The surge in vacancies for banking lawyers during Q1 2024, observed both in law firms and banks, reflects significant industry dynamics. 137 vacancies were posted within law firms, marking the highest total since Q3 2022. Extrapolating from Q1, 2024 is projected to see a 35% increase compared to the previous year. Similarly, there was a 17.7% increase in legal vacancies within banks compared to Q4 2023.
Recruitment levels are returning to 2019 levels. However, what has changed is that more vacancies are happening proportionately within the Banks. So for context, in 2019 we saw 381 legal vacancies in banks, in 2023 this is set to be over 500. In contrast, within the law firms, in 2019 we saw 577 banking vacancies, whereas this year we estimate the total to be barely over 400. This is according to the latest UK Legal Labour Market Trends report by Search, and labour market data analysts Vacancysoft.
