The latest Hays jobs report states that in-house legal activity is growing steadily across Australia because companies have cut down on outsourcing their legal function. The findings also showed that demand is set to remain high across all tiers within law firms, but specific hotspots of skills in demand are emerging, in light of environmental and political factors.

Industry experience

The global recruitment firm’s report concludes there will be a need for more legal counsel in the coming year, and listed the skills in greatest demand across 31 sectors and industries. Nick Deligiannis, Hays Australia & New Zealand managing director, said ‘there will continue to be increasing demand for legal roles to be filled such as paralegals, legal counsel, senior counsel and general counsel, particularly across the commercial, commercial property and banking and finance industries.’ Within the legal in-house market, greater demand will exist for legal counsel with relevant industry experience, the recruiter continued.

Enquiry fuels demand

Further, the Royal Commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry has fuelled demand across Australia for senior in-house lawyers and litigation paralegals. The report notes, ‘financial regulatory experience is required for these roles, as regulatory bodies continue to maintain strict oversight over the financial services industry. Therefore, lawyers who are familiar with wealth advice, capital markets transactions, investment management and insurance legislation are able to secure roles more easily than in the past.’