M&A, Private Equity and Corporate Finance:  Despite talk of deals drying up, firms still appear to be busy and particularly in the mid-market arena, lawyers are continuing to work hard.  This is evident in the continuing demand for mid level corporate lawyers and it is safe to say that all the top 50 firms are still recruiting.  The “pause” in the market is allowing firms to take stock and assess their recruitment requirements which does allow firms to be more selective.  This is affecting international lawyers without UK experience.  Most mid tier firms are looking for corporate lawyers more actively than the magic circle as the mid-market deals are continuing as opposed to the larger £500m plus deals.   

Banking & Finance remains fairly active on the recruitment front. Securitization has seen a drop off in both work and recruitment but firms are still undertaking a high level of deals with Acquisition Finance and project finance are seeing renewed levels of demand, primarily fuelled by the upswing in Middle Eastern infrastructure projects.  

Real Estate is the one area that has been noticeably hit from a recruitment perspective and redundancies are currently being publicised at some of the mid and upper mid tier firms.  Regional firms may also be hit on this front.  

Dispute Resolution has picked up particularly in the specialty areas of construction, insurance and intellectual property.  Commercial litigation recruitment is also the busiest it has been for some time.  Arbitration is an area where US firms have stormed the rankings this year. This makes lawyers with arbitration expertise, especially at mid-ranking level, the most attractive candidates in this sector.

TMT: Post the dotcom boom, the emphasis in this sector is towards technology, outsourcing, and media work.   Strong commercial contracts and outsourcing experience are still in demand. Media and intellectual property are tougher markets with few jobs that are often highly specialized.

Employment & Pensions: The best prospects in this sector are in the specialist areas of pensions and employee share schemes.  Employment remains extremely popular and therefore heavily competitive, particularly at the junior end of the market. That said, in the economic downturn, employment work has picked up and we are seeing an increase in employment roles for mid level lawyers. 

International Energy and Projects: Prior to 2001 this was a booming sector with lots of free-spending clients.  Between 2002 and 2003 this market slowed down considerably and there were few new projects; the emphasis shifted to restructuring and refinancing existing projects.  Post 2004 the market has picked up with high oil prices in particular driving a new wave of projects.  LNG is particularly popular.  The fact that most of these projects are billed in US dollars has, however, sometimes made it difficult for UK firms to compete. The international nature of much of the work means that for the largest instructions there is a definite advantage in a strong global network. The top UK firms are also seeing increased competition from a number of major US firms.  With Middle East transactions continuing to keep lawyers busy, this is an exciting time for many lawyers who wish to use their skills on an international platform.

Domestic PPP/PFI: This market is increasingly commoditised and firms are finding it more difficult to make it profitable.  Having said this there are two new markets - secondary PFI, where corporates buy and sell stakes in PFI projects and international PFI, which is seeing firms exporting PFI to Europe.