In-House Counsel

The Legal Job Market Is Hotter Than Ever (And Here’s Why)

The time to prepare for a potential job search is now.

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According to Bloomberg Law, nearly half of lawyers report being open to new opportunities, and one in 10 lawyers is actively pursuing new job opportunities. With COVID-19 pushing higher than normal rates of burnout, lower job satisfaction, and longer workweeks in 2021, the legal market is firing up. Additionally, with a record 4 million Americans quitting their jobs in July 2021, following a peak in April (and being dubbed the Great Resignation), the Harvard Business Review recently noted that the highest resignation rates are seen in employees between ages 35 and 45.

A search for “attorney” roles on LinkedIn’s job portal brings up nearly 36,000 results, with more than 29,000 appearing in the past month. If you get the weekly job alerts from GoInhouse.com, you’ve seen, firsthand, the dozens of new jobs being posted daily.

The legal market is hotter than ever — with tech companies expanding and hiring at massive levels (showcasing a higher need for in-house counsels) and companies consistently expanding in-house roles to serve a changing workforce, the time to prepare for a potential job search is now. The exodus at companies should not shock us — we’ve all changed during COVID-19. The impact of strained self-care, diminished work-life balance, and a shifting marketplace that accepts and advocates for long-term remote-work environments, lawyers are no longer afraid or reluctant to make rapid pivots in their careers.

How can you prepare for this shift? Have your legal resume and LinkedIn profile updated at all times. Keep in mind that both are key to a digital-age job search. Your legal resume will be seen by a hand-selected audience, which is a small circle of influence. In stark contrast, your LinkedIn profile makes you accessible to an audience of more than 700 million users, thereby casting a much larger net that gets you seen and noticed by recruiters, the C-suite, and even senior corporate counsels who are where you want to be in a transition from Biglaw to in-house.

Even if you aren’t currently pursuing opportunities, the legal market is at one of the hottest levels of hiring, and that resume from 1995 is not going to work in a digital-age search. It’s time to start creating a deal sheet, reconnecting with your network, reaching out to old mentors, increasing your skills (take that data privacy certification that you’ve always wanted to), and being fearless in the opportunities that exist right now in the legal market.

If you’re looking for more freelance legal work, consider researching on-demand legal work through companies such as Axiom, which allow you to set your parameters for in-house counsel project engagements. Again, this is outside-the-box thinking when it comes to the changing legal marketplace — taking on project-based work can be a great bridge to acquiring further in-house experience that helps you strengthen your resume and LinkedIn profile in a future job search.

There is no time like the present to be manifesting shifts in your legal career — we all deserve professional fulfillment and happiness.

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Wendi Weiner is an attorney, career expert, and founder of The Writing Guru, an award-winning executive resume writing services company. Wendi creates powerful career and personal brands for attorneys, executives, and C-suite/Board leaders for their job search and digital footprint. She also writes for major publications about alternative careers for lawyers, personal branding, LinkedIn storytelling, career strategy, and the job search process. You can reach her by email at wendi@writingguru.net, connect with her on LinkedIn, and follow her on Twitter @thewritingguru.  

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