Your Options
As the centre of legal activity in the UK, London is both an exciting and occasionally daunting City for a newly qualified lawyer. Whether you are already in a London practice or seeking to move to the City, there remains significant opportunity for lawyers in virtually all practice areas. At present, firms are retaining a higher percentage of their solicitors in London, but the incredible fluidity and growth in the provision of legal services mean that, with the possible exception of some highly competitive specialist sectors, there will usually be positions available for top quality newly qualified lawyers looking to move on qualification.
The legal market can easily be split into several identifiable categories. At one extreme sit the global law firms. They generate the most profits, boast the highest fee income and have a network of global offices that is so vast that few firms will ever be able to catch them up. At the other end of the spectrum are a number of niche law firms. Such firms commonly concentrate on one sector only such as technology, property or insurance and claim to offer their lawyers work dedicated wholly to that discipline. They tend to be very profitable and claim a better lifestyle and less anonymity than in the larger global firms. In the middle of this spectrum sits the vast majority of law firms. They are medium sized firms with approximately 20-60 partners. Some of these firms are more sector driven than others and there is a huge range amongst them in terms of both quality and approach to work.
