Layla Jackson Joins Leading Team
3rd October 2008 from 6:05 pmLayla Jackson Joins BCL Legal Recruitment in Manchester Regional legal recruitment business BCL Legal are delighted to announce Layla Jackson has joined their Manchester office from recruitment giant Badenoch & Clark. Layla, from Swinton, Greater Manchester has almost ten years’ experience of working in recruitment and has joined the private practice team where she will be working with BCL Legal’s clients in Lancashire, Cumbria and Greater Manchester continuing to develop existing relationships and fostering new ones. She will advise qualified solicitors and partners in the region. Director Vicky Clark said “we are very pleased Layla chose us. She will be the perfect complement to the team. We are very focused in what we do at BCL Legal and Layla will have responsibility for a small number of clients and continue to advise solicitors on how to make the most of their legal careers. Layla’s ethos and approach are the same as our’s, she has a real focus on client care”. Layla will also be joining former colleague Tasmin Sabar at BCL Legal. They previously worked together at Peter Manners Partnership over five years ago. BCL Legal has offices in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Reading and Bristol. For further information please visit wwww.bcllegal.com or telephone 0845 241 0933
Solicitors in Manchester Seek Legal Jobs In House or Abroad
23rd September 2008 from 6:31 pmToday the Manchester Evening News reported that Construction Partner from Davies Arnold Cooper, Colin Moore is off to Dubai to join property giant, where he joins the ever increasing number of solicitors moving in house or abroad. Mr Moore, 45, a married father-of-two, has become head of legal at DAMAC, where he will lead a team of 20 solicitors worldwide. The former plumber trained at Halliwells in Manchester, then ran his own practice in Old Trafford before it merged with Davies Arnold Cooper in 2006. His move comes as demand rises for in-house lawyers among companies across the North West. One recent report said top firms, under pressure during the economic downturn, were cutting their spending on outside legal advice by hiring lawyers. Shorter hours, more flexible working arrangements and the opportunity to gain commercial experience are proving a big lure for lawyers in practice. Mark Levine, a director at city centre legal recruitment business BCL Legal, said finding solicitors for in-house roles was a growing part of its business. BCL Legal has recruited for companies such as AstraZeneca, BAE Systems, United Utilities, SSL International, PZ Cussons and Holidaybreak during recent months. "Corporates are looking at the financial aspect, and closely tied to that see the value they get from having in-house legal teams, in terms of their knowledge of their organisation," said Mr Levine. "For the lawyers themselves, there are positive and negative reasons for moving. Those who enjoy commercial work see great opportunities, while those who perhaps don't see themselves becoming partners are attracted into industry." There are 108407 solicitors in England and Wales with practising certificates, of these 25850 are in industry or local government. If you are looking to recruit legal staff to work within your business please contact the in house legal team at BCL Legal. We advise companies across the country and can advise you of the benefits of having your own in house legal advisor. For further information contact Mark Levine or Ruth Taylor on 0845 241 0933 or marklevine@bcllegal.com
BCL Legal Recruitment Consultants Are Going the Extra Mile
17th September 2008 from 4:49 pmWith all the doom and gloom of the financial markets in the press of late the recruitment consultants at BCL Legal nationwide are not slowing down and instead are pulling out all the stops. A number of energetic consultants have been exercising their way around the UK and Europe raising money for charities and making those of us still in bed on a Sunday morning feel very guilty. In May 2008 Matthew Porter, a senior consultant from BCL Legal’s Manchester office, completed the West Highland Way in four days. The ‘Way’ links Milngavie and Fort William and is 95 miles long, from the outskirts of Scotland’s largest city to the foot of its highest mountain, following the shores of its largest freshwater loch. It passes through a wide range of different terrains, ranging from lowland moors, through dense woodland and rolling hills, to high mountainous regions. Later on that month Matthew Porter and colleague Tom Crampton from the Leeds office successfully completed the Manchester 10K raising money for Christies. This month, Victoria Moore took part in a charity bike ride from London to Paris which involved cycling over 300 miles in 4 days. At one point in the ride Victoria managed to loose the group and accumulated an extra 15 miles up and down a hill to get back on course! Not deterred Victoria completed the course and with 90 others they raised a total of £100,000 for various charities. Victoria managed to raise over £1,200 for Diabetes UK. Also this month, in between recruiting lawyers in the North East of England, James Hitti took part in the ‘Race the Sun’ competition which involved cycling, mountain climbing and canoeing over a long and grueling course. They climbed the third highest mountain in Britain, only to be turned away from the summit due to 65mph winds! Having negotiated the mountain they then cycled 2 miles to Lake Thirlmere to complete the 2 mile canoe section, finally a 22 miles ride home. James took 11 hours and raised over £2,000 for Action Medical Research. James’s next adventure will be to trek Kilimanjaro in June 2009 to raise money to promote sports for disabled children. Director Victoria Clark will be running the Tatton 10K on Saturday raising money for the Macmillan nurses and James Brewster, Associate Director at BCL Legal’s Bristol office will be taking part in the Stroud half marathon in October. BCL Legal is the largest regional legal recruitment company in England and recruits lawyers and solicitors into legal jobs in private practice and commerce and industry in the regions. Offices in Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Reading. If you would like any further information please contact Director Victoria Clark on 0845 241 0933 or info@bcllegal.com
High Demand for Legal Jobs in the Home Counties
12th September 2008 from 5:33 pmLegal recruitment in legal centres such as Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes and Southampton have not been spared the effects of the down turn in the economy over recent months, but perhaps not in the same way or to the extent that the London market has been hit. Well placed, robust commercial law firms in legal centres such as Reading and Oxford view the slow down as a time to take opportunities and perhaps to capitalise on some of the talent that may not previously have been available to them as lawyers flock to the City. There has been a certain amount of migration of candidates from London city firms to the Thames Valley, Surrey, Milton Keynes and the like and the work certainly seems to keep coming in. There are a high volume of legal jobs for solicitors with at least eighteen months’ experience within corporate, commercial, construction, personal injury (defendant and claimant), insolvency, professional indemnity and employment departments across the region. There is no doubt that law firms in the south east benefit g from their proximity to London. Many top-tier commercial law firms in legal centres such as Guildford, Reading, Oxford and Milton Keynes attribute some of their success in the current market as they are able to attract London and international clients, on the proviso that they can provide City quality advice at very competitive charge out rates. They need to recruit lawyers to keep this promise. Dan Hogan, specialist legal recruitment consultant at BCL Legal specialises in fee earner recruitment in Reading and Oxford. Dan claims that “whilst there is a slow down in the current legal recruitment market with certain firms in the South East and London having made redundancies, there has also been increased recruitment needs for fee earners within key legal centres in the Home Counties”. Daniel Hogan recruits solicitors into jobs in private practice in the Home Counties, for further information contact Dan on 0845 241 0997 or email info@bcllegal.com
Law Firms in East Midlands Secure Talent from the City
12th September 2008 from 5:02 pmThe East Midlands’ legal market offers an array of highly respected national, regional and local firms. The region continues to attract high profile and repeat instructions from clients because of its reputation for offering a quality, reliable service at a snip of the fees charged by firms in London and the South. Nottingham, Leicester and Derby are home to many corporate firms with a presence across the country including Browne Jacobson, Eversheds, Freeth Cartwright, HBJ Gateley Wareing, Shoosmiths, Geldards and Harvey Ingram. In addition there are strong regional contenders for work and some nationally regarded niche firms offering specialist planning, criminal, family and property advice. As well as the major cities, the region’s larger towns including Chesterfield, Newark, Loughborough and Market Harborough all have their fair share of solicitor practices. Whilst we have seen a reduction in the number of legal jobs in some specialist areas compared to the last five years, legal recruitment still remains buoyant in many sectors. Apart from the inevitable decline in commercial property solicitor jobs, legal recruitment agency BCL Legal are currently instructed by a number of firms to recruit for their corporate, employment, insolvency, matrimonial, private client, regulatory and litigation. The recent spate of recruitment for solicitors qualifying in September 2008 has been more competitive than in recent years with more candidates applying for fewer jobs; however practices in Nottingham, Derby and Leicester have continued to recruit externally for corporate, litigation, employment, family and criminal solicitors. They have also managed to recruit the overflow from the City with some lawyers who haven’t managed to secure jobs on qualification moving north to the region. Melanie Daly, Senior Consultant at BCL Legal, specialist recruiter for solicitors in the East Midlands claims “there is still a high demand from firms in Nottingham, Derby and Leicester to recruit additional solicitors. Most opportunities for solicitors are in the 1-3 years PQE bracket and within employment, insolvency and commercial litigation”. If you are a law firm recruiting in the East Midlands please contact Melanie at BCL Legal Recruitment on 0845 241 0997 or info@bcllegal.com
Legal Job Market in Bristol Beats Economic Downturn
12th September 2008 from 4:31 pmThe slow down across the UK has resulted in many businesses, not excluding law firms, tightening their belts and cutting back on fee earner recruitment reducing the amount of solicitor jobs available. Legal recruitment in Bristol has not remained unaffected. In the last 12 months we have seen the number of Bristol legal jobs in commercial property, corporate and banking decline by more than 60%. But is it all doom and gloom? Putting commercial property and residential conveyancing jobs aside, the legal job market is actually very buoyant. So where are all the jobs in Bristol for solicitors looking for other opportunities? The most buoyant areas and where there are several opportunities for lawyers with at least two years’ PQE are in corporate, commercial, insolvency, personal injury (defendant and claimant), professional indemnity, employment and construction departments. The recent spate of newly qualified solicitor recruitment in the region has been quite successful. There were many firms seeking external candidates within commercial litigation, insolvency, commercial, projects/PFI, financial services, professional indemnity, PI and clinical negligence. At the other end of the scale, there is a high demand for senior lateral hires particularly in areas such as commercial/projects, regulatory, employment, and pensions and we are currently receiving instructions from senior candidates seeking out new opportunities in the region. Whilst a few of the main Bristol law firms have made redundancies during 2008, when you look a little deeper, most of these have been from support functions or huge conveyancing teams. So far there have been only minor casualties amongst fee earners. So the outlook for legal recruitment in Bristol is positive. Salaries are also on the up. Newly Qualified solicitors in Bristol can now command £43,000, the highest amongst the regions of the whole country. For further information please contact James Brewster, Associate Director of BCL Legal on 0845 241 0997 or email him at info@bcllegal.com BCL Legal Limited has offices across the regions.
Demand for Paralegals and Legal Executives Soars in the Midlands
12th September 2008 from 2:43 pmBCL Legal Offers Specialist Recruitment Service to Legal Executives and Paralegals across the Midlands and South West. BCL Legal is a full service legal recruitment agency with offices in Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Liverpool, Reading and Birmingham. Due to the ongoing success of our Midlands office we have now launched a specialist team dedicated to the recruitment of legal executives and paralegals across the region. Clare Franklin, Associate Director at BCL Legal’s Birmingham office said “Legal Executives and experienced paralegals are an increasingly valuable asset to law firms, companies and public sector organisations. Those looking to recruit non qualified legal staff have increased and businesses are able to offer a clear career path for those looking to qualify as a legal executive or gain quality experience as a paralegal and further their career.” LPC graduates are entering the market with more than 8 months’ practical experience and are able to secure opportunities that can lead to training contracts. Law firms large and small are becoming acutely aware of the potential benefits to be reaped from the non-qualified legal market and as such paralegals and legal executives have been entrusted with a far greater role in legal work covering many core legal disciplines. Increasingly, recourse to non-qualified fee earners is being considered a valid legal recruitment option by law firms in the East and West Midlands. BCL Legal are currently finding jobs for paralegals within a variety of legal disciplines from company secretarial, personal injury and credit hire to mortgage repossession and debt recovery. Clare Franklin of BCL Legal specialises in recruiting non-qualified and legal executive fee earners into law firms across all disciplines in the Midlands. If you would like information in relation to employment within Private Practice contact Clare on 0845 241 0994 or email clarefranklin@bcllegal.com
South East Legal Private Practice Jobs Become Available As BCL Legal Recruitment Steps Up Regional Presence
28th August 2008 from 4:10 pmBCL Legal Recruitment has extended its presence in the southern region further, following on from the launch of the Bristol office earlier this year. By moving into the South East region, BCL Legal now provides a complete service to the regional market in England acting for law firms in the Northern and Southern Home Counties, Thames Valley and South Coast. Due to the consistent flow of solicitors tempted into strong top tier and mid-tier commercial law firms into the South East, boundaries are being broken. BCL Legal recently established their presence in Bristol city centre in response to lawyers and solicitors being increasingly tempted to migrate to Bristol and other legal centres in the South West and South East. The continuing rise of commercial law firms in legal centres including Guildford, Reading, Oxford, Southampton and Milton Keynes is providing legal professionals with an alternative means of fulfilling dedication to both work and family life. There is of course the inevitable drop in salary that comes with a move from London into the region; a 20% to 30% drop is not uncommon for lawyers coming from larger City practices. However, firms in the Thames Valley and Home Counties are fast recognising the necessity to attract talent to the region and offer some of the highest paid legal salaries in the regions. With offices in Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Reading and Birmingham BCL Legal provides a comprehensive legal recruitment service for solicitors, lawyers, paralegals, law firms and businesses across the regions. For information relating to legal jobs in commerce and industry please contact Mark Levine on 0845 241 0933 or by email: info@bcllegal.com. For legal jobs in the South East private practice please contact Daniel Hogan on 0845 241 0965 or danhogan@bcllegal.com
Paralegals and Legal Executives becoming increasingly important in private practice within the Yorkshire market
1st May 2008 from 9:00 amThe outlook for the non-qualified legal recruitment market has never looked better in the Yorkshire area. Paralegals and legal executives working in private practice law firms are a large and growing constituent of the professional staff in law firms in Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and surrounds. As well as those legal professionals who come through the traditional ILEX route there now exists an abundance of LPC graduates of an exceptionally high calibre, emerging each year from the city’s highly rated law schools: the University of Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan University and BPP Law School. Relatively recently, this valuable commodity to the Leeds legal market would have exported itself to the more traditional legal centre of the City of London, however, now they are finding comparable and indeed in many cases more appealing opportunities right here in Yorkshire. LPC graduates are entering the market with the requisite knowledge and are able to secure opportunities that will give them that edge in terms of the skills and experience necessary to attain that illusive training contract and so the legal recruitment cycle continues and inevitably the market will continue to grow from strength to strength. Law firms large and small are becoming acutely aware of the potential benefits to be reaped from the non-qualified legal market and as such paralegals and legal executives have been entrusted with a far greater role in legal work covering many core legal disciplines. Increasingly, recourse to non-qualified fee earners in being considered a valid legal recruitment option by the law firms in Yorkshire. The lack of necessity to pay for continuing professional development for non qualified solicitors and the ever increasing cost of practising certificate fees mean that non qualified fee earners with strong client skills, legal knowledge and ability to ‘hit the ground running’ with an existing caseload become ever more valuable. Claire Watt of BCL Legal specialises in recruiting non-qualified and legal executive fee earners into law firms across all disciplines in Yorkshire. If you would like information in relation to employment within Private Practice, Claire is well poised to help you. Please contact her on 0845 241 0933.
Bristol Legal Jobs More Attainable as BCL Legal Recruitment Opens Office in City
18th February 2008 from 9:00 amBCL Legal Recruitment has opened an office in Bristol city centre in response to lawyers and solicitors being lured by the opportunities and prospects that Bristol law firms offer. Career progression is a lot more attainable than in London, due to the expansion and growth plans of many law practices in Bristol. The number of lawyers all running for the same position is less and so prospects for legal professionals are that much more enhanced. BCL Legal’s Bristol office has been set up to help legal professionals migrating to the city to find their ideal role and enhance their career prospects. The prospect of FTSE 100 clients and the prospect of dealing with top quality work are appealing to legal professionals wanting to further their career as well as the opportunities to take control of their own caseload and to gain more exposure to clients are major attractions for most lawyers. Legal professionals moving from London will no doubt view salary as one of the biggest considerations for relocating. A drop of between 20% and 40% is often the case if they’re already a lawyer practising at one of the larger London firms. However, Bristol law firms compare well with other legal centres keeping pace with like for like firms in Birmingham City Centre so you they’re not underpaid in regional terms. Bristol commercial law firms have become successful with a lot of hard work and commitment from staff. So whilst there is undoubtedly a better work – life balance to be had there is still an expectation of working long hours when you are required to ‘get the work done’. Property prices, whilst a lot cheaper than London, the South West has experienced the kind of boom seen elsewhere in the UK. With offices in Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham BCL Legal provides a comprehensive legal recruitment service for solicitors, lawyers, law firms and businesses. For information relating to legal opportunities in commerce and industry please contact Mark Levine on 0845 241 0933 or by email: info@bcllegal.com. For opportunities in Bristol private practice please contact James Batt on 0845 241 0965 or bristol@bcllegal.com
print page
top of page
