Articles From the Team
Calling all Commercial Solicitors
Calling all Commercial Solicitors
What a difference a year makes. During the dark years of 2008/2009 comhttps://www.bcllegal.com/the-brief/wp-admin/post.php?post=1027&action=editmercial contracts roles in private practice were like hen's teeth. This year things are decidedly different with many of the larger law firms currently looking to recruit commercial contracts lawyers with commercial, IP and IT experience. As somebody who makes a living out of introducing commercial solicitors to private practice law firms this is good news indeed, the problem is there is a distinct lack of candidates on the market looking for these types of roles.
I believe there are several reasons for this, the effect of the recession on the number of solicitors specialising in this area, the trend for lawyers with this experience to gravitate towards in-house and the perception that the grass isn't necessarily greener elsewhere to name but a few. That said, there couldn't be a better time to be searching for a commercial contracts roles in private practice. The ball is very much in your court, candidates with over 2 years pqe are very marketable. The quality of the work that is currently ongoing with many of these firms is fantastic. Also, your career prospects are very strong, in a candidate driven market private practice law firms have to demonstrate to mid level commercial lawyers what their short and medium term prospects for promotion are. Commercial contracts solicitors who secure new roles in this market have very real partnership prospects. These teams are also very busy and that provides real security and longevity to these opportunities.
Law firms are open minded about the background of applicants and are considering. This provides those coming from other private practice backgrounds to trade up and have the opportunity to work for one of the larger law firms. Candidates coming from in-house who are looking for the challenge of returning to private practice are also of interest.
If you are a commercial contracts lawyer and are currently considering your future hopefully the above provides you with much to be positive about. If you would like to discuss this in more detail feel free to contract the team at BCL Legal on 0161 819 7475.