The steady demand for HR professionals to work in law firms looks set to continue beyond Christmas and well in to the New Year as HR Directors continue to review their HR departmental structures and cost-effective ways of delivering HR Services. This has resulted in demand for both permanent hires on the one hand and interim requirements on the other. In this connection, we are acting for a few international law firms to recruit:

• HR Business Partners
• Compensation, Benefits & Global Mobility Manager
• Interim Graduate Recruitment Manager
• Employee Relations & Risk Management Manager
• Interim Recruitment Advisor
• HR Advisors
• Senior L&D Manager

We’d be delighted to hear from anyone who is potentially interested in these and other roles whether or not you have a legal/professional services background. Indeed, HR professionals with blue chip corporate and/or investment banking and financial services experience would be of equal interest.

For further information about these roles and/or a more general discussion about HR opportunities in the legal sector please contact us.

A quick update to draw your attention to our latest set of legal vacancies, together with those in business services:

Legal 

Partner, Tax and Private Client, London

Associate, 0-2PQE, Finance/Corporate, Dubai

Associate, 2-4PQE, Asset Finance, City

Partner, Agriculture, East Anglia

Partner, Financial Services Regulation, City

Partner, Infrastructure Projects, UAE

Senior Associate, FSDR, City

Senior Associate, Dry Shipping, Piraeus

Associate 2-3PQE, IP Litigation, City

Associate, 3-5PQE, Corporate/Funds, Singapore

In-house Lawyer, 4-5PQE, Corporate, UAE

Associate, 2-3PQE, Agriculture, East Anglia

Associate, 3-5PQE, Financial Services Regulation, East Anglia

Associate, 1+PQE, IP/IT, Cambridge

Associate, 4-6PQE, Infrastructure Projects, UAE

Associate, 2-4PQE, Immigration, City

Business Services

International Reward Manager, City

Head of Recruitment, London

Head of Learning & Development, London

L&D Administrator, City

Graduate Recruitment Assistant, City

HR Administrator, City

Interim Senior Graduate Recruitment Advisor, City

Reward & Global Mobility Manager, London

Senior L&D Manager, City

Employee Relations Manager, City

HR Business Partner(s), City

L&D Advisor, City

For details of these and other opportunities then please don’t hesitate to contact us.

November has seen a number of law firms disclosing their interim, half-year financial results and, thus far, the majority have reported increased revenue and profitability. We’ve also seen signs of further merger activity, notably the proposed merger between Norton Rose and Fulbright & Jaworski in June 2013. We expect further merger activity in the next 12-24 months, continued consolidation in some areas of practice, office openings overseas and cost-cutting in business services functions.

Still, opportunities remain for both lawyers and business service professionals in areas such as financial services, shipping and dispute resolution on the one hand and Human Resources on the other.

East Anglia continues to attract lawyers in Real Estate, Corporate and Agriculture.

Demand for lawyers in the Middle East remains steady both in private practice and in-house.

Further afield we expect to see a steady uptick in demand for lawyers in South East Asia, notably Singapore.

So, a mixed picture and one that in many ways mirrors recruitment activity over the past 4-5 years in the legal sector and beyond. Still, opportunities do remain and, we believe, will continue to do so in the year ahead.

From time to time, our clients instruct us to recruit interim HR professionals on their behalf and, in this connection, we are very keen to hear from anyone interested in undertaking interim work, whether a generalist or specialist by background. Current mandates include a requirement for an interim HR Business Partner and also an Interim Graduate Recruitment Manager. Looking ahead, we anticipate a requirement for senior HR profesionals with project and change management experience and specialists in HR Systems.

As a first step perhaps I could invite you to contact us for an initial discussion about your interim career plans and to share with you current and future opportunities with Oyster .

Did you know that Oyster is a “go to” recruitment consultancy for some of the leading shipping firms in the legal sector? Indeed, right now, we have a number of opportunities in the UK, Hong Kong & Piraeus for shipping lawyers and barristers. We are particularly interested in contentious lawyers with Dry Shipping experience and especially those lawyers who are 4-5PQE+ with aspirations for partnership and a knack for developing new business.

More generally, we are keen to develop our professional network of shipping lawyers and, not least, those lawyers considering relocating overseas and interested in working in jursidictions including Piraeus, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

So whether you are a newly qualified lawyer looking for your first role post-qualification, a junior lawyer considering a move or indeed a shipping partner, with a potential following then we’d be delighted to hear from you. Alternatively, you may just wish to discuss the market, salaries and the potential options available to you. If so, then please don’t hesitate to contact us.