Market update for May 2021

As we approach the end of financial year, we thought it was a great time to provide a quick market summary. Directly comparing the first quarter of 2021 to last year has been interesting, as we can see that activity is back to the pre-Covid levels we saw in early 2020. It has certainly been a busy start to the year, with a good flow of recruitment activity across all levels, in the Queensland legal market and nationally.

Areas of High Demand

The areas that are most in demand are insurance (both plaintiff and defendant) across all levels, workplace relations and employment, commercial litigation and we have also seen a strong increase in the transactional areas of law. These areas include property, corporate and commercial, energy and resources and banking and finance. The top-tier law firms are now mostly all actively recruiting again and the mid-tier and boutique law firms are also very active on the recruitment front. In terms of government and in-house roles, we have seen an increase in volume in these types of roles. With increased market confidence, and government departments busier than ever, there is a steady flow of roles across a range of practice areas.

For many Lawyers, both at the junior and senior level, there remains a cautious approach to securing a new role. The move will be considered and thought out, with job security at the forefront of people’s minds.
We believe that most areas of law will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future and welcome enquiries from all levels of lawyers who may be interested in market information and/or the current opportunities that might be available to them.