News
M&A and employment experts top of inhouse departments’ wish lists
Growing trend for in-house legal
departments to recruit specialist
lawyers, with in-house positions seen
as offering better career prospects than
law firms
In-house legal departments are
increasingly recruiting lawyers
that specialise in particular practice
areas – especially the fields of
corporate/M&A, employment
and tax – new research by Iberian
Lawyer shows.
A survey of in-house lawyers in
Spain and Portugal revealed that
73 per cent agreed that there is an
increasing trend for companies to
recruit specialist lawyers.
A total of 18 per cent of the
participants in the study said that
more than 70 per cent of their
organisation’s in-house legal
team consists of lawyers that
specialise in a particular practice
area. Meanwhile, 29 per cent
of respondents said more than
50 per cent of their company’s
legal department was made
up of lawyers that specialise
in a particular area. However,
around one in four (23 per cent)
participants said there were no
specialist lawyers in their in-house
legal team.
The survey suggests that around
one in three businesses will be
recruiting more specialist lawyers
in the next 12 months. A total of
36 per cent of in-house lawyers
who took part in the survey said
they thought the proportion of
lawyers in their organisation’s
in-house legal team who specialise
in a specific practice area would
increase in the coming year.
33%
Proportion of in-house lawyers in
Spain and Portugal who believe
that the trend for in-house legal
departments to recruit specialist
lawyers means that companies will
use external lawyers less frequently
www.iberianlawyer.com
A total of 77 per cent of
respondents to the survey said
their organisation’s in-house legal
team included specialist lawyers.
Corporate and M&A practitioners
are the lawyers most in-demand
by in-house legal departments.
per cent agreed that “law firms
are reducing their numbers of
lawyers so there is a big talent pool
for in-house legal departments to
choose from”. Other reasons given
included: “Working as an in-house
lawyer is being seen as increasingly
rewarding and challenging”,
cited by 33 per cent; “lawyers are
attracted to the idea of being able
If your organisation’s in-house legal department includes lawyers that specialise
in particular practice areas, on which of the following areas do they focus?
52%
Commercial, corporate and M&A
34%
Employment
23%
Tax
21%
Dispute resolution
21%
Intellectual property
20%
Banking
16%
EU and competition
13%
Real estate and construction
9%
Capital markets
9%
Public law
7%
Projects and energy
Of the participants in the study
who said their legal department
has specialist lawyers, 52 per cent
said it included corporate and
M&A practitioners. Meanwhile,
34 per cent said their team had
employment specialists and 23 per
cent said they had tax experts (see
box).
Work-life balance
The majority of in-house lawyers
(69 per cent) said they thought
it was getting easier for in-house
legal departments to recruit
specialist lawyers. Why is this the
case? The most common reason
given – cited by 58 per cent of
respondents – was that lawyers
think working in-house offers
them a “better work-life balance
than working for a law firm”. A
total of 50 per cent said “lawyers
are finding in-house positions
increasingly attractive”, while 40
to specialise in a particular practice
area while working in-house,” cited
buy 25 per cent; and “in-house roles
are increasingly seen as offering
better career prospects than law
firms”.
The good news for law firms
is that most in-house lawyers
think that the trend for in-house
legal departments to recruit more
specialist lawyers will not mean
companies engage external legal
advisers less.
A total of 67 per cent of
respondents said they thought that
companies would not reduce the
frequency with which they engage
law firms. However, what will be
of concern to