Without the law, society could not function. Consequently, the majority of professionals in the legal sector are solicitors, many of whom work long, antisocial hours. The stereotypical public perception of lawyers starring in courtroom dramas is far from the truth for most of them. Yes, there are criminal law specialists, who go on to become QCs and judges, but there are far more solicitors dealing with the other specialist areas of law, such as employment, estates and agriculture, environment, property, copyright and pensions. Salaries, especially for the more senior partners, are high to very high and there is a huge amount of competition for the (fairly scarce) talent in each specialty. Law firms don’t like to lose their key staff to the competition!
In addition, there is the full range of support staff, with some specific, highly qualified roles, such as those of the Legal Secretary and Paralegal. You need to be aware that the legal systems in Scotland and England are different and there is therefore comparatively little cross-border recruitment: you will be fishing within a national pool.
The legal sector is striving to become more diverse. Recently, more women than men have been qualifying as solicitors and at least 18% of these have been from ethnic minority groups. Overall, there are roughly 200,000 people employed in legal professions within the UK (about 45% of all solicitors currently work in London) making it a moderately small sector, which accounts for less than 1% of the total UK labour force, but it’s a highly competitive market with excellent fee-earning potential. Like all similar, specialist markets, there is a lot of learning involved to understand the culture and legal language, but it’s one where a well-connected recruitment expert can really make his or her mark.
Recruiting for Legal Jobs in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, throughout Scotland and Manchester
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