March 31, 2015
As part of “The Qualification Season” – a series of blogs by CapeClarke aimed at trainee solicitors looking to qualify in September 2015 – 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 Real Estate.
The Current Market: An area which was massively hit in the recession (again, well-documented), there has been slow recovery throughout 2010 to 2012 and then a real return to form throughout 2013. Much like corporate, more streamlined teams are very busy (also due to the declining numbers within teams) and have been recruiting heavily over the past 18 months – each of the large firms have taken on at least 3 or 4 solicitors in the past year. As we have seen in Leeds in the past couple of years, development work is back on the increase.
Is this a good career option? Perversely, commercial property is now an excellent area to qualify into. So few people have qualified into commercial property over the last 6 years, with the number of people who have left the profession in that same time, you will now find yourself as a 2-4 year PQE commercial property solicitor in big demand. There have been so many opportunities in the past 12-18 months we have seen many mid-tier (or even small firm) solicitors make the leap into the top-tier, completely transforming their CVs in the process.
September 2015 opportunities: There will be a good number of NQ vacancies, particularly across the top and mid-tier firms. Now is the time to qualify as a commercial property solicitor! If you have trained in a smaller firm, this is the perfect discipline to qualify into if you fancy a move to the big national firms!
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 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.
