Niche practice areas are rising says legal hiring experts
Focusing on a niche practice area is becoming even more important according to a new report from a legal profession recruitment firm.
Harrison Barnes from US-based BCG Attorney Search says that the rise in niche practice areas is “one of the largest shifts in the lateral attorney market in history.” He goes on to say that when law firms are hiring, they are less concerned about the firm a lawyer is from, or the law school they attended; the focus is on their niche skills.
Barnes says that firms in niche practice areas are currently experiencing the steady, recurring work that is necessary to the success of a lawyer. He says that the growth in niche areas will continue during 2017.
The report also sounds an optimistic tone for legal recruitment which, in the US at least, “saw more interviews and placements in the last three months of the year than we have in the last three months of any year since 2006.”
HSF advises AGL on Victoria electricity deal
A team from
Herbert Smith Freehills has advised AGL Energy Limited on a deal to supply electricity to the Portland Smelter Joint Venture Participants’ (Alcoa) aluminium smelter in Portland, Victoria.
The four-year agreement will deliver the equivalent of 10 per cent of Victoria’s total electricity load and was needed to ensure the future of the smelter.
HSF partner Gerard Pike was supported by executive counsel Peter Davis and senior associates Miles Wadley and Brodie Same.
Brexit is an opportunity for Commonwealth lawyers says CLA president
The president of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association says that the UK leaving the European Union creates new opportunity for lawyers across the Commonwealth.
South Australia lawyer Alexander Ward told the Irish Legal Times that Brexit shouldn’t have a significant impact on the administration of law but that there will be some complicated legal challenges.
“As ever, the Commonwealth countries are happy to assist to fill any gaps left by the departure from the European Union,” Mr Ward said.
