a good number of external vacancies appear in the market and we hope that at least a reasonable number of roles will be available again this year.

If you have been thinking about a move or would just like some general advice about options in the market, please feel free to contact one of our dedicated consultants on 0113 2385965 or 0161 3000750.

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.