Here is our summary of the current state of the UK legal job market.
Locum Recruitment – Quiet
Locum assignments remain very low; although April & May do tend to be quieter months before the busy season starts towards the start of June. We have continued to see increased traffic from locum solicitors checking in with us to see if any roles have come up. Some are reporting that other locum agencies are struggling to source any vacancies at all. Although we anticipate hourly rates dropping as a result of these tougher conditions, there is no sign of this happening yet.
Locum assignment updates here.
Permanent Recruitment – Quiet
Permanent recruitment is quiet, although there is a lot happening if a good candidate registers with us and firms take the opportunity to fill roles they have had vacant for some time. Candidates and firms are not particularly active, and world events appear to be making candidates very nervous about making a move currently. There remains a huge gap between interest in roles from candidates and vacancies being posted, together with a disparity between salary expectations and working arrangements of candidates and firms. No signs of any change here, although more firms are at least talking about remote working options these days rather than flatly refusing to engage.
Permanent vacancies can be viewed here: https://www.ten-percent.co.uk/vacancies/
Law Firms for Sale – Busy
Law firm M&A activity never appears to be very affected by world events, and there is a steady stream of enquiries from active buyers for firms of all shapes and sizes. We did see a bit of a drop in the numbers of offers and deals moving forwards last month, but May has returned to usual levels of activity both from sellers and buyers. We have completed the highest number of market valuations for clients in the last month than ever before (our team is looking forward to a quieter summer hopefully!). Valuations have included potential MBOs, partner disputes, future exit planning, deal valuations (independent valuations where a firm has an offer from their own sourced buyer and wants to check it against a market price), buyer & seller valuations.
We ran a webinar last week, attended by over 45 law firm & accountancy practice owners, on Q&A with an experienced SME law firm M&A solicitor, Harry Winkley from Herrington Carmichael LLP. The session covered due diligence, deal negotiation, business purchase agreements, heads of terms and all things legal including ABS formation and SRA regulation.
Full details of firms currently for sale on our website available here – 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 April 2026 (2025 figures in brackets)
- New locum roles added – 12 (16)
- New permanent roles added – 16 (25)
- New candidates added – 30 (42)
- New law firms listed for sale: 1
- Law firms for sale: 39
- Deals going through (heads of terms signed): 4
KPMG & REC Report on Jobs UK – May 2026
This is a monthly report prepared by KPMG following a questionnaire sent to over 400 UK recruitment consultancies, including ourselves.
- Stronger, but modest decline in permanent placements
- Temp billings expand for first time in three months
- Rates of pay growth remain relatively weak
Commentary from Jon Holt, CEO of KPMG UK
“The small signs of recovery in the jobs market may have been disrupted in April by the uncertainty stemming from the conflict in Iran. Although conditions remain more favourable than they were through much of 2025, hiring decisions are being deferred, with the rise in temporary recruitment pointing to chief execs taking a more flexible approach to workforce planning.”
Commentary from Neil Carberry, REC CEO
“So far this year we’ve seen signs of improving momentum but that is now being tempered by the economic effects of the Gulf conflict. Businesses will be particularly concerned about the impact on inflation, their borrowing costs and any disruption to wider supply chains. The good news is that employers are leaning more on temporary work to move ahead with their plans in this more uncertain time, demonstrating again why temporary and contract work matters so much to growth and jobs. The temporary sector showed its strongest growth in two and a half years last month.”
