Shaping the market

Boutique firms, particularly litigation specialists, and smaller US law firms are capturing market share from the more long-standing London firms, according to the biannual Robert Walters market update. This is because they can cherry-pick the best candidates by offering higher salaries and more responsibility. By comparison, many UK law firms have been forced to restructure or make redundancies.

Recruitment levels have increased for both private practice and in-house positions in real estate finance, banking, corporate and capital markets.

Salaries are rising in London, and the upward trend across the sector looks likely to continue in the second half of 2013, Robert Walters found.