There's been a fair bit of bad news around since the start of the year for law firms. We were sorry to read about another firm closing – Manchester based Personal Injury specialists Donns went into administration on Friday 23rd March, making around 50 staff redundant and leaving clients with the choice of their files moving to Irwin Mitchell, or need to make alternative arrangements. This follows the news at the start of 2012 of another Manchester firm, Rowlands Field Cunningham, being rescued from administration through acquisition by Linder Myers and the recent report by RBS saying that at least 5% of fee earners may have to be culled in order for law firms to restore profits to pre-2008 levels.
Despite this doom and gloom from some parts of the sector, specialist consultants at eNL Legal Recruitment are reporting a continued increase in demand for a wide range of legal skills within private practice, across all areas of England and Wales. Recent instructions have come from new PI start-ups looking for paralegals and solicitors, national firms opening offices in new locations and law firms of all sizes looking to strengthen their Corporate, Real Estate and Wills & Probate offering. Hopefully, as 2012 moves on we will be reading more positive reports on the health of the Legal sector.