A brief update on the demand for corporate M&A and equity capital markets lawyers in the London market. Whilst M&A and, not least, equity capital markets activity has been mixed and generally subdued, bar recent headline grabbing deals eminating from the USA, there are modest signs of an uptick.

In particular, a small number of US and English law firms are looking to selectively invest. Amongst the US law firms, there is a demand at the mid-level for first rate Corporate M&A lawyers, particularly lawyers with private equity experience and, on the finance side, not surprisingly, we are seeing demand for lawyers with acquisition finance and, especially LBO knowledge and experience.

We are also seeing corporate M&A activity in the mid-market as one or two English firms seek to bolster their corporate offering, especially in private equity. Indeed, just at the moment, for example, Oyster is recruiting for a Senior Associate with Corporate M&A/Private Equity experience and also for a 7-8PQE Equity Capital Markets lawyer.

Looking ahead over the next 12-18months, we expect there to be a continued uptick in demand for lawyers with private equity or acquisition finance experience.

For details of these and other opportunities in private practice in areas such as Real Estate, Financial Services Regulation and Shipping please contact Michael Pickup.

Date Published: 27 February 2013

A brief recruitment update with regards to the ongoing demand for business service professionals interested in working in the legal sector.

As a general observation, there is no doubt that law firms continue to be mindful of the need not only to improve revenue and profitability through competitive pricing on fee rates, focused business development activity and increased market share, but also costs. Accordingly, we have seen a number of law firms announcing plans to restructure their business.

Still the fact remains that a number of law firms continue to recruit. In particular, we continue to see considerable demand for HR Managers and also HR specialists in areas such as Compensation & Benefits, Global Mobility and Learning & Development. Perhaps, counter-intuitively, we are also seeing a modest uptick in the demand for Recruitment Managers. At the more junior levels there is steady demand for experienced HR Advisors and HR Administrators.

On the Business Development front, firms are actively hiring at the Senior BD Manager, BD Manager and BD Executive levels. Industry-specific knowledge of, for example, banking and financial services and energy, is increasingly required. BD professionals from outside of the legal sector with experience, for example, of working in Big 4 professional services firms, investment banking or management consultancy, appear increasingly attractive to law firms.

For anyone interested in finding out more about these and other opportunities with Oyster and/or anyone who simply wishes to sound us out about their career options, then please do contact us and ask for Michael Pickup. We’d be delighted to speak with you.