A career in law has always been highly desirable and so highly competitive.  Invariably there are more law students than there training contracts available – and despite an over-supply of talent, law firms err on the side of caution and continue to hire graduates from leading universities (many of whom have been privately educated).

But the legal market is changing.  It’s not quite a shake-up; more of a gentle stir.  But change is happening.

ABS – Alternative Business Structures (aka Tesco Law) are a threat to the establishment and the Co-op is estimated to be hiring up to 3,000 lawyers in the next four to five years.

M&A activity – recently there have been two big mergers in commercial law.  SNR Denton with Salans and Fraser Milner Casgrain.  Now Norton Rose with Fulbright & Jaworski.

Fewer partner promotions – number of new partners promoted across the magic circle has fallen by 17% according to Legal Week.

Glass ceiling – the UK boasts the highest proportion of female partners in Europe – but still just 16% of partners in Magic Circle law firms in the UK are female.

So, for any student looking at law right now, the choices are not as simple as they were.  There’s the chance you might not get a training contract.  You might need to consider an ABS, although a College of Law survey last year found just 1% said they would choose to work for an ABS over a traditional law firm and 56% thought the new structures would drive down salaries.  You may also start to see that the path to partnership is harder than ever – and so why bother.  And if you’re a woman going into law,… well, good luck!

Of course, some law firms are looking to address this.  Allen & Overy state that current trainees attended 50 different universities between them, gender split is 52/48 in favour of women, and 20% of current trainees are from an ethnic minority background.  Clifford Chance show that they got applications from 90 nationalities and over 215 unis. Linklaters has a ‘gender action plan’ – and the highest proportion of female partners.

But it still doesn’t seem enough.  It seems that women have to be invited to the table rather than have their own seat.  Bird & Bird chief executive, David Kerr is quoted: “I’ve always been a fan of having female partners in key leadership and management roles…”  But being a fan and setting an example are two different things…

There’s a great post here, about how women could change the traditional, time-based, linear approach of law firms.  www.law21.ca/2013/02/why-women-leave-law-firms-and-when-theyll-return/