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Survey: Nearly one-third of lawyers plan to hire in coming months

Survey: Nearly one-third of lawyers plan to hire in coming months

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Nearly one-third of lawyers who participated in a recent employment survey said they planned to hire full-time legal professionals during the fourth quarter of 2012.

“In particular, small and midsize law firms are recruiting associates with solid business development skills and client portfolios to expand practice groups in high-demand specialties such as health care and corporate law,” said Charles Volkert, executive director of Robert Half Legal in a news release reporting the latest findings of the Robert Half Legal Hiring Index.

While 32 percent of lawyers interviewed for the survey said they planned to hire in the fourth quarter, 3 percent said they anticipated staff reductions. The net 29 percent of lawyers expecting to hire in the fourth quarter is down one point from the hiring index’s third quarter forecast, the staffing agency said.

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The survey was based on telephone interviews with 100 lawyers at firms with 20 or more employees and 100 corporate lawyers at companies with 1,000 or more employees. All of the participants in the survey had hiring authority within their organizations.

According to the survey, those lawyers who plan on hiring anticipate adding an average of two full-time positions. The vast majority (93 percent) planned to hire lawyers, followed by paralegals (28 percent) and legal secretaries/assistants (14 percent).

Twenty-seven percent of respondents identified health care as the practice area that will experience the most growth in the coming months. General business/commercial law ranked second (16 percent), followed by bankruptcy/foreclosure (13 percent).

Robert Half Legal is a division of staffing agency Robert Half International.

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