Legal Job Market Report – November 2025 – here is our summary of the current state of the UK legal job market.
Locum Recruitment – Busy
Locum assignments remain steady, with no major signs of increased activity in any particular area of law, which is to be expected at this time of year. Still very little sign of conveyancing hourly rates falling – they remain high (see our locum rates below). Litigation rates have increased for solicitors thanks mainly to the Mazur case.
Locum assignment updates here.
Permanent Recruitment – Quiet
Permanent roles are generally a bit muted, although there is still activity from both candidates and firms. There remains a huge gap between interest in roles from candidates and vacancies being posted, together with a disparity between salary expectations of candidates and firms. No signs of any change here. We have recently contacted the 1,500 residential conveyancing solicitors on our database to say that now is a very good time to be looking for a new role with favourable terms – we are hearing from some firms that they have given up with any advertising due to the low level of interest in property roles.
Permanent vacancies can be viewed here: https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/vacancies/
Law Firms for Sale – Busy
Lots of activity in the M&A sector – new sellers making tentative enquiries, existing and new buyers looking at options. For the past 5 years we have maintained a bank of 40+ law firms for sale, but this month we are down to 29 law firms due to the number of deals that have gone through recently. Full details of firms currently for sale on our website – list updated daily. For valuations, exit planning or a confidential discussion about a potential sale or acquisition generally please call 0800 246 5016 or email jf@jonathanfagan.co.uk. You can also download our free detailed guides on Buying a Law Firm and Selling a Law Firm.
Ten Percent Group statistics for October 2025 (2024 figures in brackets)
- New locum roles added – 20 (24)
- New permanent roles added – 23 (25)
- New candidates added – 48 (78)
- New law firms listed for sale: 1
- Law firms for sale: 29
- Deals going through (heads of terms signed): 3
Commentary:
Locum roles have declined slightly, permanent jobs have increased back to similar levels. Candidate numbers are still down significantly on last year, but we have no clear indication at this stage yet as to why this is – there seems to be a general apathy from some candidates about looking for work but thats as much as we have at this stage! Candidate numbers are a very good indication of market conditions.
KPMG & REC Report on Jobs UK – November 2025
This is a monthly report prepared by KPMG following a questionnaire sent to over 400 UK recruitment consultancies, including ourselves.
- Slight rise in temp billings.
- Permanent placements fall at weaker pace
- Starting salaries increase marginally and temp pay stagnates
Commentary from Jon Holt, CEO of KPMG UK
“Economic uncertainty continues to weigh heavy on business, but further stabilisation in the jobs market last month indicates that a Budget that builds business confidence, could be a catalyst for renewed hiring. Chief execs remain upbeat about their growth prospects, and the rise in temporary hiring indicates that opportunities are increasing – there just aren’t enough strong signals currently for bosses to commit to building their workforce on a more permanent basis. As we expect both interest rates and inflation to fall further in 2026, we may finally see hiring start to grow more steadily.”
Commentary from Neil Carberry, REC CEO
“Today’s data reflects the more positive outlook we have been hearing from recruiters since the start of the autumn. They aren’t exuberant – this is just a more stable market. With temporary hiring edging into growth and a better permanent hiring number than we have seen for some time, we can hope that the long period of retrenchment we saw last into the summer, is starting to ebb away.”
