After an 18-month hiring boom, the legal market is setting an expected course for correction. Leopard Solutions’ 2022 data indicates that law firms are adjusting their strategy coming off an overheated hiring market, as job closures start outpacing job openings. While the number of overall openings is still far higher than pre-pandemic levels, law firms may now be looking to be more strategic in their hiring and growth needs. But what does the decreased number of job postings and differences of job openings per practice area show about the current legal market? And how can law firms leverage this data to improve their growth strategy?

September marked a significant drop in the Leopard Solutions Jobs Program. We had seen the peak of job openings in mid-April and the numbers had been slowly tracking down since then, but in September we saw a decrease of approximately 500 openings in a short period of time. As indicated in the chart below, jobs previously remained open for an average of 80 to 100 days. Presently, jobs are closing at a more rapid pace—at approximately 40 to 50 days. This is an atypical occurrence, and it is unlikely that all of the positions were actually filled—rather, the jobs were likely closed without being filled. We sought to understand why these shifts were happening, where they came from, and how law firms could benefit from the data.

To understand exactly what caused the significant drop in job closings at law firms overall, we examined the number of jobs added or closed per day throughout September. The drop is a result of fewer new jobs being added coupled with a large number of job closures.

Who Closed These Jobs, And Why?

Our jobs program currently monitors 1,028 law firms and 23 Fortune 500 companies. As 58% of the current openings are from the top 200 grouping, we expect this large group to account for more closed jobs. The chart below shows that 35% of the closed jobs were from firms outside of the top 200. When the data focuses on just the top 200, however, the majority of closings came from the Top 50 firm grouping.

The Top 50 currently have 2,749 openings (43%) in the jobs program, while the Top 200 overall have 6,333. The Top 50 accounted for the largest number of closures (38.75%) followed by the Top 100 (33.3%)—meaning that 72.05% of the job closures were from the Top 200. The data also showed a marked difference in job openings by practice area. The demand for Corporate attorneys has cooled, with corporate job openings declining from the #1 spot six months ago to the #3 spot presently. Litigation, however, has grown slightly, ranking now as the #1 practice area in hiring, followed by Intellectual Property. This reflects the sentiment that corporate position openings are declining as mergers and acquisitions cool in the current market.

How Can Law Firms Respond to The Market Shifts?

The findings suggest that law firms are being smarter in their recruiting approach. Specifically, firms are beginning to move away from the reactive hiring of individual attorneys to fill gaps, and instead looking towards more strategic growth methods such as acquiring whole practice groups. Allowing firms to integrate their hiring strategy with business development opportunities as a key part of their long-term strategy.

With this shift in the legal hiring market, it is likely that firms are hiring with long-term strategy, growth, and business development in mind. This market correction notes that these firms are thinking ahead of the curve and planning their next moves. The first step in the market righting itself is in law firms adjusting their strategy—and as signaled in the data, many firms are doing just that.

If firms are looking to more strategic methods for their growth, it is crucial to examine data trends and garner how they can use their recruiting strategy to support their organizational growth as well as business development initiatives. By staying up-to-date on the changing market, law firms can tailor their recruitment strategy to fit their long-term business goals.