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.

The encouraging start to the New Year continues apace with Oyster receiving further instructions from our law firm clients in East Anglia and not least in the City of Cambridge. There is a particular demand for lawyers in Real Estate and Construction both at the newly qualified level and at more experienced levels, especially for lawyers with a mix of contentious and non-contentious experience.

There is also strong demand for commercial lawyers in IP/IT and also commercial litigation, particularly in the area of financial services litigation. On the non-contentious side of financial services, Oyster has a “watching brief” for a financial services regulatory lawyer.

Ipswich is also quite busy, not least in Agriculture where one of our clients is looking to recruit a Senior Associate or Partner to join the firm’s thriving Agricultural practice.

More generally, Oyster remains very keen to hear from lawyers looking to relocate to East Anglia so whether you are actively looking to move to the region or simply wishing to find out more about what options there might be, then we would be delighted to hear from you.

Please feel free to contact us and to ask for Michael Pickup, Managing Director here at Oyster.

We are pleased to report that the New Year has got off on a busy footing with a number of law firms and other professional services firms instructing Oyster to recruit on their behalf. Of particular note is the number of specialist HR opportunities we are seeing. In the legal sector we are seeing opportunities for Compensation and Benefits Managers, Global Mobility specialists,  Employee Relations Managers and Organisational Change professionals. The majority of these opportunities are permanent and one or two are interim.

Within other professional services firms, we are seeing opportunities for, for example, a Head of Learning & Development and a Head of Recruitment.

In line with our latest policy of attracting and working with more junior HR professionals on behalf of our clients, I’m pleased to see a number of opportunities for HR Administrators and Graduate Recruitment Assistants and Advisors.

Conversations with our clients suggest that there will be additional opportunities for HR professionals in the months ahead.

For details of these and other HR opportunities and/or to discuss your career more generally please do contact us in confidence. We’d be delighted to hear from you.

A very happy new year to you from Oyster Search & Selection and best wishes for 2013.

For many the new year heralds a new start in a new job and, for others, perhaps the opportunity to embark on their job search afresh. For some, of course, the most appropriate next step in their career may well be to stay-put with their current employer and to make the most of opportunities internally – may be via a promotion, secondment or new project. Either way, we’d be delighted to hear from you if you feel that you would benefit from the opportunity to discuss your career options beyond your current employer and, equally, for those of you minded to stay, to provide you with a “sounding board” with which to review the options internally. In essence, the opportunity to take stock, evaluate your career to date, taking note of any potential “gaps” and agreeing a sensible, focused way forward.

For our part, the new year also provides the opportunity for Oyster to reflect on next steps and, in particular, opportunities for growth and expansion. Indeed, we’d be very keen to hear from anyone interested in contributing to the next chapter in the Oyster story. Perhaps you are an experienced recruitment consultant with an excellent reputation for candidate and client service in the legal and/or professionals services sectors or, like us, an owner-managed consultancy looking to grow and open to some form of joint venture or collaboration. May be you are a freelance researcher or consultant attracted by the flexibility and quality of work we can offer. Whatever, your background, why not contact us, in complete confidence, to discuss what’s on offer and how this might dovetail with next steps in your own career.