Summary: The real estate practices at major law firms are facing an upturn in the market, as the demand for attorneys in the specialty was the second highest in 2015.
Attention lawyers! The real estate market has improved, turning into one of the strongest markets to find a job in. While the industry has greatly suffered since the 2006 crash, things are turning upwards again with the specialty seeing some of the highest numbers of demand and hires.
Taking a look at BCG Attorney Search, all major cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Law Vegas, Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, New York City, and more have real estate listed as a top “HOT practice area.”
Learn about how Akerman’s Real Estate Group Continues Its Expansion.
Hot practice areas are determined by the trends that law firms go through when looking for lateral hires. BCG had 12.35 percent of their 2015 placements in real estate, second to corporate placements. Typically an unemployed or underqualified attorney will never be considered by a major law firm but when the market is booming, the rules fall by the wayside.
Read about another law firm that is expanding its real estate capabilities: Morrison and Foerster Real Estate Team Take on Boston.
BCG was successful in placing a great deal of real estate attorneys at big law firms that would not have been able to in a bad market. These attorneys lacked qualifications that would have made them undesirable but with such a demand, law firms are willing to look aside. These qualifications include things like being currently employed at a top law firm with ties to the area, graduation from a top law school, already passed that state’s bar exam, stable, with experience, likeable, and generating their own business.
See Market for Real Estate Associates on Fire! for more confirmation on the real estate practice boom.
While it is difficult to predict the coming year, 2015 is a strong indicator of what can be expected. Any transactional practice area is at risk of facing a downturn but it is not believed to happen during the coming year as long as interest rates and the economy stay strong.
Sources: https://www.bcgsearch.com/article/900046373/State-of-the-Market-Winter-2016/ and https://www.bcgsearch.com/article/900046324/State-of-the-American-Legal-Job-Market-2016/#02
Photo: collegestationlawyers.com