By Jon Howard
We’re not quite back to the extraordinary conditions of 2021, when almost every practice area was hiring at pace and experienced associates could command multiple offers. This market feels different. Firms are still being selective, hiring decisions remain commercially driven and nobody is recruiting for growth’s sake.
What has changed is the volume of work. Across private equity, infrastructure, energy and parts of the capital markets, activity is picking up. We’ve noticed a subtle but important shift in conversations over the past few months.
Hiring is rarely the first sign of recovery – it’s usually one of the last. Firms don’t wake up one morning and decide to grow. They ask existing teams to absorb more work, partners become busier, associates take on additional responsibility and only then does recruitment move back onto the agenda. By the time a search begins, the demand has usually been there for some time.
Private equity is a good example. Sponsors continue to hold vast amounts of capital that needs to be deployed, and investors still expect returns. While firms are being more disciplined about where they invest, the flow of acquisitions, bolt-on deals, refinancings, exits and continuation funds has continued. It’s a different market from the one we saw a few years ago, but it’s an active one.
The impact extends well beyond corporate teams. Every private equity transaction creates work for finance, tax, competition, employment, commercial, regulatory and real estate lawyers. It’s one of the reasons private equity remains such an important driver of legal recruitment. When sponsors become busier, demand spreads across an entire law firm.
The same is true of infrastructure and energy. AI may dominate the headlines, but the legal work sits behind the investment required to make it possible. Data centres need financing, planning, land acquisition, construction, power supply and long-term commercial agreements. Alongside that, investment in renewable energy, LNG, battery storage and electricity networks continues to generate a steady stream of instructions for firms with established projects and energy practices.
Capital markets are also beginning to show signs of life. Activity is still some way below the exceptional levels seen in 2021, but more companies are returning to market and businesses that postponed fundraising are beginning to move forward with their plans. It’s another signal that confidence is gradually returning, even if the recovery isn’t happening at the same pace across every sector.
One trend we’ve found particularly interesting is that restructuring teams have remained busy while transactional practices have started to strengthen. Businesses are still refinancing debt and reshaping balance sheets, but they’re also looking at acquisitions and investment opportunities. That combination is creating a broader spread of work than many firms expected to see this year.
Corporate M&A teams tend to recruit first, followed by private equity, leveraged finance, banking, capital markets and tax. As deal flow builds, demand quickly spreads into other practice areas because transactions rely on specialists across the business.
We’ve also noticed firms reopening conversations. Searches that were placed on hold are being revisited. Roles that were considered nice to have are becoming business priorities.
The challenge, as always, is that the best lawyers don’t stay available for long. Associates with strong experience in private equity, leveraged finance, infrastructure or complex cross-border M&A continue to attract interest from multiple firms. By the time everyone decides they need the same profile, the market becomes far more competitive.
Candidates are thinking carefully too. Salary remains important, but it rarely dominates conversations in the way headlines suggest. The lawyers we speak to are just as interested in the quality of work, access to partners, progression opportunities and whether a move genuinely strengthens their long-term career. Those discussions have become much more thoughtful over the past few years.
This means recruitment is about far more than putting together a competitive offer. The strongest candidates want to understand where they’ll be in three or five years’ time. They want to know who they’ll learn from, the clients they’ll advise and the opportunities they’ll have to build their practice. Firms that can answer those questions convincingly are usually the ones that attract the best talent.
The legal press has understandably focused on the return of deal activity. From where we’re sitting, the more interesting story is what follows.
History tells us that recruitment always lags behind the market. Work arrives first. Hiring comes later. By the time firms decide they need additional lawyers, the strongest candidates are already being approached.
The market may not have returned to the heights of 2021, but it is moving again. The firms that recognise that early will have more choice, greater flexibility and a stronger platform for growth over the next few years.
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Whether you’re hiring or considering your next move, we’d love to hear from you.
Email jon.howard@wearebuchanan.com for a confidential conversation.